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Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ

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Rechrome my Plastic Dash parts

I'm looking for a shop that can do quality plastic rechroming on my dash parts for my 1965 Ford Ranchero.

I live in Oxnard, California (between LA and Santa Barbara). I am very reluctant to ship off something that I can't replace no matter how much I insure it for. Anyone know of any place within a reasonable driving distance?

Thanks,

Jeff

Jeff C [surname deleted for privacy by Editor]
- Oxnard, California USA
2000

Ed. note: Sorry, this RFQ is outdated, and contact info no longer available; but technical replies are welcome. No commercial suggestions please ( huh? why?)

Hi, Jeff.

This won't help too much, and I apologize for that, but it's very unlikely that those parts were chrome plated. Rather, they were aluminum vacuum metallized (an extremely thin layer of aluminum is deposited in a vacuum chamber, and then covered with a clear coat to keep it from rubbing off immediately). These parts don't have anything approaching the durability of real chrome plating. I remember how 60's interiors rapidly went from shiny chrome armrest brackets to mustard color. But only a few plastics can be chrome plated, and I'm not sure if your dashboard parts are made of those plastics (usually plating-grade ABS).

I don't know if there are any vacuum metallizing shops serving the consumer market, but that is who you have to look for rather than plating shops. If total authenticity is not required, today's "chrome-look paint" looks very close to those 1960's interior parts. Good luck.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

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