Next question- Racking parts to be replated

[gtx6970]

Ok, Next question

Is this ok as far as crowding  on a Rack. Looking to have some pieces plated and I  would like to get as  much done as I can in one trip as I can.

is this too crowded , ?

Can I put a runner down the middle for maybe 5 or 6 small parts ? ( tail light bezels for a 58 Ford being the biggest piece)

 

Probably going to send them to Little Motor Car Co. the 1st of the week ( once I get everything stripped  )

 

Edited December 4, 2017 by gtx6970

[Ace-Garageguy]

I don't know (Mr. Guthmiller does, I'm sure) but that sure is a nice collection of vintage kits you must have to go with all of those. 

[Mark]

I'd move that '58 Buick rear bumper up a bit so the taillights don't hang down beyond the perimeter of the rack.  Maybe turn it so the taillights face up.  A row of small parts down the middle should be okay. 

[Can-Con]

Well Bill,,

 

First, is your frame 6X8 inches? I ask because it looks a bit small. Most plating companys want you to mount your parts on a 6X8 frame with silicone adhesive. 

All the parts should face out and have enough room around them so you could easily spraypaint the whole thing and get even coverage without anything being in the "shadow" of any other parts. LMCC recommends 1/2 inch between larger parts like bumpers and grilles but I think yours should be ok as far as spacing is concerned. 

Seems to me I was also told to keep all parts at least 1/2 inch inside the frame so they can clamp onto the frame where ever they have to then without worrying about disturbing any parts. I'm not sure if it was Dale at LMCC that told me that or one of the other platers that I've used in the past.

I have mounted parts on a central runner like you ask in the past, I have a rack at LMCC done like that right now, as a matter of fact.

Anyway, this is a pic of the last batch I sent to LMCC a couple years ago. Might be helpful to you. 

[gtx6970]

I don't know (Mr. Guthmiller does, I'm sure) but that sure is a nice collection of vintage kits you must have to go with all of those. 

thanks ...but this is just the tip of the iceberg. I doubt this even a 1/4 of what I have stockpiled the past 2 or 3 years . Luckily several don't need the chrome redone

I figure there's maybe a year ( ok,,,probably  2  maybe even 3 years )  worth of work right there alone. 

Edited December 17, 2016 by gtx6970

[High octane]

I'd had parts plated several times from a couple different platers and I never had to mount my parts.

[gtx6970]

Well Bill,,

 

First, is your frame 6X8 inches? I ask because it looks a bit small. Most plating companys want you to mount your parts on a 6X8 frame with silicone adhesive. 

All the parts should face out and have enough room around them so you could easily spraypaint the whole thing and get even coverage without anything being in the "shadow" of any other parts. LMCC recommends 1/2 inch between larger parts like bumpers and grilles but I think yours should be ok as far as spacing is concerned. 

Seems to me I was also told to keep all parts at least 1/2 inch inside the frame so they can clamp onto the frame where ever they have to then without worrying about disturbing any parts. I'm not sure if it was Dale at LMCC that told me that or one of the other platers that I've used in the past.

I have mounted parts on a central runner like you ask in the past, I have a rack at LMCC done like that right now, as a matter of fact.

Anyway, this is a pic of the last batch I sent to LMCC a couple years ago. Might be helpful to you. 

 

Steve,

Mine is 6" top to bottom. and it was 8" lengthwise, till I folded down nearly a 1/2" on each end to give it legs so to speak

[Art Anderson]

I've had literally thousands of model parts plated in years past--and the spacing looks pretty good to me (I used both LMCC and Chrome-Tech).  Just be sure that the outside diemensions of your rack(s) meet the requested specs from the platers.  I used DAP (formerly GE) Silicone II clear adhesive to attach parts to the racks--held the parts just fine, and yet they were easily removed after I got the racks back from the plater.

Art

[StevenGuthmiller]

Looks ok to me.

Although I would try to not let any of the parts hang over the perimeter of the rack.

You absolutely have room for small parts down the center.

