Nickle plating

[Deleted User]

Does anyone know of a good place to have Nickle Plating done in the NW. Preferably Washington. Also a rough idea of the cost for the bumpers, headlights and radiator shroud for a 27?

dave s

I doubt any plating shop will give you price without seeing items to be plated. Try calling

Show Quality Metal Finishing

1115 S. Elizabeth St.

Seattle, WA 98108

Phone: 206-762-6717



Specialty Plating Co.

329 E. Blackburn Rd.

Mount Vernon, WA 98273

Phone: 360-336-2355

Jon B

I don't, but any decent chrome plater can do it (inasmuch as nickle is one of the steps on the way to chrome). It may be authentic in nickel, but you might want to talk to other owners of cars 'of the era' (maybe at a local antique car show) to determine if they went the 'nickle route' or just went with full chrome plating. It's more durable than nickle, if not quite as authentic. But AACA may not take off points for chrome (this you could ask at a local car show). While you're talking to these guys at the show, ask who THEY use for their plating. There is nothing quite like Word of Mouth as a good recommendation!

rambos_ride

Blackie wrote:

Does anyone know of a good place to have Nickle Plating done in the NW. Preferably Washington. Also a rough idea of the cost for the bumpers, headlights and radiator shroud for a 27?

I'm thinking about using these guys out of Spokane, WA for my stepdown bumpers but they don't list anything online for any earlier Hudsons - still maybe worth contacting...





http://www.restorationchrome.com

7XPacemaker

I just sent restorationchrome.com the speedometer and clock bezel from a 51 to see what it would cost to get it plated. the piece that I sent was immaculate. It was from a pacemaker, so it was originally painted (NO PITS). They quoted me a price of $250-$275 to do it. I felt that they were WAY to high. He sent it back and was real nice about it. They seem like nice guys.

rambos_ride

7XPacemaker wrote:

I just sent restorationchrome.com the speedometer and clock bezel from a 51 to see what it would cost to get it plated. the piece that I sent was immaculate. It was from a pacemaker, so it was originally painted (NO PITS). They quoted me a price of $250-$275 to do it. I felt that they were WAY to high. He sent it back and was real nice about it. They seem like nice guys.

That's too bad - the pricing on the stepdown bumpers looks pretty reasonable to me. But then that is chrome plated steel - I know that the cast or pot metal pieces are much harder to plate - maybe that's the reason for the high cost?

[Deleted User]

Blackie wrote:

Does anyone know of a good place to have Nickle Plating done in the NW. Preferably Washington. Also a rough idea of the cost for the bumpers, headlights and radiator shroud for a 27?

Blackie--- Can't help you with location of platers in your area, but can offer some plating information that may help you. There are 2 types for this process, one is to chrome plate directly over steel which is considerably cheaper than the show quality & based on my experience, does not hold up. The show chrome consists of first plating with copper, then nickel & finally chrome & of course is more expensive. The platers I have dealt with charge the same price for nickel even though they do not have to go through the final stage for chrome. If you do go with nickel, ask them to clear coat.

Geoff

When I restored my '29 Hudson 7 passenger sedan back in the sixties, the old-timer chrome plater insisted that the most durable chrome plating was to nickle plate directly on to steel, then chrome on top of that. Copper plating will give a sligtly better finsh, through being able to be polished to a finer degree, but because of three coatings, and very slightly different expansion rates, is more likley to fail in the long run. Whatever, he made an excellent job, and the chrome to this day is as good as when it was applied, and this car has been used - wore out four sets of tyres on it before I sold it (foolishly). Current owner doesn't use it as much, but every time he does, people comment on the superb chrome on it. Contrary to popular opinion, chrome is not entirely waterproof, and does require care and polish, just like the paintwork. leave it uncared for, and the base metal will eventually rust. As far as nickle plating is concerned, Paul O'Neill had his '26 Hudson coupe radiator shell replated by the slow-deposit method, which is different from the fast shiny nickle plating, and it looks superb. Fast plating leaves a more garish very reflective finish. However, very few places do this process nowadays. Hudson used nickle on all their interior fittings up to 1939. Chrome was first used in 1929 on the exterior fittings,

Geoff.

7XPacemaker

rambos_ride wrote:

That's too bad - the pricing on the stepdown bumpers looks pretty reasonable to me. But then that is chrome plated steel - I know that the cast or pot metal pieces are much harder to plate - maybe that's the reason for the high cost?

I can get it plated at a place in Pennsylvania for well under $200. They're bumper prices do seem good. Let us know if you pursue getting bumpers from them

rambos_ride

7XPacemaker wrote:

I can get it plated at a place in Pennsylvania for well under $200. They're bumper prices do seem good. Let us know if you pursue getting bumpers from them

Will do. I'm having some conversations with Restoration Chrome right now because I want to make some slight mods to the front bumper before having them chromed but my pieces need to be straightened first.



Don't get too excited Hudson purists out there! I only want to weld up or remove the front license plate indentation so that it looks like the rest of the bumper.



How well do you know the place in PA? At some point I would like to get the tail light housings, some interior pieces and the front fender spears replated and these are all pot/cast metal then chromed. I always here horror stories about platers who lose parts...and we all know how hard parts are to come by for these babies - so I was just curious as to their reputation - as I would have to ship cross country...



OR - is it better to just hit some of the cars shows and/or Hudson meets to buy parts in nice shape - like tail light housings?