Chrome fetish

OK so i admit i love chrome car parts.......love old mgs because they have plenty going on in the chrome dept........to the point decided i want chrome bling under the bonnet and on ebay the prices to buy chrome parts will get my throat cut when her indoors checks the bank balance.........so its got to be cheaper if you take your parts to a chrome platers......so a internet search came up with one in dudley,west midlands.....fine next week off i will take parts off my car and take them to be priced up for triple plating...............my question is has any other members dealt with chrome plating companies........recommend one?........any one know what price to expect.............parts for chroming that ive chosen are bonnet hinges,rad mount plates,bonnet catch,bonnet stay,abs bracket,horn bracket and petrol cap ring......might all turn pear shaped when they tell me how much......anyones input most welcome.............on ebay the bonnet catch mechanism aprox £70......petrol cap trim rings aroun £50 and rad mounts about £30......dont know yet if these suppliers have got the chrome done cheaply yet...maybe they have had large amounts done and by me getting mine chromed cutting out the middle man wont save much?????????????????????

Hi which chrome platers are you thinking of using in dudley, as there are quite a few to choose from ? As i have a lot of chroming done on my cars and bikes i only live in stourbridge.

piggy in the middle wrote: Hi which chrome platers are you thinking of using in dudley, as there are quite a few to choose from ? As i have a lot of chroming done on my cars and bikes i only live in stourbridge.

yes the only one i saw was called castle chrome

You can get the battery tray clamp, top rad mounts and horn brackets in stainless steel from MGFnTFBITZ, probably better in stainless as chrome still rusts.

Hi i use castle chrome for most of my chroming the owners are rob and is son steve who is a biker, They both only live 500 yards from me so do know them well. I did buy some parts off ebay has it was cheaper than having them chromed myself from a well known seller on ebay b*****mole after 6 months just rusted to bits total crap chroming.You get what you
pay for worth paying for quality, I do have pictures of the rusty parts and the new parts that i have had done by castle chrome,I have had nearly all the parts chromed that can be chromed on my mgf.

Thanks for that advice piggy in the middle....i will probably go down and see rob and steve on monday......yes i lost a bid on ebay for some chrome hinges supplied by b-mole.........which gave me the idea....get them chromed myself........im in stoke on trent.....but dudley is easy to get to and i know it a little......so we will see what happens :broon:

We actually have a chrome plating plant in the department I maintain at work, however it is hardchrome plating as opposed to the lighter process that is used for smaller parts, so the hard chrome is not suitable for what we use on our motors. The plating process requires a very smooth surface and we plate at about 10-12v dc but at anywhere between 12000-15000 amps! This will melt almost anything off my TF if I dropped it into the plating tank! We plate hydraulic cylinder ram shafts so the plating area is quite large......but...I was toying with the idea of using some surplus chromate solution and popping it into a suitable container and then plating some parts at a more gentle 10 amps. I have some spare lead flashing which I could use as an anode (the part you plate is the cathode).
This thread has now given me an unresistable urge to experiment....will let you know how it works out!

Sundance

yes interesting that sundance......havent forgot our meet up....got the mg off the road at moment why?....because i was going to buy spare parts to be chromed and change them at liesure.......but one night i had a urge to start taking bits off the car....in a nut shell its grounded untill the parts are chromed.....thats if i decide to have them done....the price will be the decision maker........anyone know roughly how long it takes to tripple plate a item....i remember when i used to strip engines...the leyland engines that were common at the time had chrome cylinder liners

After looking around ebay at chrome parts came across diy chrome kits
Chrome Plating Kit Replica Chrome (Nickel Cobalt alloy) R1 Completed

Yeah give us a shout when you are free Bluestreak...maybe have a run out and find a chillout bar or bistro....back to the plating, usually about 30 to 45 mins to get a layer deep enough for what we would need. Parts have to be 100% clean and degreased though.
Just a cautionary note, the chrome solution is absolutely toxic, hard to get of skin too, so thorough protection is required.
The chrome tanks we work on are 4 metres long and about 5 feet deep....the inspector who checks the quality of the solution really made his point on the toxicity of the stuff...he told us that if ever one of us fell in, the best thing that anyone could to for you is to push you under and end it quickly! So any attempts at DIY plating, do take every precaution and make sure you know what you are doing!

Sundance

mgtfbluestreak wrote: yes interesting that sundance......havent forgot our meet up....got the mg off the road at moment why?....because i was going to buy spare parts to be chromed and change them at liesure.......but one night i had a urge to start taking bits off the car....in a nut shell its grounded untill the parts are chromed.....thats if i decide to have them done....the price will be the decision maker........anyone know roughly how long it takes to tripple plate a item....i remember when i used to strip engines...the leyland engines that were common at the time had chrome cylinder liners

I did notice that Daz at MGFnTFBitz had most of the bonnet hardware in a chrome finish as well as powder coated...just another source if plating proves too expensive..
I also thought the boot finishers and petrol cap surround looked really good.

Sundance

yes ive heard its very toxic...probably why a lot of chrome plants have shut down due to tougher control or is it because of a trend for no chrome on cars......picked up some chrome boot finishers for £10 ...thats what started it off the chrome wants to spread to the petrol cap etc.............