hi there, im considering building myself an mk indy during the summer months. i would like to have the front wishbones chromed and maybe the front shock springs. maybe even the roll bar.

does anyone have any experience with getting these sort of things chromed? how much is it likely to cost, probably very expensive? will rust be a problem with these chromed parts if kept outside (i had a mini and it need constant treatment - prob crap chroming)

thanks in advance for all help!

not sure about chroming springs, i'd have thought it was likely to crack and peel like that

It's quite common for bike springs to be chromed so i can't see the problem....

[Edited on 15/2/04 by protofj]

Chrome springs would be great if the car did not move, Because chrome is very hard and would flake have a look at a well used socket set you can sometimes see where this has happend on the sockets.

Wishbones not a problem although it's not the chrome you pay for it's the polishing time.

A good tip is to do some pre-polishing unless you know the polisher very well.
Look around the welds for pot holes and small amounts of spare wire, round off all sharp edges, chrome does not like sharp edges and any cavitys can produce rust spots.
And remember chrome does not hide much, it can make what you have got look worse.
I have had a number of wishbones chromed and my Viento ones cost £60 last week that was for 2 large bottom ones and and 2 small top on he still wanted to put the price up even when I picked them up.

We are not short of chrome places in Manchester,if you do go looking ask if they do show chrome for vehicles or motorcycles etc.

There is a good one in crewe called Niphos they advertises in motoring magazines and is quite good, although I am sure you could find someone local.

The roll bar looks great chromed the only reason I did not have it done is because I did not want it bolted on and would prefer it to be built in to the structure of the car and not hope the bolts would save my life.

Mark

I have heard that chroming can make metal brittle.

what I can give is direct experience of cost. A quote for a windscreen surround was a bit over 200 quid!!!!!!

There is 'chrome in a can' paint - dunno if it works or not, but I sure as hell wont pay for the real thing!


atb

steve

quote:

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Originally posted by MarkL
Chrome springs would be great if the car did not move, Because chrome is very hard and would flake have a look at a well used socket set you can sometimes see where this has happend on the sockets.

So motorcycle suspension doesn't move????
Must be a pretty shite socket set, i have snap on and facom sockets that have actualy worn the chrome off they have been used that much and none have cracked...

The roll bar looks great chromed the only reason I did not have it done is because I did not want it bolted on and would prefer it to be built in to the structure of the car and not hope the bolts would save my life.

most rollcages are bolted together, you just need the correct bolts.
Tim

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Hellfire - 16/2/04 at 01:44 AM

We chromed our wishbones, rollbar and headlight bar all for less than half Mr Gusty's quote. We know a man... we did polish ourselves as this is half the battle.

Have a look at our website for the pictures...

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splitrivet - 16/2/04 at 10:23 AM

Best bet if your having tube chromed is take the tube to a polishers first before you weld/bend it etc,that way they can just run it thru a machine to polish it if they do it afterwards it has to be done by hand.
This cuts the cost dramatically as the polishing is the dearest part of chroming.
Cheers,
Bob

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nutter - 16/2/04 at 03:01 PM

chromeing is expensive if you want it done right but yeah the wishbones are some of the better things to do and getting all the bolts and stuff cadmium plated would also be a good idea for some nice bits, also it depends on what the material is, and how good you want the finish i think for the best they get copper plated and ally needs nickel plating first but i will check my facts on this

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