A guide to re-chrome plastic car parts.

Chrometech at Castle Hill, the people doing the re-chroming of some parts for a "41 60 coupe.Our customer previously used Chrometech, for electroplating the very badly pitted headlight trim strips and wiper towers on his '39 and they still look great some 5 years later.Not a mark, blemish or pit on the pieces.

Suffice to say Chrometech can re-chrome just about anything. There are somethings we don't chrome-plate , pieces that are in too poor condition even for Walter's magic skills.

Our process is very labour intensive. Depending on condition we have to soak the dashes or other parts in solvent to remove the grease.It may need a highfill. After highfill we need to sand back again. Then dashes need to be taped up in the rear and electrodes are inserted. Now it goes into the spray room and a conductive paint is applied. Tape will need to be removed, electrodes are connected for subsequent electroplating.After an 8 hour electroplating process in the copper, the dash gets rinsed and then nickel plated for an hour. Now it gets rinsed and then chrome-plated. We only leave parts in the chrome tank for 5 minutes, rinse and dry. The wires are cut off and the job is ready.

Re-chroming spa nozzles and shower taps

We have a lot of customers frantically looking to re-chrome either spa nozzles or taps. As you know we not only bronze baby shoes but bronze, chrome-plate, nickel -plate any materials such as plastic, fibreglass, wax, wool, and anything that is NOT METAL.

Below is an e-mail from a customer: Hi I have searched Australia for replacement cover plates and nozzles for our spa jets and they don't make them anymore and no one has any chrome look ones. They are plastic but look like they have been coated in a gold (look?) finish. I can send some photos to see if you are able to re-chrome these. We want to sell the house and are desperate to have these match all the other fittings in the bathroom. I have 12 of these 40mm cover plates and 12 x 10mm nozzles that fit inside the cover plates. If you could re-chrome these, how much roughly do you think they will cost.

Best regards S.I

Did you know that we also cater for bathroom renovators who want their plastic taps and fittings re-chromed.
A big part of our business is to chrome-plate plastic and fibreglass dashboards, grills, mirrors, door handles and anything that is NOT metal
One of our customers inquired if we can bronze a blade of grass. The grass was where he met his fiancee 1o years ago.
Nothing surprises us anymore, but the imagination certainly went wild at exactly why people want things chrome plated..
We bronzed wedding lingerie,lace on wedding dresses, body parts and even covered dim sums in 24 k gold. As well as helping artists with sculptures we assist people who want to preserve and protect their keepsakes and heirlooms to turn them into keepsakes. It's all about eternalising a moment in time.
The Bronzing Studio has also restored and covered objects tied to people leaving Earth, including a pair of sunglasses owned by Elvis Presley, but now the property of a collector of Elvis memorabilia. We also silverplated a rose from Elvis's casket.
People have asked to electroplate half-eaten hamburgers, doughnuts, computer games, jeans and dog collars. A director from the crematorium asked us if we could bronze a chicken leg, in an investigation into whether human bodies will be able to be preserved
in the future. Technically we could preserve a human body, but it is morbid and imagine the licences you'd need.

Chroming|Chrome Plating

Chroming|Chrome Plating

How to chrome-plate on plastic car parts.

Is it possible to chrome-plate anything? Basically Chrometech can electroplate anything. We can also coat every conceivable base material in a metal of your choice.
The trick with the various materials is in the pre-treatment. The items to be chrome-plated needs to be sealed if it is of a porous nature. Items made of wax, PP or PE requires a special primer prior to coating the item with a conductive layer.
Preparation of the surface is critical as a chrome-plated finish will show up and expose any imperfections. As we said in the beginning we can electroplate anything. The question is: Has the item been engineered for the electroplating process?
In many cases, the dash boards and grills that we receive have not been designed for electroplating. This requires compromises in order to achieve a relative good outcome. For example we may not want to plate the whole item. As such we will only selectively plate the areas that we can be sure will be sufficiently covered with metal to obtain a brilliant shinny surface. In the case of some of the front grills where the louvers are too wide we will recommend not electroplating the bottom side of the louvers and selectively plate only the top that is seen. This will allow more chrome onto the surface where it is required. Needless to say this requires a lot of taping up prior to making the surface conductive. In order to avoid plating on the tape which is also made conductive, we must remove the tape prior to electroplating. This may explain why the costs are somewhat higher than plating on metal. The same item made of metal may require max 1 hour to have an A-1 class job performed on it. In the case of plating on plastic with our process a grill is normally plated for 12 hours at a low current so that we can achieve a uniform deposition of copper, nickel and chrome across the whole grill.
To compensate for the lack of adhesion with this process and to promote the durability, a thick coat of copper, nickel and chrome is necessary. The average thickness of the plating on a grill is 0.2mm compared to 0.02 – 0.03mm (considered a very thick coat) with the conventional plating on steel process.
There are such things as internal anodes that can be made to order for a particular job. These however are extremely expensive and as such are not practical. Chrometech developed its own conductive sensitising media including the various primers. Variations of the conductive media and primers need to be fully understood in order to apply them on the many different types of items that we receive.

