Kosmic Krome is made by House of Kolor and is essentially a basecoat that is meant to have a clear top coat. Craig Frasier has done some interesting work with this product. Kosmic Krome is available in other metal colors as well.

 

Have you guys seen this yet? I think I'm going to give it a try...



Spray-On Chrome - Restoration Blog - Jay Leno's Garage

 

Actually, CharlieLed....Cosmichrome is not made by HOK (I was not mistaken the name, I was not refering to Kosmic Krome), it is not even a paint per say. Please, feel free to educate yourself here.

There are quite a few places that do spray on chrome though, HOK is one of em...some are better than others...some are no more than a reflective paint that chips and fades fairly quick.

 

No need to get defensive...I did not mention you or your post when I brought up the House of Kolor product. This is yet another option for those not wishing to go the expense of real chrome. Cosmichrome or Spectrachrome are just other names for what was demo'd in the Jay Leno video...all of these techniques require a massive outlay of cash and for the most part are beyond the reach of the DIYer. As I said, the House of Kolor product is another option and Craig Frasier has done some nice work with it. Photos can be found on the web.

 

There was another thread disussing this, shall we lump it all into the category "faux chrome", after Jay's little appearance on (at least where I saw it) Dennis Gage's 'My Classic Car'. West Coast Customs also used the process on an R8 Audi. Intriguing as it may be, it's not as cheap as Jay leads us to believe, oh I'm sure Jay only pays a nickle to chrome a hood ornament, but the rest of us have to pay retail and my research says it ain't cheap by any means and will only hold up as well as paint (which in my opinion is all it really is). No way would I put that stuff on a bumper, grill or anything else on the leading edge of my truck here in Texas. Hell we got bugs down here that can chip paint at highway speed, not to mention the 25-30 days a year we get into 105-110 degree heat waves. I've seen some web posting of what that stuff looks like after it's been in that kind of sun and it isn't pretty any longer. If my truck were going on the show circuit or was going to be a trailer queen, I might consider it. Sure I have high hopes of it being a rather high end truck, but it's also going to be a driver. So I think I'd rather stay with something I know is durable and although increasingly more costly (friggin EPA), 'real chrome' is where I'll choose to spend my hard earned cash. My nickle's worth, 2c don't buy chit anymore

 

Charlie....I do greatly apologize. I have been on edge lately with a few personal issues of my own and I had no business jumping out at you like that over nothing. Being as I was an *** in public, I feel a public apology is best suited.

 

No problem...I think that we are all a little out of sorts these days. Thank God for pickup trucks!

 

Amen to that Charlie!

 

Hey KidShalene:
There was a thread on the HAMB about a guy working on a 50 AD truck.
He painted his grill a tan color then he cleared coated and then he sprayed rutoleum metalic or something similar and It looks really really good.
Almost like chrome

 

I don't know the cost but you might consider powder coating. There are ton of colors.

 

chrome is chrome and everything else ain't. Plan on going to see my chrome guy soon hope he is still there. I was going to have a sit down talk and get him to give me prices on diff. items on our old trucks and tell him about fte and see if i can work out some kind of discount for all on FTE.

 

Alrighty my friends, I think I've found my huckleberry.

Did a lot of checking around in the past week and got quotes from three of the most promising
shops I found that still do this in country (most if not all the Calif. shops send it to Mexico). Results below.

Here's the pics and what I sent as the list of items to be plated and true desc of condition:







Grill (will be disassembled into the individual items when sent)
The 2 dark grey teeth that are not attached in the pic will replace the ones currently attached.
The pic of the small dent is of the one tooth that has a dent and the only dent
in the bar is right next to it.

a. Grill bar (6" X 36") (one small dent/ding, see pic)
b. 3 Grill teeth (4 1/2" x 6") (2 w/no damage, 1 w/small ding, see pic)
c. 2 Headlight buckets (10" diameter x 4") (no damage)

Hood Molding
1. 2 strips - 36" X 1 1/2" (just a couple of minor dings in these)
2. 4 strips - 23" X 3/4" (only one has a minor ding)
3. 1 curved strip - 14" X 3/4" (no damage)
4. 1 pot metal strip - 3" X 3/4" (very slight pitting)
5. 1 pot metal strip - 10" X 3/4" (very sight pitting)
6. 2 Badges - 6" X 4 1/2" (no damage)


Paul's Chrome Plating in Evans City, Pa. Estimate: $2000

Pot Metal Restorations in Tallahassee, Fl. Estimate: $1535

And the WINNER is:

Superior Chrome Plating, Houston, Texas
Family owned and operated since 1952.
All plating is done in house, w/Lifetime Warranty.

They add 5% environmental charge so I've included it on these estimates
They even went as far as to give me a High/Low estimate (depending on dent/ding reapir):

High: $1080
Low: $835

Persistence finally pays off, I was more than willing to pay in the neighborhood of $1000,
just never thought I'd find that price.

Heck they're almost right in my back yard, well in the same state anyway...(= lower shipping costs as well)....

 

COOL CONGRATS thats a good price. You could get some of that ding out . Its my experince that its best to remove the clips on the grill . The ones that hold the teeth on. Chrome will get in them threads and its hard to replace them after it gets dipped .

 

The hood trim and the speaker grille trim are all stainless steel. Are you getting them chromed? Just curious because the dings can be repaired and the trims can be polished to a nice and bright finish without chroming.

 

As much as I tend to always try to make the 'Right' decisions when it comes to my Truck and my Money, usually based on my own logic and experience and/or those of whom I trust, there is no right or logical answer to your question. Chrome and stainless both have good points and not-so-good points, none glaring enough to push me in one direction or the other. Historically I've just always been a chrome-guy, good polished stainless parts really didn't become so widely available and prevalent for the most part until the aftermarket scene came to life 15-20 yrs ago. Initially they were too high-priced for my budget and I just naturally discounted ever being able to afford or use them unlike chrome which until recently was a far more affordable way to bling something up, hence my natural tendency to use chrome. (kind of the old dog/new tricks syndrome) What, you may be asking yourself, does this have to do with these 50+ yr old trim pieces? Well, considering I started this project 18+ yrs ago when I had young kids and a wife, my natural inclination was to use the then cheaper choice of Chrome accessories. So, now that the kids are gone and the wife is to (thank God for that small favor, no she's not dead, just gone), I'm trying to complete my dream truck with some consistency of fit, finish and trim. I just don't want to mix alot of chrome and stainless, I can tell/see the difference and would rather have all of one and none of the other so to speak. I know the stainless will polish up pretty darn good, I just don't want to ever have to polish it again. Besides, it'll never have that shininess that chrome does IMO. Hope you see the logic whether you agree with it or not. If not, reference above "right decision, my truck/my money". <O</O