57 grill repop or rechromed

[lowrodderchev]

so its come to that time were I need to figure out do I re chrome my 57 chevy grill or buy a re pop. ive heard stories that the re chroming goes from $900-$1600 is that true. I know a few guys here just bought a re pop and some wish they had chromed there's I'm just really worried about that price tag on re chromed one. can anyone confirm what it cost or whats a good re pop choice? mine is not in bad shape a few dings nothing to crazy but it diff does need new chrome.

[blackdiesel]

I had mine rechromed it had two little bitty dings in it, cost me 450 and took one year... when I got it back THEY DIDN'T TAKE OUT THE DINGS..... wasn't worth putting back together. And by that I mean you have to drill put all the rivets and bolts theres like 13-14 pieces to one. Then I bought one that was rechromed..... but the chrome was thin and it would rust every time it would rain, would have to polish it monthly. SO I finally bought a repop, but watch out there are more than one out there, and the cheap ones look like junk.

[lowrodderchev]

were you happy with the repop? if so were did ya get it at? thanx

[gale]

I have the grill out of my '54 and separated in pieces for re-chroming. I'll take the pieces to the plater next week and get a price. I use two different platers here in Houston and both do excellent work. They are small enough to fly under the radar of all the environmental constraints.

Quality chrome plating consists of copper plating followed by nickel plating and finally chrome.

[gale]

Originally Posted by blackdiesel

I had mine rechromed it had two little bitty dings in it, cost me 450 and took one year... when I got it back THEY DIDN'T TAKE OUT THE DINGS.....

Did you just assume the plater would fix dents?

When you drop off parts to be plated they don't know if dents are perhaps necessary depressions unless you discuss it. The two platers I use do speak English but not real well.

[fabguy]

I dropped off my 58 grill at the platers on June 3. Said it would be $300 , He promised me it would be done in 3 weeks. Well after he called and I found about 2 dozen pin holes and asked him to fix that and the holes they didn't fix. Well, it is now the end of March and I have called or stopped by 4 times and get a run around. I ended up buying a re pop grill months ago and am just going to leave it on the truck as I have about had it with this plater.
I needed my dash trim chromed and a friend of mine took it to his plater and I got it in 3 weeks and they fixed it up really nice.

[Speedbumpauto]

The moral of the story is you need to know your chrome guy.....or even better, know the guy that polishes and preps. That's the guy who spots the pin holes in your welds when the polishing exposes them and the guy who fixes the dents. Those things are easy to fix BEFORE the plating process begins but you almost have to start over if they're discovered during final polish. That's when honor/pride/craftsmanship kick in. If you've already beat your guy down on price, those qualities get diluted. If you paid the good price, get another chrome shop.
As for the question, IMO, show quality is always re-chrome but good quality and price can be had with a repop. Mine was $300 a few years ago and it looks pretty good unless you get owner/builder close and examine the nooks and cranies.

[gale]

Seems to me pinholes in welds or minor dents should have been spotted and fixed before the part ever went to a plater or painter for that matter.

It's not just "know your plater" as much as knowing what you're doing. If one is totally green he can learn by study, watching, or the hard way, by mistake. Some of the best lessons are learned through mistakes.

[Speedbumpauto]

The advice I got from the best but not cheapest guy in town was" if you're good and want to bring it to me ready for plating, I'll do it cheaper. If not leave it a little rough, let me finish it and do what you pay me to do." Turned out, for me, that was outstanding advice. Pin holes can just show up, at times, and what I think is a good dent repair isn't close to what a good chrome guy thinks. He'd just rub his hand across it and shake his head....kind of like a good body man. I wasted my time trying to repair because it cost the same for him to fix my repair but I really liked the finished product.

[lowrodderchev]

Yeah from all your stories in thinking repop its going to be daily driver now its down to the best choice of a good company for a repop I usually buy all my stuff from classic parts I've heard brothers makes some good grills anyone have suggestions as far as a company? Thanx for all the replies

[lowrodderchev]

while we are on the subject of chrome this morning I was cleaning my front bumper that still has some nice chrome that was done years and years ago well dummy me was having a hard time removing over spray from my paint job and well I thought id use a green scotch bright with reducer and I scratch my clean bumper pretty good. any suggestions or are those scratches there forever

[gale]

and just two posts back I spoke of learning by mistakes. Machine polishing may get the scratches out. I've done quite a bit of work with fabricating stainless and Scotch-Brite was a stage in the polishing process prior to compounds and rouges.

Next time you want to remove paint from chrome try lacquer thinner and a rag.

I also ride motorcycles and I've had plastic bags that were blowing around on the street stick to the mufflers or pipes. Spray on oven cleaner works well to clean it off. It takes several sprays and wipes but it will come clean.

[Russell Ashley]

I bought mine at Goodmark back in 2010, within a few days of buying my truck. It looks great but some of the attaching studs weren't exactly in the right place and I had to file some of the holes to make them fit. Not a big deal I guess, as otherwise the quality seems to be very good. I've never waxed it and it's been wet several times and there's no sign of any rust. It seems to me that most reproduction parts for these trucks come from the same manufacturer but I don't know it that's true for all grills if some are rusting and some aren't. I paid $710 for it then and I see them advertised for less now.

[gale]

I've often thought the same thing as far a one or two manufacturers making all of the parts and the different vendors are just brokers.

I ordered wood for two beds from Brothers during one of their 15% off sales and the boxes were drop shipped direct from Mar-K in Oklahoma.

The initial setup costs for stamping some of these sheet metal parts has to be horrendous.

A lot of people on this forum have trashed LMC but I haven't had a problem. One of their selling points is much lower shipping costs. A flat $125 seems to reserve a good sized space in a truck. Brothers charges for each part.

[mr48chev]

Years ago I asked the guy who was doing my chrome then if it would save any money if I prepped the parts myself and his answer was that it might just cost more to fix my mistakes than do the part from scratch his way. Those pieces are still good 40 years later.

I think if you want perfection assemble the best stock grill you can even if it takes . pieces from several grills to do it. My grill was the end product of selecting bars from 5 different grills I then had them chromed and the grill was close to perfect.

The second thing is you just have to grit your teeth and send them to the shop that is reputed to do the best work and pay the price.

[Donaldo]

A good plater in California ? Prop 65 killed all the ones around here!

referrals Please, I am looking for a good one !

thanks, Don

[lowrodderchev]

im looking into a place in fresno for the badges and rear bumper, did all my lowrider and bomb driving buddies.

[lowrodderchev]

yeah think I'm going to do a repop just need to find a good repop

[Donaldo]

I've accumulated some '51 type repop truck bumpers, not much metal in comparison to an original. I would rather pay for good marine quality plating, than some convenient but questionable metal from overseas that dissolves....

Fresno is less than 3 hrs from me, if you find it's a Good shop, please let me know.

thanks, Don

[lowrodderchev]

i sure will Don hopefully next week i'll be heading over there. ive heard a lot of bad about bumpers i guess if i get a repop grill i'll just need to stay away from trash cans and pedestrians that take there time crossing so i don't dent the cheap thin grill