Need recommendation for 57 rear bumper chroming

[Warren Wubker]

Thanks for the help with my wheels.  They were sent to Mike at Valley Wire Wheels today.  However, he didn't want to try to rechrome a set of rear aluminum 57 bumpers.  Apparently he had a bad experience once.  So has anyone had good luck getting 57 aluminum bumpers rechromed.  My first set came back with pits and crazing supposedly because of rotten aluminum.  I have another set and the metal looks good but does have a few minor spots that will require welding (like one of the drain holes).  Anyone know who does quality work?

[kelly]

Warren,
  I'm sorry, but I'm not familiar with aluminum bumpers on a 57 model, but I am new to the game. What model do they go on? I have a 57 Fleetwood 75 series, but it has steel bumpers.  I had nice work done here in Michigan, but I'm not sure if they do aluminum. Hajjar Plating Service, Inc., 38300 Van Born Rd., Wayne, Mich. did my bumpers.  I had good luck with another company on pot metal parts, Jon Wright's Customchrome Plating, Grafton, OH., (440)926-3116.  J&P Custom Plating in Portland, IN. did some small pot metal pieces very well for me as well. (260)726-9696.
  Good luck.
Kelly Martin

[Mike Josephic CLC #3877]

Try Graves Plating down in Alabama -- they can handle this type of rechrome.

Aluminum bumper ends are very difficult to do -- if not prep'd correctly, the chrome will peel
off in a year or less -- especially if the aluminum is heavily oxidized (don't know how bad yours
are).  I had my share of problems with the aluminum ends on my '55 Eldo.  They were finally
done right and after 3 years still look great.

Call them and talk to the guy for an honest answer:

Call us at (256) 764-9487
Fax us at (256) 764-9416
Or email us at gplating@aol.com

Mike

[homeonprunehill]

Thanks for the help with my wheels.  They were sent to Mike at Valley Wire Wheels today.  However, he didn't want to try to rechrome a set of rear aluminum 57 bumpers.  Apparently he had a bad experience once.  So has anyone had good luck getting 57 aluminum bumpers rechromed.  My first set came back with pits and crazing supposedly because of rotten aluminum.  I have another set and the metal looks good but does have a few minor spots that will require welding (like one of the drain holes).  Anyone know who does quality work?

01-27-09
Warren, you haven't said what part of thre country you are in, but, there is a place in ROUND ROCK, TX that does aluminium. Also, go to google and type-in plating. the plating shop in RR TX. has a phone number of "612-255-9296 " Good Luck,JIM

[Warren Wubker]

01-27-09
Warren, you haven't said what part of thre country you are in, but, there is a place in ROUND ROCK, TX that does aluminium. Also, go to google and type-in plating. the plating shop in RR TX. has a phone number of "612-255-9296 " Good Luck,JIM

I'm in Florida, but have learned that good chroming shops are hard to find, especially those that can handle unusual conditions.   That's why I'm hoping to get an answer from someone who has actually had show quality work done on their 57 bumpers.   I can send them anywhere to get good work done.

[35-709]

Lots of places "do aluminum", you want it done right by people that know what they are doing.  If Mike Josephic recommends Graves Plating, I'd be on the phone to Graves Plating!

[TommyO]

RE: aluminum bumpers on 57! 
What part of the bumper is aluminum?  the louvers on the exhaust ports?  Please clue this newbie in!  Many thanks!
tomeo

[Otto Skorzeny]

You're correct. I think GM finally got wise (after what? 7years?) to the rust problem but it was too late. 1957 was the last year for exhaust through the bumpers anyway. The 58s are dummies. I always thought 58 was the same as 57 until someone on this board clued me in.

[Walter Youshock]

Tom,

The 3-piece rear bumpers are sand-cast aluminum and then chrome plated on '57 and '58 Eldorado Sevilles, Biarritzs and Broughams.

As for the difference between the standard steel rear bumpers, there really isn't any between '57 and '58.  '57 was the last year the exhaust went THROUGH the bumper ends and the stainless inserts have a hole for the pipe.  The '58 inserts don't have the hole.

Lucky for me they got smart.  Really, almost all the solid bumper end cores are from 1958 cars.

