Has anybody here had their 53 grille chromed? I know I could put a 56 in it, and they look good, but I really like the looks of the 53, that's what defines the truck in my opinion.
What do I need to do to mine to get it ready to chrome? Should I just send it the way it is, do some smoothing or what? How much do you think this might cost?
I have a very definite look I am going for on the front end, and the chrome 53 grille is a major part of that look.
thanks in advance

 

MMMMM chrome!!

Call around to the local chromers (if you have any) and find out what they need, get references also. I've heard horror stories of parts getting lost or ruined.

I beleive that for chroming you will need to get your grill down to bare metal and metal finish it to a pristine condition. No filler, etc, the chrome won't stick to filler and the chrome won't fill in and smooth any dents or scratches. If you have dents and scratches now, you will have pretty chromed dents and scratches if you don't fix them first.

I personally don't have any experience with sending anything to the chromers...
...but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night....


Good luck with it
Bobby

 

Chrome on the front is pretty but expensive. Depending on the amount of prep work the chrome guy has to do, I would guess that you will pay 350-500. I already had the SS bumper on my 54 so I painted the same color as the truck. Good luck, Jag

 

I had a 56 grill rechromed about 2 yrs ago and it ran me $275 without any metal finishing work required. As said previously, the metal needs to be perfect before chroming or any imperfections will just show up. It is very difficult to find a quality chrome shop that is inexpensive due to environmental issues and the polishing process is labor intensive.

 

I've had the same question with my '53. I like the looks of a chrome grill, but you can only find 56's. One local chrome shop said it was too big, the other is saying it would be difficult to chrome and would be $500. I'm thinking about painting mine metallic silver. I've seen pics and they look nice. Another option is here: https://www.johnsf100.com/4856shop/index.htm
They do a chrome exchange, including '53's.

 

The more coats of copper that go on first, the better the chrome finish. Originally Ford used two coat of copper, followed by a coat of nickel, then the chrome.

During the Korean War, no copper or chrome was used, only nickel plating over bare metal with a coat of clear lacquer on top. The lacquer wore away quickly, and the "chrome" rapidly pitted and dis-colored.

Trying to find decent "Korean War Chrome" (practice was used 1950/52) is almost impossible today.

 

Something you may want to consider as an alternative is having it done with "spray Chrome". It is a paint process and if done correctly looks very good. However, it needs to be done in a controlled humidity and temperature environment to get the best results. There are some shops using it but I haven't researched who is best. I assume they need a paint booth due to the complexity of the process. Should be cheaper than chrome.

Alsa Corp. (www.alsacorp.com) is a manufacturer of the product and they can probably put you in touch with someone in your area that is doing it.

 

I just got the Eastwood catalog the other day, they had a powder coat that looked like chrome, but I thought it might not "pop" like chrome. Anybody seen this stuff used?

 

I have seen the chrome powder coat and, as long as you're not expecting to see "chrome", it's fine...looks more like polished aluminum than a mirror finish like real chrome. Looks real good on suspension parts though.
The local shop here in SoCal charges $300 for a grille in triple plate. Unless you're a metal wiz there's probably not too much you can do to help with the process. Stripping the paint off is a step in the right direction but other than that I'd leave it to the professionals at the shop.

 

Thanks guys, as always, good advise.

 

ooookkkkkk?????

here's another chromie question... several years ago at the Supernats I was walking thru the trucks and something shiney on the ground caught my eye... it was a chrome '53 grill... I bought it. Now that I look at it on a less than brilliant day, I can see that the chrome isn't that good a job... (here's the question part) Can a chromer strip a previously chromed grill and re-do it ???... it's nice and straight, but I can see some imperfections almost like spiderwebbing in the finish and it just ain't gonna do...

experts ???????


thanks
John :

 

John, yes they can...in fact, my chromer suggests just that for the "Made in China" repops that many vendors are selling now.

 

John-
Yes, the grille can be rechromed. The professionals always polish the metal prior to chrome plating to get all the imperfections out.

 

great !!

ok Charlie... who's your daddy... no that's not right ??? who's your chromer

john

 

I use Equality Plating in La Mesa, CA. I forgot that I put some pics of grille parts that they did for me...there is a center section from my 50 Merc and a before and after pic of a grille tooth from a 54 DeSoto. Terry, the owner, is the president of some Pontiac club and does all the pot metal restoration himself. I was just over there a couple of days ago in my 56 F100 and we talked about grille plating...my grille has some dings and we were discussing whether it would be better to go with a repop or a repair/replate on the original. That's when he told me about the repops not having a good copper plate nor do they have a good thick coat of nickel which gives the chrome its luster. He's the only shop left in San Diego and with the way things are going in the state of California with the EPA, OSHA, etc; he may be the last ever.