I'm sure most people have had this dilemma so I would like to hear about your
experiences.
I am working on cleaning up my 69 1600 which I plan on using as a Sunday
driver on summer days.
I basically am removing all rusted panels, removing and adding a completely
new interior and lastly giving it
a good paint job. I hope that when I'm done this summer I'll have a car
that's about a 7-8.
Most of my chrome is rusted due to being on the Wetcoast of Canada so I've
done my best to collect many ebay parts that I was hoping to rejuvenate so I
can put them on my car.
What I've found mostly is that I'm getting chrome items that need replating,
or, I could leave them in their current conditions, which I deem to be about a
5 out of 10. For the amount of money I've already spent buying this stuff I
should have probably just bought new. Hindsight.
Here are my options.
Buy new
Replate my pieces
Live with my scratched, pitted and rusted pieces.
I took the following parts to two well known plating shops and was quoted
about $320 for all parts:
2 exterior door handles
4 turn/stop lamp chrome bodies (including the ring)
2 window winders
Seems expensive.
Yes, I know if I add up the following new it would be much higher...
$110 for the door handles
$300 for the four stop lamps (includes new lenses and guts)
$60 for the window winders
Total is $470 (Canadian)
Like I said, I have bought so many pieces on ebay that I might be able to make
some pieces work. But, I definately cannot use any of the chrome brake
lights.
Does anyone have any suggestions or advise?
I don't want to waste my money on new pieces if I don't need to. I don't want
this to be a show car, but one that I'm proud to show.
Many thanks!
Stan in Coquitlam, BC
Canada
69-1600
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