anodizing & plastic re chrome

[kdtjb]

Where should I send my aluminum trim for re anodizing ? I bought some of my stuff from the king of trim, but seen a post saying they might not be as good as they were at one time. Also gauge restoration and plastic re chroming ?

 

[1badgtx]

www.autoinstruments.com
They do a great job on plastic rechroming...They also will instrument refacing..I had the cluster on my gtx resilk screened in challenger white...They did an awesome job!!Oh yeah,they specialize in MoPars!!
Petty Blue 67 GTX

 

[hunt2elk]

I also used Auto Instruments. They did a fantastic job.

 

[ilm65]

Re-chroming Plastic

I found a local guy in S.E. Michigan who mainly does chrome plating of plastic flower pots for the florist industry. I've turned several guys on to him and everyone is more than happy. Just keep in mind, he chromes exactly what you send him so make sure there're no burrs or nicks in the plastic. He did my three dash items and all four arm rest bases for $120. I thought that was far below what the restorers charged. He doesn't do any painting of the recessed areas, but will recommend people who do it for him. The name of the place is Vacuum Ornametal (like ornamental, but no "n") and it's in Romulus, Michigan. You should be able to easily find it on the web.
Good luck, Bob

 

[detmatt1]

I found a local guy in S.E. Michigan who mainly does chrome plating of plastic flower pots for the florist industry. I've turned several guys on to him and everyone is more than happy. Just keep in mind, he chromes exactly what you send him so make sure there're no burrs or nicks in the plastic. He did my three dash items and all four arm rest bases for $120. I thought that was far below what the restorers charged. He doesn't do any painting of the recessed areas, but will recommend people who do it for him. The name of the place is Vacuum Ornametal (like ornamental, but no "n") and it's in Romulus, Michigan. You should be able to easily find it on the web.
Good luck, Bob

I was hoping to find someone local, thanks ilm65.

 

[Propwash]

Bringing up an old thread here but just sent out my 69' roadrunner dash cluster bezel out to Vacuum Orna-metal. Talked with a Frank over there...Real nice guy! Sounds like they do quite a bit of automotive stuff now. Price is over a hundred dollars cheaper to plastic rechrome than auto instruments. Cost me a whoppin $57 bucks..I''ll let you guys know how she pans out.

 

[Ron 73]

www.autoinstruments.com
They do a great job on plastic rechroming...They also will instrument refacing..I had the cluster on my gtx resilk screened in challenger white...They did an awesome job!!Oh yeah,they specialize in MoPars!!
Petty Blue 67 GTX

Thanks, never knew of this one....

 

[ilm65]

The experiences of the last two posts show this thread deserves a bump!

 

[moparsteve636]

Plastic rechroming

PM sent

 

[SUPERSTOCKRACER]

glenn at GCAR out of washington state. the best.

 

[rileys68plymouth]

I found a local guy in S.E. Michigan who mainly does chrome plating of plastic flower pots for the florist industry. I've turned several guys on to him and everyone is more than happy. Just keep in mind, he chromes exactly what you send him so make sure there're no burrs or nicks in the plastic. He did my three dash items and all four arm rest bases for $120. I thought that was far below what the restorers charged. He doesn't do any painting of the recessed areas, but will recommend people who do it for him. The name of the place is Vacuum Ornametal (like ornamental, but no "n") and it's in Romulus, Michigan. You should be able to easily find it on the web.
Good luck, Bob

So do you need to have the plastic prepped? Or can he strip the old chrome (or whats left) off? I can google him unless some one has a website handy.

 

[Propwash]

They'll strip it for you.. Here's their site:

http://vacuumorna-metal.com/

 

[rileys68plymouth]

Thank you sir

 

[66plysat]

Dumb Question time

I've seen this on alot of postings and have no idea what it means ....BUMP....can someone clue me in.

 

[Propwash]

I've seen this on alot of postings and have no idea what it means ....BUMP....can someone clue me in.

66plysat..

Here is a definition of Anodizing:

Anodizing, or anodising in British English, is an electrolytic passivation process used to increase the thickness of the natural oxide layer on the surface of metal parts. The process is called "anodizing" because the part to be treated forms the anode electrode of an electrical circuit. Anodizing increases corrosion resistance and wear resistance, and provides better adhesion for paint primers and glues than does bare metal. Anodic films can also be used for a number of cosmetic effects, either with thick porous coatings that can absorb dyes or with thin transparent coatings that add interference effects to reflected light. Anodizing is also used to prevent galling of threaded components and to make dielectric films for electrolytic capacitors. Anodic films are most commonly applied to protect aluminium alloys, although processes also exist for titanium, zinc, magnesium, niobium, and tantalum. This process is not a useful treatment for iron or carbon steel because these metals exfoliate when oxidized; i.e., the iron oxide (also known as rust) forms by pits and flakes, these flakes both fall off as well as trap oxygen-bearing moisture, constantly exposing the underlying metal to corrosion.


As far as the Plastic chroming, a few plastic parts on our old mopars are chromed like arm rest bases, dash bezels, door lock knobs...ect..ect..

The process does not involve paint applied to the plastic, but rather a more robust vacuum sealed coating..

Looks like this:

 

[bhemi]

Anodizing is completely different from plastic "chroming". Anodizing is a hard transparent layer of aluminum oxide deposited by an electroplating process. Anodizing is cool because the structure of aluminum oxide allows it to be dyed.

To repair aluminum anodized parts you have 1) clean them off all grime,grease and paint 2) Strip of the old anodizing using NaOH or a similiar chemical (Draino works great) 3) Polish the aluminum as bright as you can 4) Re-Anodize via electroplating.

I just had a quote to do 5 pieces on my '66 Eldorado grille and if bring them in ready to plate it will cost me $90 here in Vancouver.