56 DeVille Bumper Rechrome

[Eric Falk]

Well, the time was right to have the bumpers rechromed.  I got a phone quote of $2200 but when I dropped them off I was told the guy who gave me the phone quote wasn't supposed to give quotes.  I was told the authorized person would call me on Monday and give me the real quote.  If I didn't know better I would think the plating company was trying the old bait and switch.  I'll keep you posted.  Oh yeah, the plater is one, if not the, largest platers in Seattle.  Here's what the girl looks like without her front end dropped.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Boy, she does look a bit "Down-in-the-mouth"

Hopefully, the quote won't be too over-the-top.

Bruce.

[Mike Josephic CLC #3877]

The phone quote of $2,200 doesn't sound bad for those huge bumpers.

Most platers will not quote you until they inspect your parts in person.  The
reason is that the amount of labor they will need to use is in direct proportion
to the amount of rust, pitting, holes, etc. your pieces have.  They could also
need to re-copper and repolish some really bad pieces several times.

In other words the price can go up quickly if your pieces are rough!
I've been there.

Good Luck!

Mike

[Bill Gauch #23121]

I got an e-mail quote from a plater with the explicit statement that the quote was just a general idea given the typical condition of parts of that age and would be less or more, depending on condition. They generally will do it to get your business in the door because, who wants to pay to ship bumpers there and back and then someplace else and back. I agree that $2200 isn't a bad price, especially if it is for both bumpers. For my '38, the e-mail quote I got was about $600 each (2 years ago), and the bumpers are essentially just lightly curved steel.

[Eric Falk]

Well I got a phone call from the shop today.  He said they would honor the $2200.00 quote for the bumper parts.  I also brought the left and right trim pieces that mount on the top of the front bumper and he want's $85.00 each for them and $125.00 each for the trim pieces that mount on the front fenders above the front bumper.  I gave him the go ahead to plate them.

He said it should take about two weeks to complete the job.  I think the price was more than fair.  I'll post photos of the completed job when all is done.

Thanks for all your comments.

Eric

[P W Allen CLC# 20193]

Eric,

The price sounds about right. The front bumper on my 53 was about $1850.00 and the rear about $1600.00, but those are two year old prices. I certainly hope that the shop is being truthful about the two week turnaround! That certainly was not my experience. I used a well known shop in Philly and it took AGES to get the stuff back, and ended up losing a piece. Good luck with it.

Paul