Resurrected Austin A 30

Nobody thought it possible to resurrect this Austin A 30 grill. It looked like it was ready to be buried. It was completely rusted through.
When I say rusted I mean rusted. The holes in the previously chromed grill were up to 5mm or more in diameter and some of the metal was paper thin.
There was no chrome to be seen on the grill and I assume some bloody electroplater left it in the strip too long and stripped the hell out of it.
As chrome-plated Austin A 30 grills are not easily available, the customer didn't have much of a choice and availed himself of Chrometech's service.
Chrometech re-structured and fortified the grill with resin and fiberglass, filled the holes with putty, high-filled it, rubbed it back and proceeded
with the activating process prior to chrome-plating the now mostly non conductive grill. The end result was unbelievable.The chrome-plated
Austin A 30 was featured in a car magazine and was brought back to life. If you want to see a picture, contact Chrometech on 02 98999122

A car fit for a King

This RX7 has undergone a five year conversion into a brilliant piece of art. "Jealous Ahura" the name of the car was flown from Malaysia (Apparently the car belongs to a crown prince of Indonesia)
to participate at the Motor ex held in Sydney on July 11th and 12th. It was the first time that an an International car took part in the exhibition. The car has 10.000 Swarovski crystals encrusted, even in wheels you can find crystals. The car
is worth about $ 250.000. All the interior plastic car parts were chrome-plated by Chrometech.
At the show you could find hot rods, street machines,all American car, motorbikes. An auction was held on Sunday. We at Chrometech also participated and had a great response. A lot of people were impressed with the electroplated fiberglass for the hot rods. This opens a market and can add value from just the fiberglass parts to a shinning pride. A lot of cars were at the exhibition that had the parts chrome-plated by Chrometech. If it's good enough for the Prince to use the services of Chrometech, we must talk quality electroplating

WHY IS THE MAZDA RX7 IN HIGH DEMAND?

MAZDA RX 7

Why is the RX7 in high demand?

Apparently it is the rotary engine that has made this car unique.
The rotary engine got its start in the early 1950’s with a German company whose primary focus was manufacturing motorcycles.
Best of all, the RX7's huge success meant that many people discovered the rotary engine for the first time.
At Chrometech one of the most plastic parts that we chrome-plate are from RX7.
From a customer in Malaysia we received Instrument surrounds, Centre console, radio surrounds, air-con panels, door panels, lip pockets, dashboard blowers etc. Come July the RX7 "Jealous" will be the first Malaysian car to compete against 500 foreign cars at the Meguiar's Motor Ex Show in Sydney, Australia.He couldn’t find anyone in Malaysia to produce our quality of Chrome-plating. (We do not vacuum-metallize) We electroplate (copper, nickel, chrome) on plastic and fibreglass. The process of electroplating on plastic and fibreglass is more difficult than performing the same operation on metal.
The result is a smooth mirror finish.

The mentioned customer will fly his RX7 to Sydney to the Motor exhibition on the 11th and 12th of July 2009 at the Sydney Olympic Park in Homebush.
Please come along and you will be able to see the unveiling of the 6 best cars. This RX7 will be one of them. The unveiling will be at 11.00 am on the 11th and for the presentation they will include a traditional “warrior” dance.
So please come along and visit us and the famous customer from Malaysia.

Chrome-plated fiberglass for Hot rod

At Chrometech we are getting ready for a Hot rod show and the Auto salon. We have chrome-plated several fibreglass grills, plastic grills, Honda grills, Commodore badges, Chevrolet badges, gold-plated badges for RX3 (FOR SALE)

(Photo is from a fiberglass belonging to a Hot rod)

I wonder why they call a Hot rod a Hot rod. I looked up on Wikipedia and found the following information.