Just as a reference, I could usually fit most of the chrome parts from 8 kits on 2 racks.

I gave up racking my parts though ever since I found out how fantastic the quality of "Kustom Khrome's" plating is.

Far superior to anything I've gotten back from Chrome Tech in the past few years.

Kustom Khrome doesn't want you to mount the parts.

They're a bit more expensive because of it, but well worth it!

Plus there are few things I hated more than racking parts.

Make darn sure you do an "over the top" job of mounting the parts.

You don't want any losses.

Here's how a couple of mine looked after returning from Chrome Tech.

 

Steve

 

Edited December 17, 2016 by StevenGuthmiller

[High octane]

I have used Kustom Khrome a few times with great results. I plan on using them again in the future.

[StevenGuthmiller]

I have used Kustom Khrome a few times with great results. I plan on using them again in the future.

One of the things that I was told by Bob at Kustom Khrome was that part of the reason that some of my parts were coming back from Chrome Tech with a less than stellar finish was because of the silicone used to mount the parts.

Supposedly it can react with the chemicals used in the chroming process.

I don't have any evidence of that other than his statement, but my parts from Kustom Khrome were perfect!

I believe Bob said that they use some sort of 2 sided tape to mount the parts.

 

Steve

[Art Anderson]

One of the things that I was told by Bob at Kustom Khrome was that part of the reason that some of my parts were coming back from Chrome Tech with a less than stellar finish was because of the silicone used to mount the parts.

Supposedly it can react with the chemicals used in the chroming process.

I don't have any evidence of that other than his statement, but my parts from Kustom Khrome were perfect!

I believe Bob said that they use some sort of 2 sided tape to mount the parts.

 

Steve

Interesting, considering that no chemicals are used in the vacuum-plating process, other than the pre-coat and protective clear coat over the otherwise bare aluminum!  With the sheer thousands of parts I've had plated (from several plating houses) I never once saw any evidence of any chemical reactions from using silicone adhesives to mount the parts.

Art

[Mark]

One of the things that I was told by Bob at Kustom Khrome was that part of the reason that some of my parts were coming back from Chrome Tech with a less than stellar finish was because of the silicone used to mount the parts.

Supposedly it can react with the chemicals used in the chroming process.

I don't have any evidence of that other than his statement, but my parts from Kustom Khrome were perfect!

I believe Bob said that they use some sort of 2 sided tape to mount the parts.

 

Steve

I've sent a number of racks to Chrome-Tech (none in the last four or five years, though) with thousands of small parts.  Never a problem with any sort of reaction with the silicone.  Chrome-Tech does recommend a particular brand, though; maybe there are problems with cheap/off-brand products.  There is a potential for trouble, though, if you get any silicone smeared on (or even touching) areas that are meant to be plated.  If you are re-using a rack, you need to make sure all traces of the silicone from the previous plating job have been removed.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Interesting, considering that no chemicals are used in the vacuum-plating process, other than the pre-coat and protective clear coat over the otherwise bare aluminum!  With the sheer thousands of parts I've had plated (from several plating houses) I never once saw any evidence of any chemical reactions from using silicone adhesives to mount the parts.

Art

Well, the pre-coat & the clear coat are chemicals.

As I said, this is what I was told.

If I remember correctly, he said that it can can cause adhesion problems.

The guy who does their plating for them did all of the plating years ago for several of the kit manufacturers, so I believe he probably knows what he's doing.

Anyway, I've had several parts come back with some pitting.

But my biggest complaint about Chrome Tech is their heavy handedness with the base coat.

They seem to spray it on way too heavy, hiding detail.

I've also had chrome adhesion problems with them.

 

Steve

[StevenGuthmiller]

I've sent a number of racks to Chrome-Tech (none in the last four or five years, though) with thousands of small parts.  Never a problem with any sort of reaction with the silicone.  Chrome-Tech does recommend a particular brand, though; maybe there are problems with cheap/off-brand products.  There is a potential for trouble, though, if you get any silicone smeared on (or even touching) areas that are meant to be plated.  If you are re-using a rack, you need to make sure all traces of the silicone from the previous plating job have been removed.

