Flaking Chrome

[phileas_fogg]

The chrome on both my roll bars is flaking. The left side rear leg has it the worst, but both hoops & rear legs have some. Can a chrome guy refinish the existing pieces? Or should I just order replacements from F5?


John

IMG_6278 by jhsitton, on Flickr

[Sdonnel]

I would find a good chrome shop near you. Have them stripped and re-chromed. The cost may be quite a bit less than FFR sells them for. This way, you know you won't have to do any drilling or fitting of the bars when they go back on.

Scott

[egchewy79]

that's pretty significant flaking. how old is your kit? anything to consider to avoid this issue?

[nuhale]

I would explore both options. If you find a chromer that will do it (hard to find these folks these days) they may charge upward of $300 to strip and refinish.

[Sdonnel]

I had my Breeze roll bars stripped and plated in Detroit, MI. The shop blended the welds so good, you can barely tell it was two pieces of tubing. I paid $325 if I remembered correctly.

Scott

[cv2065]

You could also have them blasted and powder coated to a chrome finish as well. Much less expensive.

[egchewy79]

FWIW, i had my QJs chrome powder coated and it's not the same. Looks more like metallic silver spray paint.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Well, you already have a pretty good idea of the quality of the chrome work you'll be getting if you buy replacements from FFR. It's something that I've seen a number of times. Understand what I'm sayin'?

Jeff

[cv2065]

FWIW, i had my QJs chrome powder coated and it's not the same. Looks more like metallic silver spray paint.

Depends on what’s used. Lots of different varieties. Some look like chrome, others not so much.

[1932]

They can cut your hands or other parts, be careful.

[jrcuz]

Dang, sorry to hear this John. Guess I know what to expect with mine.
JR

[GoDadGo]

We've got two shops near my home that may be able to help you if you can't find a shop near you.
One does Chrome and the other does Powder Coating, Ceramic, and Anodizing.
Both shops have good reputations and their longevity speaks volumes.

The Chrome Shop
985-792-1575
https://www.thechromeshop.net/

Anode LLC
985) 649-9202
https://www.anodeinc.com/

The Chrome Shop did a custom sissy bar for me nearly 20 years ago and they are still going strong.
Anode LLC cut their teeth anodizing Mardi Gras Doubloons and but most of their work is maritime related.
Let me know if I can be of any assistance to you should you decide to send them down here to get them refinished.

[phileas_fogg]

Thanks guys. There's gotta be a chrome guy in Northern VA.

Steve: But if there's not, I'll gladly take you up on your offer!

Chewy: My kit was delivered in 2015. I've had it on the road since 2018. Only 4k miles though.


John

[Fman]

Would FFR warranty that out for you? I would hope they would not consider that "normal" wear and tear. Might be worth sending email with some pics they do not answer the phone much these days.

I ordered chrome roll bars from them hopefully I do not end up having the same results.

[rich grsc]

Why should they offer a life time warranty, does any car manufacturer offer warranty on chrome? They are a great company, and have helped me a lot on all my builds, but I would be embarrassed to ask them to replace 5 year old chrome.

[Papa]

Just curious, but is that the part of the roll bar that's exposed to the elements in the wheel well? Looks like it could be from the amount of chips, but can't tell for sure. Mine are coated in undercoating in those areas.

[phileas_fogg]

Just curious, but is that the part of the roll bar that's exposed to the elements in the wheel well? Looks like it could be from the amount of chips, but can't tell for sure. Mine are coated in undercoating in those areas.

No; that part of the leg is above the body.


John

[GoDadGo]

John,

My friend Donny's chrome roll bar flaked about a year after his car was completed.
With that said I suspect that Fairfax Virginia has high humidity similar to my home state of Louisiana.
We're typically 85-95% from April until September and a bit lower 65-85% from November thru March.
Again, give me a yell if you can't find a shop up there in your area.

Steve

[RBachman]

This make me wonder where FFR gets them. Although, they could be provided by a Chinese manufacturer, which would explain it. However, before going to a chrome shop, see if there's anyone that can make one in stainless for you. Polish it and you're done.

[BigUgly]

phileas-fogg,

The original chrome on both of my FFR supplied roll bars was so thin that it didn't last for 1000 miles before it was like it was non-exsistant in many places and the other plating that was under the chrome layer was exposed and looked like crap, not to mention that there was so much weld splatter under the original chrome that you could cut yourself if you rubbed your hand over the welds. Before anyone says I shouldn't have accepted these roll bars from FFR originally when I got all my parts, you have to understand that when I did my original inventory I called them and brought them back and my original sales guy at FFR, that is no longer there, and I went out in the warehouse and went through every set of roll bars that they had in stock, which I think at the time was about six or seven pairs and they were all worse than what I had.

So I took what I had originally and installed them knowing that I would need to get them rechromed at some point. I removed them last summer and took them to a chrome shop in Hartford CT. and they stripped both roll bars, removed all the weld splatter, blended all the welds and did a beautiful job of chroming all the pieces. It wasn't cheap, but it was nice to be able to just reinstall them without having to refit a new pair and redrill everything to match the existing holes from the original bars. It was $600.00. BigUgly

Oh, I have a Mk3.1 so I have 2" diameter bars, so I don't know if the newer smaller diameter bars would be less to chrome than what I paid or if it is just the everything cost more in New England problem. BigUgly

[Caddy Dad]

The chrome on my Mk IV roll bars has also started to flake off after 2 years and 2k miles. Just tagging on here to see if there are any updates on recommend chrome shops? Prefer some one local to Md DC Va area but will ship out for a highly rated quality job.

Thanks!

[phileas_fogg]

I found a place but haven't had the chroming done yet. Wayne's Autoparts in Fredericksburg VA will do them. He's on the web at https://waynesautoparts.com.


John

[ggunter]

US Chrome has five locations in the US. You can request a quote on their website.

[ggunter]

Looks like Wayne's auto parts and chroming in Fredericksbug va does chrome 540-371-1576

[Blitzboy54]

You could also have them blasted and powder coated to a chrome finish as well. Much less expensive.

This

[MB750]

You could also have them blasted and powder coated to a chrome finish as well. Much less expensive.

Yup, much easier to find than a chromer.

And as my ol' man used to say, "Chrome don't get ya home."

[jrcuz]

John, if you come to Fredericksburg stop by for a visit.
JR

[CaptB]

Well, you already have a pretty good idea of the quality of the chrome work you'll be getting if you buy replacements from FFR. It's something that I've seen a number of times. Understand what I'm sayin'?

Jeff

Exactly. Fool me once......

[rich grsc]

And as my ol' man used to say, "Chrome don't get ya home."

But it does make your wallet thinner.