Just had the rear chrome on the '71 280 re-done. Thought I would share what I learned.
Triple Plating: I thought this meant that a good chrome job dipped the pieces into the chrome bath 3 times for good protection. No. Triple Plating means that the parts are dipped into three different metals: copper, nickel, and chrome.
First the pieces are cleaned, dents removed, old chrome removed. Blisters are either ground down or if really bad, drilled out and plugs inserted. The cleaned up, smooth piece is then dipped in copper. A good job will leave it in the copper for several hours.
Cheaper shops will cheat here and give a shorter copper bath.
Pieces coming out of copper look weird, imagine a pure copper plated 113 bumper.
At this stage buffing is done. Buffing cannot be done after the next plate is on so after Copper is the last chance for good buffing. After the piece is really nice, it goes into the Nickel bath.
Nickel has a yellow cast to it while Chrome is blue. If you have some old chrome and can see some mottled yellowish stuff showing through that you can't buff out, that's where the chrome has worn off and the Nickel is showing through.
The Nickel bath takes about 30 minutes. All the baths use electrodes and anodes to do the plating with wires connected to each piece. The anode gives up its metal and eventually has to be replaced. All this stuff is a real bear now with environmental issues, good for the air and water but it has increased costs.
After the Nickel and inspection, comes the Chrome plating. Believe it or not this takes very little time, as little as one minute even less. The chrome is the easy, quick step. Then comes inspection and finishing.
Should last many years, reputable shop will give a lifetime warranty.
Costs vary but will increase if the parts need manual repair such as dents, warts, rust. A small complicated piece like a trunk star can cost more than a larger, smooth piece. I bought a new Star and trunk handle from MB for less than the rechrome charge.
Mine came out real nice and makes a big difference in appearance.
Rear bumper about $175 each; tail light surround $110 each; Trunk mold strips, $65 each. The trunk star and handle estimate $65 each. (MB cost for new Star and Trunk handle is about $35 each.)
These are Philadelphia prices.
Richard M
P.S. If you think a re-chrome for a 113 is expensive: The re-chrome shop was re-plating all the chrome parts on a 1950's fire truck from Long Island. Estimated bill was approaching $75,000.
'71 280 SL, Tobacco Brown, Cognac interior, Tan top, Jump Seat, 80K orig miles, NYC.
