Chrome plating

Die cast zinc?

Andrew,
The only plater I would recommend is Graves . They do the best work but may be more than what you want to spend. What parts are you needing plated?

A bunch of us have used this place- Courtesy Metal Polishing and have been happy. If your vent looks like the ones used on early Mustangs and Barracudas they were around 85 + shipping several years ago. If I can get time I'll look for before and after pic's of mine

Gary S wrote: A bunch of us have used this place- Courtesy Metal Polishing and have been happy. If your vent looks like the ones used on early Mustangs and Barracudas they were around 85 + shipping several years ago. If I can get time I'll look for before and after pic's of mine

Awesome, thank you! Four vents were 85 plus shipping? Or just one?      

Yeah, mine are off a boat from 68 - 70 and are very pitted.

D&D Chrome Plating has done a bunch of work for me. Reasonable prices and quality work. They are five minutes from my house so I haven't tried mail order with them. Dave is the owner and will likely be the one you speak with. He was around $120 to re-chrome my four step pad surrounds on the Mustang.

https://www.facebook.com/DD-chrome-plating-148990848527724/

If you’re not beholding to chrome, have you considered powder-coat?

andrewskiii180 wrote: ultrarunner wrote: If you’re not beholding to chrome, have you considered powder-coat? All I want is for the vents to look somewhat better than they are now haha. I'm not familiar with powder coating. Do you know a good place?

If all you want is a "better" look, try this:



Probably better than powder coat!!!

Replating of white metals like zinc die castings common to older boats can be done several ways.

Step 1: removal of the old plating. It’s expensive and if not done with care can ruin the part. Where I used to work, we charged 2-3X the cost of plating.

Step 2: polishing and buffing. Lots of folks can do it. Some can do it right. Generally a few polishing belts and a buffing wheel properly used and you’re ready for plating.

Step 3: one option is to cyanide copper strike and a heavy acid copper plate building up enough copper to buff it into pits and voids to facilitate a good nickel chrome plate.

Step 4: whether or not you choose to acid copper plate and copper buff it’s necessary for a good nickel plate followed by chrome plating. If you live near the salt or you want your metal parts to outlast you so as to eliminate the hassle again in a few years, automotive duplex nickel will really add life (you don’t see automobile chrome peeling off in a few years like you did before modern automotive standards took hold). If that’s not your cup of tea, a decent heavy buildup of bright nickel might keep you from a do-over.

Plating buildup is inherent to longevity and corrosion resistance and you truly get what you pay for if you get my drift.

Few shops will offer duplex nickel or acid copper buffing, but the combination of those two is what you want if you’re hoping to do it once and for all.