Though I've tried like hell to preserve the chromed plastic parts on my 914, they are deteriorating after 35 years.

I', talking about things like foglight grills, front signal bucket interiors & rear tail light reflectors. These are plastic components on my '72 (yeah, I know that the early foglight grill were metal).

Has anyone had these replated? Did it work out OK? What was the cost?
Pat

I'm curious about this also. Isn't this a metal vapor deposition? Looks like chrome but is not. I think it is aluminum.

You might contact Cal Clark, of Clark's Corvair Parts. He spent a long time (maybe years) perfecting replated and reproduction chromed plastic trim pieces for the Corvair. The stuff he sells now had fewer defects than OEM. He may tell you who he uses. www.corvair.com

Pat's looking to chrome his new rain tray!

Actually... calling CCLINHEHADALEADONACOMPANYINTHEUKTHATDIDTHIS.

Actually I found a couple of places.One is in Florida and another in Washington. I will have to look on Thursday to find the names and numbers.
CCLINCHROMEJOB

Oh for the love of Pat:

http://www.cvvacuumplaters.com/ (probably the Washington one)

http://www.muellercorp.com/chromeplatingplastic.htm (Mass...)

http://www.advancedplating.com/ (Nashvegas)

(we'll teach him how to Google one of these days)

O.K. Pat ,SIT DOWN!!!!!!!
I had the same brilliant idea, I bought 5 sets of fog light grills on E-Bay in the

30.00 to $40.00 range. A friend 914 parts guy in Mich told me he had a set

recromed for $40.00, so I thought if i had $70.00 to $80.00 in them i could

probably get $150.00 a set for them . Pelican and Automotion get about $115.00

each side. So $150.00 a is a better deal than $230.00 ,RIGHT???? And the

chrome job is twice as good as O.E.

I sent the 5 sets to C.V. Platers In British Columbia to be done, 1 set was to far

gone to be done,so i said" Go ahead with the rest" They even told me the final

cost. ( here comes the biggest BRAIN Fart of my life).

Total for 4 sets, oh just a little over $600.00 for the 4 sets.YEA that,s right I ok

'ede that price . So 4 sets rechromed ,cost $600.00,+ $140.00= $740.00=

$185.00 per set,throw in $10.00 each shipping I spent. Now I have 3 sets for sale

at $200.00 a set. Any one intertrested????????

Why I'll make so much Fu---n money on this I,ll be able to retire to the French

Riveria. I will admit the job they do is outstanding,better chrome than O.E

But the market for somthing that costs $30.00 less than O.E. is not going to

be very big at all. And so ends this Tale of woe !!!!!!!!

Sheepishly, Dave the bargain man

I had a couple sets done at the shop in FL and they looked excellent. Heavier, and much better than OEM. The last new set I got from Porsche had very foggy/hazy plating. I don't remember what I paid, but it was about ten years ago.

I will have pictures for you all Tonight, and another thing, It only took C.v.

Platers 2 months to do the job. From my door back to me 2 months !!!!!!!!

There ia a place in Fort Worth that will re-chrome plastic.

MrG's Rechromed plastic. I had them do the AC vents on Betty's 914. They came out looking great.

They are on Elliot Reeder Road in Fort Worth, TX. I don't remember the address.

Pat,
What you refer to as deteriorating, the rest of us would term "patina".

Paul

Now, that is just plain beating a guy when he's down! Wouldn't be original, but sure would be purty!

Webster deines patina as "a fine crust or film....". Yeppir, that's what I want, on Crem Brulee' (sp)!

Paul, why repaint your 914? The nice patina is now gone!

Nope, not in the market for crust or film - just chrome where it belongs.

sumas wa, just on the U.S. side of the border. note the info re shipping to canada. they handle all the paper work. if there's any duty to b paid it could be both ways. i wonder how the company deals with chips or dings in the exisiting finish. the solstice items look good and they should seeing as how the parts are NEW or NEAR NEW.

k

Hi Guys,

FYI
Just a word of caution on chrome plating plastic parts. I looked into this a few years ago got a list of suppliers from Hemmings Motor News & through my contacts in Automotive. If you read the fine print on the ones I checked out, they say for interior pieces only. Not to be used for exterior services.

When I questioned these supplier's they said it was a special exterior plastic chroming process and no one in the U.S. does it because of environmental reasons. After that I gave up & ordered a spare set of front fog lamp grills from Porsche in Germany.

Check the fine print.

Tom

Tom,

This is really good info! Doesn't sound like a good idea for foglight grills, but what about replating things like reflectors used in taillights? Or front signal buckets?
Pat

Pat,

I didn't ask the platers about these items. Look at Hemmings Motor News supplier section for plastic chrome platers & call one of them. I believe there are a few on the East coast.

T

I sure have lots of parts that can be replated, and I expect that there are quite a few other people with large stocks.

Vacuum deposition is one technique, but normal plating generally means getting a layer of copper on the plastic, then nickel, and finally chrome. It is fairly easy to get copper deposited, then the nickel for the bright reflective surface, and chrome to protect the nickel layer. Surface preparation is a critical aspect of the whole process. The initial surface has to be essentially perfect before the copper layer goes on. I expect that this is where the greatest portion of the cost is.

I believe the powder coat types have now come up with a way to apply a chrome type finish...But with plastic parts, heat would be an issue...

2-OH!

2-OH

I'll check this with my powder coater friend. They cure for a short period at 400 degree's & it may be ok with some plastic. I'll take a set of grungy front fog light grills to see what he can do. If it works out I'll post pictures with his company name, etc. It will take about 2-3 weeks to find out.

Tom

That would be for some types of engineering plastics. The plastic grilles do not fall in that category. Having done power painting for a short while I'd guess you would have a pretty pool of plastic.

It was so hot in the painting area that we had the barn doors open in a howling blizzard and the temperature got down to moderately pleasant.

Here's my report from my powder coating friend. They cannot coat plastic parts with a chrome type finish. They bake @ approx 400 degree for about 20 minutes and plastic will warp and melt out of shape. I understand chrome plated plastic is a special process without heat. I think they call it electroplating. There is probably different processes for interior & exterior chromed plastic so be careful & ask questions. My powder coater can do most everything by turning down the oven temp. for different applications, but plastic is something they can't do.

Tom