Front Badge...

[Mark-J]

So after a bottom end respray I've just finished putting the old boy back together and just couldn't bring myself to put the utter bollox that's meant to pass as a chrome front badge back on. I got given an original badge last night and didn't realize just how bad the repro ones are, seriously, I think a monkey could do a better job pushing tin foil over the original one. So question, does anybody sell early bay, GOOD original quality, cast front badges chromed? I guess these were always painted originally and I'm tempted, if I can't source a good one chromed one, to just spray this original one up. I was thinking of chroming it but it's got too much pitted corrosion on to do that.

Really getting fed up with what people pass off as 'quality' parts. I bought some front door handle gaskets from C&C last week, and I ended up just putting them straight in the bin, just terrible. Thankfully over the last 22 years I've kept all the original stuff I've ever taken off, amazing how much of it is now back on!

Mark

 

[subheatadey]

In a word no, I've been after one for ages -It probably wouldn't be too much of a stretch to make a mold and start casting - Reezvan probably firing up the furnace as we speak lol. Amen to the repro parts things there really is some **** out there and I've probably bought my share of it!

 

[Mark-J]

Yeah tell me about it. I threw away the rear light units too, got the original ones, cleaned them up and sprayed a Plasticoat Chrome paint in the dull reflectors, came up a treat! I also bought some nice front spot lights from a show in Holland, they lasted 5 months before bubbling up, I just wish they'd sell these things as they are....

"for Sale: utter ***** chromed shiny thing that will last 1 season"

 

[reezvaan]

i have thought about it tbh, i even have a NOS emblem to start it off but then there are so many other bits I am working on at the minute that I couldn't really get to it as of yet.
But I might just do it someday and if I would be doing it, I can assure you that it wont be crap like the repro ones on the market because I am equally disgusted by the quality they make them in.

cheers

 

[Graham L]

Volkswagen themselves have clamped down on the quality of the repro badges that have been available and a lot of suppliers have been forced to stop making them as its VW's trademark. I'm sure that VW heritage are going to be supplying some better quality ones but Alex will confirm that no doubt.

I'd be careful about making repro ones Ray, VW are getting really hot at the moment on trademark infringements and I think this is an area to steer clear of.

 

[reezvaan]

that has been a reason of not doing ones at the minutes too Graham. but VWH better get to the task because these are something which seem to be in demand and need to be made available rather quickly and in super nice quality too.

Meanwhile I will keep on to reproducing SO23 net hooks

 

[Graham L]

agreed

 

[Mark-J]

Well I can't blame them having issues with the repro's, but it would be great if somebody would start making products that are true German quality. I'd happily pay more for good triple chromed products that I know are going to last.

I've stopped buying new stuff if I can help it, instead I've been picking up original stuff from the shows. There's been a few really top quality German importers around, and we went to the Wanroji show in Holland last year, the difference between the tat that we get over here compared to the foreign shows is ridiculous! Looking forward to it again this year!

 

[magoo]

I'd happily pay more for good triple chromed products that I know are going to last.

There's no such thing as triple chromed..I know they advertise the badge as that, but it's a load of crap according to the metal guy I spoke to yesterday. I went in to get my badge re-chromed, but might go the painted route...Anyway, he said you can only chrome something once. It's a layer of copper, nickel and then a thin layer of chrome. Stuff chromed in India for example doesn't need to be great quality because of the dry climate. Once your chrome badge/ hub caps spend a winter outside...well you know the results!

 

[Davydomes]

There's no such thing as triple chromed..I know they advertise the badge as that, but it's a load of crap according to the metal guy I spoke to yesterday.

I work with two metallurgists - I will ask them the same question as I am none the wiser on this issue. But the reason for their crap quality is because the base metals the "none Western Europe" mills produce is full of impurities (Sigma phases, deleterious chemicals/metals) sometimes because they add too much recycled metal in the cast/ingot. The quality control is practically none existant. However, India are making good in roads.

I mean - if I leave my "stainless steel" cutlery to drain for too long (overnight coz I'm a lazy git) I get rust spots :lol:

Sheffield St.St. was never like that.

Jusy sayin :|

 

[mike202]

that has been a reason of not doing ones at the minutes too Graham. but VWH better get to the task because these are something which seem to be in demand and need to be made available rather quickly and in super nice quality too.



agreed x 2

 

[Davydomes]

Spoke with metallurgist an he pointed me to this regarding "triple chroming" :msn4:

Buzzwords: "Show chrome", "Triple Chrome Plating", "Double Nickel-Chrome"
"Show chrome" means chrome that is good enough to be on a winning entry in a car show. Although most OEMs rely on the "self-leveling" property of nickel plating to give sufficient reflectivity to roughly polished steel, chrome-lovers believe that the key to "show chrome" is to copper plate the item first and then buff the copper to a full luster before starting the nickel plating.
Whether you start with bare steel or buffed copper, at least two layers of plating follow -- a layer of nickel and a layer of chrome. But high quality plating usually requires two layers of nickel.
Salespeople are always looking for advantage, and they will use any good-sounding terms they can get away with! There are no laws that define what triple chrome plating actually means, so salespeople will be prone to call their service "triple chrome plating" if there are a total of 3 layers of any kind of plating, or "quadruple chrome plating" if there are 4. So those terms mean little.
By the way, tri-chrome is not an abbreviation for triple chrome, and hex chrome does not mean six layers. But more on that later . . .
The most important issue for durable chrome plating for outdoor exposure such as on a vehicle is that it should have at least two layers of nickel plating before the chrome: namely semi-bright nickel followed by bright nickel. The reason for this involves the anodic corrosion issues we discussed. The bright nickel is anodic to the semi-bright nickel, and sacrificially protects it, spreading the corrosion forces laterally instead of allowing them to penetrate through to the steel. OEMs demand very close control of this factor, and there is a test (the Chrysler developed STEP test) which large shops run daily to insure the right potentials. Careful control of this issue is probably the principal reason that today's chrome plating greatly outlasts the chrome plating of earlier times. If a restoration shop offers only single layer nickel plating, they must apply it really really heavy if corrosion resistance is to be guaranteed, because any porosity or pinhole will doom the underlying steel.
Experts argue whether copper plating provides any additional corrosion resistance at all, but with or without copper plating, chrome on top of a single thin layer of nickel will not hold up to the severe exposure of a vehicle! Industry professionals call the two layers of nickel "duplex nickel plating", and that would be a much better term to use than "triple chrome" and such.

 

[chad]

I'm looking at wheels at the moment and found some that are 'Summer Chrome' at about £90 each.

I can't be ***** finding out what that means but I assume that they'd be OK in Arizona but would rust in the UK.