[P tesone]

This is a subject near and dear to my heart since I've already gone through the agony of replating these bumpers . So I'm going to give you my opinion for whatever it's worth.I'll give you the short answer and then the story behind the answer. But before I do that, I want to say that I agree with what Geoff Newcombe said about Mike Josephic"s opinion on this matter. I don't know Mike personally, but have learned in reading his responses over the years to respect his knowledge and suggestions. So here goes - the short answer is that I used Advanced Plating in Nashville TN ( 1-800-588-6686 ) to rechrome my bumpers in 2006. They did a great job and they still look like they did when I received them , although I must admit the car hasn't had much milage or exposure to weather since then.I have a second Biarritz to restore and I plan on having Advance Plating do the job. Now for" the story behind the story". I purchased both Biarritz"s a number of years ago. Like so many car restoration projects, there were delays and dissappointments. During this time( a number of years), I made many inquiries both by phone and while at Hershey about rechroming these bumpers.I always received the same answer. No one could tell me with confidence that they were up to the job. In fact most just refused to attempt it stating that they had tried to rechrome these bumpers and spent so much time that they couldn't make any money and the customer was never happy about the price nor the quality. So one day back in 2005, I learned about a technique called plasma spraying. The method involves heating metal to a liquid state and spraying it onto the object to be coated.  At that time, everyone told me that the big problem was getting the copper to stick to the aluminum.So I thought if I could encapsulate the aluminum with a layer of copper which had been impregnated into the surface of the bumper, it would be a simple matter to add more copper in the dipping tank.I tried it on a spare license plate surround and it came out PERFECT. So problem solved, right? WRONG - the plating company went out of business before I could get the bumpers done. No problem - if that company could do it , so could any other plating company. WRONG AGAIN - no one wanted to get involved with such a process.Sometime around 2005, all the big name platers who had previouly wanted nothing to do with plating these bumpers -even before I had them plasma sprayed - suddenly became experts on how to get the copper/chrome to stick. Almost all of them were willing to take on the job .I'm not sure why the sudden change occured. I picked Advanced Plating because they said they had done a few sets with success and in fact had two sets in the shop that they were working on.They ended up stripping off the copper plasma spray and starting from scratch.But I was very happy with end result.The problem with the spray technique is that the spray can go on in an uneven thickness and when polished down to accept chrome, it's easy to penetrate into the underlying aluminum. The dipping tank will then not plate the two dissimilar metals well.  Regardless of who does your job, the result is all in the prep work. ALL the peeling chrome and ALL the white aluminum oxide powder must be removed before any attempt at replating is made. It would also help to ask if your plater has or can make up a electrode jig where the electrodes can be placed into the depths of the exhaust and tail light openings and near the severely contoured  curves. I've been told that without proper electrod placement, the chrome will never reach way inside the exhaust and tail light openings and you'll end up with shadows both there and at the curves.That's my story , and as they say, " I'm sticking to it". GOOD LUCK ! Thanks for taking the time to read about my ordeal. I hope it benefits you in some way. I'd be interested in hearing how things work out for you. It may influence me when I decide to get my second set done. Paul Tesone CLC # 6876 - tess352@yahoo.com.  

[Bob Hoffmann CLC#96]

Paul, I'm not even  involved in this  discussion. However, I think your answer is one of the BEST I've seen on this board in some time. It really shows you've been there, done that & trying to help!  Regards, Bob

[David King (kz78hy)]

Warren

I have 2 sources for 1st rate chrome.  both these places have been recommended by other Brougham owners/restorers as shops that do show quality work.

When the time comes for my Brougham to get pretty, one of these places will get the job to replate the chrome.

"Paul's Chrome" is one of the places and "The Finishing Touch" is the other.  There links are below.  The "Finishing Touch" is has also been recommended for stainless polishing and flash chroming Stainless steel.

The down side as I have been told is you are running with the big dogs, so have a fat wallet.  The work though stands on its own.

http://www.paulschrome.com/

http://thefinishingtouchinc.com/

Here is a 3rd one that some guys at work said did good work.  They do some of our show/concept cars.
(I work at GM)

http://blplating.com/

I hope this helps you.

David

[57caddyman]

Warren,

There is only one place to have your bumpers done and it’s Advanced Plating in Tenn.
You call and ask for Steve the owner and tell him John from NY referred you.

I know there are great chrome plating throughout the US, but these babies are a different animal.

I have owned three ’57 Eldos and two of them were done from different houses prior to me getting the car and the chrome peeled right off them as did the saber wheels that were done in Cali(fornia) that the guy paid over $800 per wheel.

Pitting like crazy after a year and the car was never not in a heated garage.

Just bad prepping

Anyway, good luck with Steve and he will stand behind his work.

Tell him John said HI

(Modified for clarity--03/01/09--WY)

[Paul Tesone]

Warren - here it is 13 years later and I'm only now about to re-chrome  the set of rear bumpers I spoke of in my previous post . I was wondering how you made out with your bumpers . Who did you end up sending them to ? Were you happy with the result ? Have they held up over the years ? ... Thanks , Paul Tesone CLC #6876 .