“Hot rods are typically American cars with large engines modified for linear speed. Nobody knows for sure the origin of the term "hot rod." One explanation is that the term is a contraction of "hot roadster," meaning a roadster that was modified for speed. Another explanation is that the mufflers were exposed and thus there was a "hot rod" or hot muffler neck when the vehicle was running. Open roadsters were the cars of choice to modify because they were light. Hot Rod may also refer to the connecting rods, cam, or pushrods inside the engine or to the exposed frame rails of such an automobile. It has also been noted that burning out the connecting rod bearings was a very common failure mode for souped up four-cylinder Fords, particularly the Model T, and "hot rod" could refer to that phenomenon. It was adopted in the 1930s or 1940s as the name of a car that had been "hopped up" by modifying the engine in various ways to achieve higher performance.The term can also apply to other items that are "souped up" for a particular purpose, such as "hot-rodded amplifier".”

Anyway I thought that that was interesting. Besides Chrome-plating plastic car parts, we are busy Chromeplating MTV awards.

Once upon a time pre-Victorian Europe apparetnly mostly the aristocratic men wore lace nad the women were plainer.

But today's men and women alike wear lacy and sheer underwear. It may be in the form of G-Strings, Thongs, Tangas or whatever they call them.

Chrometech can Chrome-plate on any material such as plastic, fiberglass, cotton, silk etc. Lacy undies are made of cotton and Lycra to hug and stretch in all the right places.

Many of us are blessed with healthy backsides worthy of an award.

That's exactly what we did; an award for an underwear company. I don't know what the occasion was to create this award, but it sure attracted some comments when it was in our showroom.

Our Logo is "You name it we Chrome it"

This could be a breakthrough for the fashion industry to electroplate chrome onto fabric

For men with balls of steel

For those of you with balls of steel (males or females) this groin protector or Hector protector would certainly be a status symbol. Before the wedding of our daughter the guys had a bucksnight and went to have a game of Paintball shooting. Everyone had a good time. The guys are tough and all came back with bruises, this game must hurt. Lucky each guy bought a Hector protector. Of course you must protect the family jewels, why not with chromed re-inforced ones! If some of our great amorous sporting legends would keep their tackle in the protectors, instead of letting the mongrel run loose, they would have avoided some embarrassing headlines. I think sports people should start a new sporting novely and bring the Hectors to Chrometech to have them chrome-plated. Imagine a bunch of cricket players groping into their undies at the end of the match, ripping Hector out (hopefully with no little bits stuck to it) and then auctioning them off for charities.

Now that would be an intimate memento.

What do you think about Chrome-plated or chromed Hector protectors?

Give me your thoughts.

Bronzing (Ancient electricity)

The most likely use for electricity among the Parthians would have been the electroplating (sometimes referred to as bronzing) of figurines, an advance on the art of gilding which dated back centuries before them. The battery could have been used to apply a voltage between a metal statuette and an ingot of gold while both were immersed in an electrolyte. Gold would have been transferred through the liquid to be deposited as a thin film on the figure’s surface.

Similar clay pots have been found at other sites near Baghdad. They are a salutary reminder that our conceptions of mankind’s historical development are often based as much on ignorance as on knowledge of skills of a particular period.

Static electricity was known to the ancients: they knew, for instance, that when amber (in Greek elektron) was rubbed, it would attract light objects such as dust and hairs. So the technique of generating electrical current -which is electric charge in motion-, could have been an equally haphazard, isolated discovery centuries before it’s generally recognised initial use. Neither finding seemed to lead to further technological development or insight into the causes of the phenomenon, however, although some enthusiasts have claimed that the Parthians- and, before them, the ancient Egyptians – used electric light.

There are, indeed, enough soberly accredited anomalies of technology from the past to keep us well aware that some of our ancestors did develop their technology- and to astonishingly high levels.

At Chrometech we specialize electroplating (bronzing) and chrome-plating on non-conductors; any base material but not metal. In order for us to electroplate or chrome-plate the organic materials (plastic car parts), we need to make it conductive with a conductive paint. Then a small hole needs to be drilled to attach the wires to conduct the electricity.

We really chrome-plate or bronze about anything. Our logo is: If you can imagine it, we can chrome it.

In about 3 weeks I will have a new webpage with a photo gallery so that I can show you what we actually can and do bronze or chrome-plate

We get a lot of phone calls from women asking us about the price for full body bronzing. Sorry ladies that’s not what we bronze.

Anything impossible can be chromed

Electroplating was invented as early as 1805 but was later rejected by the dictator Napoleon Bonaparte. This caused the inventor to suppress any further publication of his work. Untill today many people think it is impossible to electroplate on plastic.Although electroplating on plastic is a difficult process and very labour intensive Chrometech can make it happen. We coat the items to be chrome-plated with a conductive paint. After that it will be immersed into the plating copper bath for several hours, sometimes up to 24 hours. After the copper bath it will go into nickel and last but not least into the chrome bath.

Our business has been operating since 1993 in Australia and as far as we know we are the only company that can and do chrome-plate on plastic. We do not vacuum-metallize like most people do.

