Can anyone recommend a chrome plating svc local to Houston?
My father-in-law has a swingarm coming for his Indian Scout & is wanting to get a quote on having it chromed.

Houston-local preferred, to avoid having to ship it, as it's rather large.

Thanks

Bump

https://www.google.com/search?...ceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Google shows several places all around Houston, You could call Xtensive Customs on the North side to see who they use...

Sorry. I have never had anything chrome plated.

Dude, unless you 'must' be able to visit the shop to evaluate their operation, I would just search MC/Car enthusiast forums for chrome platers that have good reviews. Quality is MUCH more important than location!

Also, a Swingarm is NOT that large....A Car Bumper however, now that's large!

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
Dude, unless you 'must' be able to visit the shop to evaluate their operation, I would just search MC/Car enthusiast forums for chrome platers that have good reviews. Quality is MUCH more important than location!

Also, a Swingarm is NOT that large....A Car Bumper however, now that's large!

The Scout (99-03) swingarm is actually pretty large. It's more of a T-shape (from the side), measures 13Wx19Lx15H, not just the typical straight arm. So, a bit large to pay for shipping, again after having it shipped in from purchase.

Also, was just checking to see if anyone here had personal experience with a company in Houston before just starting to make calls & going off of Google reviews.

The box for the Cobb exhaust on my Fiesta ST was large enough to make that swingarm look like a paperweight. So you certainly CAN ship that swingarm. Keep the packaging it was shipped and and use that to ship it via UPS.

BTW, I went into the shipping aspect for a reason. The EPA is starting to regard any Chrome Plating operation as a Superfund sight, because they all have some of the most hazardous chemicals on hand in large volumes. This means they have a full on encyclopedia of regulations they have to adhere to. As a result something that could be plated for under 50 dollars back the 60's now costs well over 1000 dollars. Back in 1998 I priced out the cost to have a small luggage rack for a Honda 750 re-plated and after getting a quote for 400 dollars I sandblasted it and painted it black.

To sum it up, there may not be ANY chrome plater's still doing business in Houston. It's very likely you will have to ship it to either LA or Detroit and the shipping costs will be nothing compared to what it will cost to have it plated.

I don't have Houston referrals for you, but I'd imagine that you've got a selection to choose from. Like nhracraft said, quality is much more important than saving on shipping.

I have a 59 Impala with original bumpers. If and when I chose to rechrome, I'm going to ship out of state because CA gov't has run the good guys out of business or they've become too pricey.

Thanks for the explanation.

Personally I'm ok with keeping it black, but it's his bike.
Maybe the cost will sway him on keeping it black, or having it painted/powdercoated instead if he doesn't like how it looks when it comes in.

I would call two or three local plating shops, get prices, and see how long you'll have to wait to get in line.

The other option is Mexico, regulations are lax compared to the USA..

CA is a no go for chrome unless you just want show chrome, the environmental rules are brutal on these companies.

I had a chrome swingarm on my softail, looked good, but it was also another thing to polish...

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
I had a chrome swingarm on my softail, looked good, but it was also another thing to polish...

Agreed. We'll see what happens. It's supposed to get here tomorrow. So we'll see what shape it's in & if all the small parts are present.

I don't know of any specific places but I was going to say to call a local custom shop and ask who they recommend/use.
Extensive was mentioned above would be an excellent choice, I love their fabrication skills.

EPA requirements have not only driven the price up, but also resulted in less quality in my experience. last chroming I had done (1999 I think) was done in Mexico where they ignore just about any rules. All told ran me $400 to plate all exposed parts on a FLH full dress front end. Today I'd just buff the aluminum and paint the rest black, as re-financing the house is out of the question. Also from what I've seen it wouldn't be as pretty. Yes; I am a chromoholic.

Anyway we could maybe list the EPA on craigslist?

Most shops no longer do tri-plate (bare steel prep, copper strike, polish, repeat until perfect, nickel-plated, then hexavalent chrome plate.)

Instead, it is steep prep, nickel, nickel, then trivalent chrome plate.

The result is a warmer hue, not the traditional bright mirror blue-hued chrome, and the chrome is not as hard, nor resilient to elements.

Thank Erin "Tits" Brockovich and runaway EPA for that.

I use "Ogden Chrome" in Utah.
They do original style plating and the works are excellent. They are not the lowest cost, but to show work or doing hard to find parts for classics, it is worth the money.

Will pass all of this along.
The swingarm is due to be delivered today.

BIL had all the chrome work done on his 62 Corvette by these guys. Family run and they do excellent work. Got to meet them when we picked up the parts. These guys still use an eight step process for plating!


https://www.shchrome.com/

https://www.shchrome.com/services/process/

As monkey mentioned, find a shop that will do the the necessary surface prep, then copper strike and polish between multiple copper strikes, then 2 nickel baths, and finally hex chrome; not trivalent. There are a few good shops left - a couple are in Ohio of all places.

Fil got a quote.
$1200 to do the swingarm

Anyone have any experience with chrome powder coating & how closely it matches played chrome?