Bumper rechrome costs

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markl
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2002 2:20 pm
Location: Illinois

Bumper rechrome costs

Post by markl »

Wow, big sticker shock today.
Got estimates from a very well known restoration shop to rechrome my bumpers. Did paint a year ago and have been driving the car without bumpers for a few years. Decided it was time to put them back on and bring them up visually to the rest of the car. No accident damage or rust, just thin original chrome and a bit wavy. Chrome has now been stripped confirming condition and I was given multiple options for level of finish. Ranges from "looks really good" ($8500) to "Peabble Beach, it's perfect" ($16,000). Guess it's all about hours to make them perfect but I wasn't quit prepared for this. Is this the new normal for chrome? It's been 10 years since my last chrome bill and I know EPA issues have changed the game but really?
By the way, I blame Tom and his recent bumper rechrome posts completely for all of this. Thanks Tom. 8)
-M
1951 212 Drogo Spyder #0147E
John Vardanian
Posts: 1906
Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2002 12:13 am
Location: San Francisco Area

Re: Bumper rechrome costs

Post by John Vardanian »

Hi Mark, in Northern California we have Sherm's Custom Plating in Sacramento that offers "Pebble Beach" level work at a premium and they still seem to be more reasonable than you guy. To take the bumpers done to PB level, for example, they finish them to a perfectly flat finish before they give it to back to you, meaning any reflection in the finish is wave or distortion free. This finish, mind you, is only in copper. They give you the bumpers only in copper to take and fit to the car. If you tell them that no need because the bumpers fit perfectly well anyway, as I did, they insist that you do take them and put them on. So, I took them home and fit them to the car and sure enough they fit fine as they had before. When I took them back and grumbled that the exercise and my two hour round trip was futile, the fellow held the bumper up against the light and said, look here and here. I said what am I looking at, then he points out the minutest waves at the bracket points, where cinching down the bolts created some slight distortion in image reflection. I would not have noticed that nor would I have cared about those little waves, but apparently they did. So, they coppered and flattened the bumpers again before applying the nickel and the chrome. I am writing this not to boast, but to to provide you a point of reference; that if they are going to charge you that much they'd better provide a similar level of product.

john
PF Coupe
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tyang
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Re: Bumper rechrome costs

Post by tyang »

Hi Mark,

I'm starting to take offense when people throw around the word "Pebble Beach" quality chrome everywhere! There are a few shops that actually do "Pebble Beach" quality, but most other shops just say they do! I'd say 95% of the world wouldn't know the difference anyway, and I feel it's up to the customer what they want and what they want to pay for. I used to have three levels of chrome plating that I offered to my clients but now basically offer two levels. Real Pebble Beach quality, and a second tier chrome plating that is pretty good, are now the two levels I offer. I've eliminated my third level chrome plater because it wasn't at the level the I would allow to go out of my shop.

That being said, my second tier plater is considered "the best" among my local Chevy and Ford show car owners, and I would consider good for 95% of the world. I've been using him a lot because he's usually priced about 50-40% the cost of my top tier guy, and he's local to me so I can pick up copper plated bumpers for fitting a lot easier than shipping them back and forth.

Each job is different, so costs vary widely. The 330 bumpers I recently had plated showed some accident damage, so the fronts were a little tweaked. I had to spend some time carefully fitting and adjusting to get them reasonably fitted to the car. I also sent out a whole batch of parts including door locks, door handles, fuel filler doors, and reverse light housings. The total chrome bill came in at about $9K give or take, but I also spent a few days taking parts off and fitting them back onto the car. The car looks great, and I think well worth the effort, but not cheap. To 90% of the world, they'll say the chrome looks fantastic, but I can spot the slight wave or distortions in the reflections that wouldn't be there with my top tier guy, but would it have been worth double or triple that amount? Perfection costs money, and I am constantly finding where the customer wants to be.

It's also taken a few years to work with my plater to understand the needs and idiosyncrasies of Ferrari chrome. Having the wrong guy do your chrome can lead to disastrous results!

Good luck!

Tom
'63 330 America #5053
markl
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2002 2:20 pm
Location: Illinois

Re: Bumper rechrome costs

Post by markl »

The shop doing my work is Ferrari only and has had more than a few 100 point PB Ferraris in the past.
They gave me 3 tiers of plating all involved multiple trips back and forth to the plater, working metal and copper, refitting, etc.
The PB option involved splitting the bumper lengthwise, working the metal, welding it back up, then all the copper, fitting, more copper then nickel and chrome. I did not opt for the PB quality as the rest of my car is not. I had no idea it could get this complicated or expensive. I am learning. By the way, pricing they gave me included all of their shop time for removal and replacement as well as metal work, fitment between plating etc. Thanks for your input.
-M
1951 212 Drogo Spyder #0147E
Timo
Posts: 216
Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 8:56 pm
Location: Riverside, California