Gold-plated car engine.

Gold-plated engine part.

It never stops amazing me to what extend car lovers go. This is not the sort of thing you find in your average car. This engine has been electroplated with 24 k gold. (Some people must have a lot of money.)
This is not the average work we normally do. At Chrometech we are very creative and oblige to the customers wishes. Our Logo is" If you can imagine it, we can chrome it." You will be surprised what other things besides plastic car parts customers bring in to us for chrome-plating.

Sentimental Akubra Hat

BRONZED AKUBRA HAT.

The trademark name ‘Akubra’, which is an Aboriginal word for head covering has become an Australian Icon. The shape is identical with the landscape of outback Australia, with a sharply rising and falling, rough, or jagged surface

I believe they made over 20 different styles of hats for the new Film “Australia”

Our customer was not part of that Film. He traveled across Australia for many years taking accurate measurements of land areas in order to determine boundaries, elevations, and dimensions. The Akubra has protected millions of Australians against harsh conditions like sun, wind and rain.
The hat was on his head 6-7 days per week and became his best friend (beside his wife that traveled with him) On his retirement the wife sent the sentimental worn out hat to be Bronzed.
The Bronzed hat is now a showcase with many stories to be told.

At Chrometech we not only Chrome on plastic and fiberglass but any material can be electroplated.

Why not Bronze your sentimental items?

Famous science fiction film

Famous science fiction film.

In the film Keanu Reeves was starring as Neo.
“Neo was a young software engineer and part-time hacker who was singled out by some mysterious figures who wantrf to introduce him into the secret of 'the matrix'. The cops also seemed to be after him, and he took a chance on discovering what he always suspected: that the world was not quite what it seemed to be and that a sinister conspiracy is at work.”
You might remember a bar scene where Cypher said (about his drink): "It's good for two things, degreasing engines and killing brain cells."
The selectively chromed glasses they used for the drinks were Chrome-plated by the Bronzing Studio- Chrometech in Castle Hill.

Our services are regularly used by

Fox Studio
Warner Bros
Model Makers
Artists
Sculptors
Car lovers (Chrome-plating plastic car parts)
Sports coordinators
Event coordinators

Look at all that chrome.

Almost everything in this car is chrome-plated, from speedo surrounds to air vents, from radio surrounds to door handles. Everything that was plastic is now chromed.
I believe that men and cars have a special kind of bonding. Men are like kids when it comes to cars. Stand around the pub and you will never find a man so talkative when he is talking about his car. I am yet to meet a man who doesn't swear by his car and dreams about owning a glorious automobile. Make your dreams come true and bring all your plastic parts to be chrome-plated.
If you are interested in finding out how to chrome-plate on plastic, please go to our website and read the 10 step guide to chroming on plastic.

Hot Rod show

It's been one or two weeks since my last blog.

Sunday 16 November 2008 I exhibited my chrome plated plastic and fibreglass car parts at the Hot rod show in Horsley Park.

At the Show N Shine show as they called it (Our Logo "Let your pride shine") I saw a lot of amazing Hot Rods, vintage and classic cars. Besides the cars there were a lot of activities and also a live Rock ‘N Roll band.

A few weeks before the show I promised to chrome-plate a piece of fibreglass for a club member. When he saw the chrome-plated piece he said “I never expected it to look that fantastic, I haven't even seen steel as shiny as that"

I had my Chrometech sticker on the car and a guy came up to me and said “Oh, I did my door handles with you about 10 years ago and I use the car everyday and the handles are still as good as new"

A touch of luxury with Chrome

Acquire A Touch of Luxury with Chrome.

Chrome always impresses with its smooth finish. But look how fantastic it is with its mirrored

finish.

Chrome-plate your dash, grill, door handles, mirrors and it will transform your car into a

spectacular show piece.

Real electroplating (copper, nickel, chrome) on plastic involves many complicated processes of

many steps. Isn’t it reassuring to learn that we have over 42 years of experience in chroming on

plastic and fibreglass? Could you get excited about that?

Own a masterpiece

Yes People At Chrometech Help You Own A Masterpiece.

You have probably searched in Google, car forums, looked through car magazines to find an alternative to chrome “look-alike”
We believe that you are aware that it is very difficult but possible to electroplate on plastic and fibreglass.
The basic problem in attempting to electroplate onto plastic is, they are electrically non-conductive. We need to apply a conductive paint because plastic cannot be immersed in a plating solution and coated in the same way that metal can.
We have nearly 45 years experience in electroplating.
If you want some information on “How to” feel free to get in contact with us.
You can read our articles on our website.