From a value and resale standpoint what is the best thing to be done about bad chrome on vintage Aurora Tjets? Is it best to sell with original chrome in fair to poor condition, buy and install replacement chrome, or remove original parts and have them rechromed. I collect some, sell some and don't know the best path from a collectors buying perspective. Any input greatly appreciated!

Tom

Kind of a crap shoot Bob. Sometimes its a stone better left unturned. Bumpers have a nasty habit of breaking when ya start wrestling them after 40 er so years. Small pieces of styrene just get brittle and then you are stuck seeking a replacement. It's a fact of life.

Replating is a great option; and depending on the cars value and OVERALL appearance it may be worth it ...obviously one wounldnt waste cash ner time on replating bumpers for a car with heavy playwear. Nuthin' worse that having to remove fresh bumpers to do restoration work like re-striping or buffing.

Given the option IMHO I would let things like re-doing bumps slide if it's a middle of the road car. Hard to re-coup the time and the effort... especially in the current market place!

Obviously if it's a moneyball car it can go either way and much depends on the buyer. Nobody wants crappy chrome, but some persnickety buyers prefer a crappy original bumper to a shiny re-do. Some guys just like the car to show well and could care less.

Personally I'm fine with a redo so long as its executed neatly and not gobbed with an eight thousand watt soldering iron. :p

If it's a scabby original bumper on a cherry car I dont mind some brush touch either. I mean it is what it is no matter what. It's either cherry original or it aint. So if yer runnin' with those boys ya better just get a new car with good bumpers if that's the criteria to be met. LOL!

Perhaps one can draw the line at the guys who run their cars expect or accept a little erosion on the bumper and those who place them in a shrine dont. So as a seller yer damned if ya do and damned if ya dont. ;)

Hope this makes some sense :rolleyes:

Bill - great, thanks for the info.

Alcad paint,, air brush application is an option, many model car builders use it to "rechrome" old parts.. many times you can't tell the difference from "original" new chrome.. I have a bottle.. haven't had the opportunity to use it "yet"..
Just an option..
Chris

Bobwoodly, Here is what I do. Not far from here there is an automotive chromer. He also does the plastic metalizing process or re chrome of dash knobs and all of the little fiddly bits of an auto interior.
On some of my t jets I have used a dremel to loosen the chrome parts and then I mount them on a jig to his specs and send them to him. He rechromes them and then sends them back. I don't pay more than what it would cost to replate radio knobs. You may want to check out old car magazines or the yellow pages to see if someone in the area could do it for you and how they would do it, prices etc etc.

Like Bill said, it depends. If I am buying a decent original t jet I would rather have nothing touched up. If I am buying a restored car I would want to know exactly what I am getting. In either case I don't like when the original bumpers have been forcilby removed, losing the melted plug on the backside and glued back in.

that said, I have done some minor touch up with Alcad dabbed with a brush, and it has worked well, like I have touched up silver "chrome" with that aluminum paint that is recommended in Mike Vitales book.

repro bumpers - for myself, I'd rather buy a car without bumpers and put my own on than pay top price for somebody else's work.

Here's a link to Chrome Tech. They offer plating for HO stuff. They'll replate a bumper for $2.50 and of course, shipping. :) rr

http://www.chrometechusa.com/hoplate.html

Hey I remember that Chrome tech name from some where . I was thinking it may have been in one of my old car modeling magazines. Any way his prices are a little better than what I have been paying so I might try him next time !

In one case the car had no bumpers so I opted for some copies. Actually the new ones are not real shiny so they look like older ones. For the other car with bumpers I just left them original. Both needed new tops and i got really nice resin reproductions.

If I sell them I would disclose what was new to the buyer. I see alot of stuff on ebay that looks modified with no disclosure to the buyer, I'd rather get a few less bucks and not have someone surprised.

I got my stuff at www.homodels.com, really happy with the new tops, would have liked more shine on the bumpers. Shipping was free and fast and packaging was great.

If I was going to re-chrome I was going to try Chrome Tech, as the price seemed really affordable. I have used chrome paint in the past (not the brand you mentioned) and it worked well for something like a garden variety AFX.

I've got Mike Vitale's book and it is helping with some minor repairs. Now if I only had the skill to tackle two mint Stingrays with butchered wheel wells.....