Who does Plastic Chroming on fiberglass bumpers/

[Wango Mango]

I need a vendor who can plastic chrome fiberglass bumpers.  Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[moparstuart]

 wow that sounds expensive

[471_Magnum]

You might check Advanced Plating down in Nashville.

There are a couple of different methods being using to "chrome" electrically non-conductive materials. Do your homework because many of them aren't very durable.

I think Advance is one of the few companys actually electro plating fiberglass bumpers.

[Wango Mango]

Thanks for the info & I'll check Advanced.  I got a quote from a company called M&M and their quote is $675 each for real chrome.  Another company in Washington state want's $440 each.

[moparstuart]

sound cheap when you conside it cost $150-200 just to plastic rechrome a little speedo bezel  for my 69 runner

[NMike]

The bezels are done in a vacuum chamber. the chamber is pulled to such a low vacuum that the metal boils and the vapours stick to the plastic.

the fiberglass bumper are actually chromed. they are covered in a special copper paint. then they are chromed like a normal metal part.

[evil1]

Found this site awhile ago  http://www.lashopabandit.com/pages/chrome_plastique_en.php

[Joshua]

Have you considered paint? There are some new products out that, when applied properly, you'd swear was real chrome....
http://www.alsacorp.com/products/mirrachrome/mirrachrome.htm

[Wango Mango]

Expensive stuff, but I'll check it out.  Thanks for the link.

[Mike DC]

 
I don't think those prices sound all that high.  It's pretty easy to drop $300-400 just on rechroming an original bumper.  At a modern body shop you'll probably pay that $400 just to get a bumper painted body color.

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Now that we're getting scads of repro panels, I've been wondering if acid-dipping might make a comeback. 

It's totaly impractical when you're dealing with 40yo parts that have random thinned rusty spots & previous repairs.  But with a brand-new body part that has a uniform thickness throughout the stamping and no previous repairs anywhere, dipping would actually be feasible again.