I still have parts that I had re-plated by Chrome Tech more than 20 years ago, & it seemed that their product was much better back then.

I had them do at least 5 racks full of parts in the past few years & while they were ok for the most part, they did not even come close to the quality of the Kustom Khrome parts.

Beginners luck from Kustom Khrome?

Maybe, but I will definitely be using them again for my next batch.

The silicone that Chrome Tech recommends is strictly for adhesion qualities.

I know this first hand after talking to them directly about some parts falling off of the trees after using a different brand of silicone than than they recommend.

The next batch I sent was applied with the correct adhesive, but the parts themselves didn't look any different.

I've considered having Kustom Khrome re-plate the bumpers for my '62 Chrysler that I just had Chrome Tech do a while back, just because the quality is not great.

 

Steve

[gtx6970]

I still have parts that I had re-plated by Chrome Tech more than 20 years ago, & it seemed that their product was much better back then.

I had them do at least 5 racks full of parts in the past few years & while they were ok for the most part, they did not even come close to the quality of the Kustom Khrome parts.

Beginners luck from Kustom Khrome?

Maybe, but I will definitely be using them again for my next batch.

The silicone that Chrome Tech recommends is strictly for adhesion qualities.

I know this first hand after talking to them directly about some parts falling off of the trees after using a different brand of silicone than than they recommend.

The next batch I sent was applied with the correct adhesive, but the parts themselves didn't look any different.

I've considered having Kustom Khrome re-plate the bumpers for my '62 Chrysler that I just had Chrome Tech do a while back, just because the quality is not great.

 

Steve

Steve,

You peaked my interest. what kind of cost difference we talking ? . Little Motor Car co. can plate the rack as shown for $26 , plus return postage with about a 2 week turnaround time.

 

pm me if you prefer

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

Steve,

You peaked my interest. what kind of cost difference we talking ? . Little Motor Car co. can plate the rack as shown for $26 , plus return postage with about a 2 week turnaround time.

 

pm me if you prefer

 

Kustom Khrome mounts the parts for you, so they charge by the part.

About the same cost as Chrome Tech charges for loose parts.

Bumpers- $4.00

Wheels- $2.00 a set

Small parts- $1.75

Medium parts- $3.50

So the parts that you depicted would run you $56.00.

That's quite a bit more, but you don't have to waste several hours making racks & mounting parts.

Shipping is about $4.00.

One of my biggest gripes with Chrome Tech was turn around time.

I never received my parts in less than 6 weeks with them.

I believe I got my parts back from Kustom Khrome in about 3 weeks.

I've never used LMK, so I can't comment on time or quality.

 

By the way Bill, did you remove the mold lines from the bumpers?

You'll absolutely be happier with the results if you do that.

 

Steve

Edited December 17, 2016 by StevenGuthmiller

[gtx6970]

Thats sending them all , already stripped correct ?

Ive already made the rack so thats moot point.

 

And Yes, all mold lines have been removed. . If it wast for that a good portion of these wouldn't need replated

 

What started this process is I want to get moving on a 59 Galaxie sunliner build and the chrome for it was toast

[StevenGuthmiller]

Thats sending them all , already stripped correct ?

Ive already made the rack so thats moot point.

 

And Yes, all mold lines have been removed. . If it wast for that a good portion of these wouldn't need replated

 

What started this process is I want to get moving on a 59 Galaxie sunliner build and the chrome for it was toast

Yes, that's the cost for the loose parts already stripped.

Although, Bob told me on the phone that he has a customer who just ships all of his parts as is, with the old chrome still on & the mold lines intact, so he must strip parts if need be.

I would rather do those steps myself regardless just to make sure that they are up to my standards.

I've re-plated many parts that still had pretty good chrome on them just because of the mold lines too.

Once you build a kit that has had them removed & the chrome looks better than a brand new kit, it's hard to go back!

 

Steve