• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Your opinion please.

Cornpatch MO

Well-Known Member
Local time
10:42 AM
Joined
Nov 28, 2011
Messages
3,540
Reaction score
2,671
Location
Southwest Iowa
This is for my 64 Dodge. I got a quote from a chrome plater to do the grill ( polish) That does not include the "C" headlight rings. He said he would have to strip off the old anodizeing, do three steps of polishing, and then clear coat with urathane. And says it would take about 6 hours. The price quote is $400 That sounds like a lot of time and high cost just to do that. Any experiences or opinions out there??.............................MO
 
So if you break that down:
$50 an hr labor x 6hrs = $300. Give him a $100 for materials used and you have your $400. Doesn't sound too far off to me.

I sent all my alluminum trim (grille, headlight rings, trunk finish panel, and trim down both sides) of my `66 Belvedere II to King of Trim for an estimate. Just like body work, nobody is going to give you an estimate without seeing the items 1st hand. Lots of trust in shipping off your trim pieces, I know. I was given an estimate of $2,700 to strip annodizing, knock out dings, sand, polish, re-annodize, paint all argent silver and black back in...that was 3 years ago. The parts I had where good cores to start with (not a lot of sand pitting or dings). I had them do the work. Turn around time was about 6 weeks and I did send the finish panel & side trim back for re-paint. 1st attempt looked like it was masked off by a grade-schooler. 2nd time it looked great. Even though it took a while (and I had some 'do-overs') I would use them again. Unfortunately, I was not given an itemized receipt, just a total price.
 
I did this a few years ago after doing some research. I used about 3 cans of the heavy duty easy off oven cleaner to remove the anodizing. You have to spray it on the grill and let it set about 20 -30 mins to let it work and use a scotchbrite pad to scrub on the grill. This will take a few applications but eventually the grill will be a uniform dull color. Use water to neutralize the easy off and use rubber gloves. If there are any pits or scratches use sandpaper to get them out. Start with a coarser grit and then work your way to finer paper to remove scratches. Now you get to polish. I used some small buffs on the end of a die grinder and a few different abrasives. I'm sure you could do this by hand with some aluminum polish like Flitz. My only concern with spraying some urethane clear on this is if it starts to peel a few years down the road you are going to have a mess on your hands. I just hand polish my grill a few times a year or you could use a product like Sharkhide. I have about 12-16 hours in my grill. Good luck.
 
If I'm not mistaken, 5.7 hemi does this kind of work and is a member here.....
 
DetroitMike on here has redone some coronet-superbee tail/finish panels as well. Believe he has a pretty documented process. Just a FYI
 
Yes 5.7 does a fine job. I talked to him about some headlight C rings and he gave me a good quote. However I found some C rings that did not need straightening and got them done locally. Cost of shipping factors in doing my grille. Thanks for your reply.......................MO

- - - Updated - - -

---
---
Thanks all for the input. Could I have a couple more opinions? In my older years(lazy) I am not so inclined to do this job myself. Somewhere along the line I have lost my patience.. 8-) ......................................MO
 
Auto Transport Service
Back
Top