Re: Bumper rechrome costs

Post by Timo »

Are you sure about those numbers or is there some extremely unusual features on these bumpers ? Surely they must be something much more complicated than found on Ferraris.
For past 20+ years I've used a plating service that's been around almost 100 years and has been supplying countless Pebble Beach entries, including many class and Best of Show winners, but never have I heard or seen a bumpers costing $16K to refinish, but that's just my experience.
I've spent several hundered grand with them over past two decades, but most I've ever spent on pair of bumpers was maybe $5-6K and they were very large, late '50's American luxury car bumper assemblies made of multiple (+/-10) components, included variety of materials like anodized aluminum, die cast alloys, stamped steel and stainless (i.e. much more complex than any Ferrari ever produced). All parts were refinished to "Pebble Beach" quality and definitely way beyond OEM expectations. Of course the fact that I spent about $70K with them on all of the "bright trim" (Alloy, Chrome & SS which the car had more than twice the amount found on ANY Ferrari) restoration on that one car alone might've help to get better than fair pricing.
I've also earned other privileges, like when I recently needed few pieces done in a hurry. I shipped them overnight Thursday afternoon and called the shop requesting to have them ready for me to pick up early part of following week. Only thing they asked me was that I wouldn't show up first thing Monday morning.
OTOH, to have my plating service provider refinish a '65 Mustang or VW bumper will likely cost a grand or more, but it'll look different than that new $29.95 (?) Chinese made aftermarket item.

Tom, would you care to elaborate what these "idiosyncrasies of Ferrari chrome" you refer to ? Other than perhaps less than desirable or ideal OEM fit or finish, I've never really seen anything on these cars that I would consider anything specifically unusual.

P.S. I just realized OP is not talking about just plating shop services, but also other work like removal, potentially multiple disassembly/fitting/re-assembly procedures & installation, etc involving another service provider.
Timo
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tyang
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Re: Bumper rechrome costs

Post by tyang »

Timo wrote:Are you sure about those numbers or is there some extremely unusual features on these bumpers ? Surely they must be something much more complicated than found on Ferraris.
For past 20+ years I've used a plating service that's been around almost 100 years and has been supplying countless Pebble Beach entries, including many class and Best of Show winners, but never have I heard or seen a bumpers costing $16K to refinish, but that's just my experience.
I've spent several hundered grand with them over past two decades, but most I've ever spent on pair of bumpers was maybe $5-6K and they were very large, late '50's American luxury car bumper assemblies made of multiple (+/-10) components, included variety of materials like anodized aluminum, die cast alloys, stamped steel and stainless (i.e. much more complex than any Ferrari ever produced). All parts were refinished to "Pebble Beach" quality and definitely way beyond OEM expectations. Of course the fact that I spent about $70K with them on all of the "bright trim" (Alloy, Chrome & SS which the car had more than twice the amount found on ANY Ferrari) restoration on that one car alone might've help to get better than fair pricing.
I've also earned other privileges, like when I recently needed few pieces done in a hurry. I shipped them overnight Thursday afternoon and called the shop requesting to have them ready for me to pick up early part of following week. Only thing they asked me was that I wouldn't show up first thing Monday morning.
OTOH, to have my plating service provider refinish a '65 Mustang or VW bumper will likely cost a grand or more, but it'll look different than that new $29.95 (?) Chinese made aftermarket item.

Tom, would you care to elaborate what these "idiosyncrasies of Ferrari chrome" you refer to ? Other than perhaps less than desirable or ideal OEM fit or finish, I've never really seen anything on these cars that I would consider anything specifically unusual.

P.S. I just realized OP is not talking about just plating shop services, but also other work like removal, potentially multiple disassembly/fitting/re-assembly procedures & installation, etc involving another service provider.
Hi Timo,

It's the little things (idiosyncrasies) I don't have to explain to my plater to keep from having to do things again, like masking the ball socket on the shifter so the plating doesn't change the dimensions of the shifter, or not overly plating the fuel rail to copy the industrial plating the original fuel rails had.

The other issues I have are the original bumpers on Enzo Era cars fit pretty well to the cars, but accident damage and the bodywork changes the way the bumpers fit. It's a conversation with the customer how far he or she wants to go to correct these issues. I currently have a customer with a SII 330 with a badly dented and damaged rear center section. This bumper is not available anywhere. Even "he who shall not be named" doesn't have one. Repairing the original one will cost a few thousand dollars of work and repair, but making a new one can cost the same. I've been working on getting some digital files made of good bumpers, but no matter what kind of technology we have, it will still take good old fashioned metal fabrication skills to make one. Chrome is not cheap, but worth it if you find a good guy. Your mileage may vary.

Tom
'63 330 America #5053
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