Chrome plating recommendations.

Years ago I used Van Nuys Plating...in Van Nuys, obviously...not sure if they're still there, with Kali rules and all that, but they were nice and helpful.
 
A non-BMW reference. I needed a single door handle from a 1956 Alfa replated. Lowest quote I got for “not quite show quality was $200. Hard for me to understand why it cost that much to do just a handle.

A pair of new reproductions was $275 from the UK. They arrive today, so I don’t yet know how good the chrome is.

Is there good chromium for less avail. In Mexico?
 
Many decades ago, before the internet was invented, I was restoring my 1954 Beetle and I sent off the door handles and tail light chrome rings to a Los Angeles shop with a big ad in Hemmings magazine. I was so disappointed when I got them back. They had engraved the work order number on the backs of the handles and put on the platings so thick that the locks would no longer fit into the handles. The tail light chrome rings were also now useless as they didn't fit between the glass lenses and the housings. Bending the tabs to attempt to mount them cracked the chrome. I was young and inexperienced so I didn't complain about them rendering my parts unusable. Wish I had been able to get good recommendations first. I think the shop I sent them to was catering more to hot rod customers where shiny parts are all that matter vs restoration customers who want their parts as close to original as possible. I thought chrome was chrome.
 
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JFENG said:
A non-BMW reference. I needed a single door handle from a 1956 Alfa replated. Lowest quote I got for “not quite show quality was $200. Hard for me to understand why it cost that much to do just a handle. A pair of new reproductions was $275 from the UK. They arrive today, so I don’t yet know how good the chrome is.
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Having parts re-chromed is breathtakingly expensive. And like many things, it has really gone up in recent years. I suspect that a lot of the cost results from meeting environmental regulations; no more dumping the old solutions down the drain or into the creek behind the shop.

And yes, you can often buy new, repro parts for less than the cost of plating your old parts. How can that be? Well, they aren't made - or plated - in the west, so their old plating solutions CAN just be dumped into the pond that supplies drinking water to the local favella. I have found that the plating on repro parts often doesn't hold up all that well, and of course, the parts themselves are not originals. In my opinion, you get a better outcome by paying up for high-quality plating of original parts, but yes, it can get ridiculously expensive.

In terms of recommendations for West Coast platers, I have had good luck with Sherms Custom Plating in Sacramento (shermsplating.com). I have always dealt with then remotely, shipping the parts back and forth. One decision you need to make when choosing a plater is whether you trust your parts to UPS, FedEx or USPS or whether you want to drop them off / pick them up in-person, at the shop. Certainly if something goes missing, it's better to be able to be there in person, show the "before" picture to the clerk and demand that they search for the item in question. Having said that, I've never had this problem with Sherms, though the shipper - rather than the plater - is probably the weak point in that chain.
 
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StephenZ said:
Years ago I used Van Nuys Plating...in Van Nuys, obviously...not sure if they're still there, with Kali rules and all that, but they were nice and helpful.
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Coast Motor Werk said:
My daughter and I are restoring her 73 3.0s and I would like to re-chrome the bumpers and door handles. Does anyone know of a quality shop on the west coast?
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Thanks! Parts are at Van Nuys plating! Nice people!
 
There is a shop in Holyoke Massachusetts that does excellent work. CS bumpers will be in the $4K range + shipping. Can contact vsr1.com & they can advise you.
 
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it sounds like you found a place, I have had parts done at Salt Lake Chrome and it worked out well
 
I saw here, (Bogotá, Colombia) a set of new door handles, and a new front bumper (middle section)
 
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