Hauser,
Repair, and replating are two different things. You'd think that one who specializes in the latter, would be good at the former. However it isn't always the case. I've seen some CAD platers, and powder coaters, and people who specialize in the restoration certain of engine bay components do the finish work only, but won't touch any prep work.
For what it's worth, my restorer was very good at welding and brazing--thus he did the repair on my grill. Graves only did the plating. I used 4 platers and am not partial to any one of them. My restorer did warn me, however, that some platers without the experience can easily destroy a freshly chromed grill surround because it is relatively delicate brass; the post-plating process of buffing and finishing can alter the shape rendering it useless. The same holds true for the bow-shaped trim around the tonneau. So, rather than risk anything I let the restorer handle the more delicate stuff through Graves.
Other less delicate stuff went to other places.
