I am greeting close to putting back together a 1964 356C. It is going to be a hopefully nice daily driver, not a concours car. My question is should I have the original items...mirrors, seat hinges, etc. re-chromed or should I purchase reproduction items? It seems awfully expensive and a lot of trouble to re-chrome for a driver. Any ideas appreciated.

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Tom- Tough question. That is really an item by item decision. Chrome is expensive and many chromers do a poor job. Reproductions are easy but don't always fit. In fact, some pieces are total crap. Like headlights that do not come close to fitting or A model hood handles that have their mounting points WAY off. Some repro stuff is good. One thing about the original parts, they fit.

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Cliff Murray

 

'55 Cabriolet Racer

'57 Speedster

'59 Sunroof

'63 Coupe Pushrod GS 2133

'67 911 S

Cliff is right, it is an item by item decision, but not everything that is chrome on your car is reproduced so in those instances you would have no choice.

Here's a list of what is chrome and not available as a reproduction, off the top of my head:

Window frames & quarter window frames, seat recliners, shift lever, fresh air control base, rear quarter window hinges & pivot hardware.

Here's a list of what is chrome and is available as a reproduction, off the top of my head:

Hood handle, exterior mirror, interior mirror/base, bumper guards, deluxe horn ring (if so equipped), front turnsignal bases, rear reflector bases, door handles, wheels, headlight bucket trim rings.

I can tell you that the mirrors are a no brainer for a driver. They are very good quality now, much better than pervious repros and you won't have to fiddle with the glass. Bumper guards are good for a driver, they look and fit nicely. Rear reflector bases are inexpensive as are headlight buckets. Front turn signal bases are a toss up on cost vs quality of the reproduction. To me the only thing to think about would be the door handles and the hood handle. They have sometimes had fittment issues. I would buy them first and see if they fit, if so you are all set, if not then re-chrome your originals.

Just one guy's opinion, I hope this helps.

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Sebastian Gaeta
Registry #8339
'65 C coupe
'64 C cab

Sabastians advice above is very good!!!

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Hi Tom,

In your case, I'd suggest that you spend a couple of afternoons with very fine steel wool and chrome cleaner/polish, and carefully give everything that is chrome a good rub with microfiber rags. You may achieve amazing results. On anything aluminum such as deco trims or windshield moldings, if they a natural aluminum color, just clean them well, I don't recommend attempting to hand polishing anything aluminum.

Then just stand back and see if anything looks real ugly. If not, you are done. Drive it.

You asked,

Bob

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Bob Campbell
1956 Porsche Special
1958 Speedster
1959 Porsche Junior Tractor
1996 993 Carrera 2

It's either this or a real job.
www.356Services.com

Hi, Tom.

For whatever reason, I've not had good luck with rechroming. And some of the retro chrome parts I've bought were junk, particularly the hood handles. Seat hinges can be a nightmare to disassemble and put back together, and it is very expensive to have all the parts re-chromed.

My seat hinges were well pitted with rust. Since my car is a driver that will never see a concourse, I sand-blasted the assembled hinges, primed them, and painted them with a dark grey hammer-tone paint to disguise the pitting. Though far from stock, they look quite nice, and someone else can have them plated later, if they wish.

Just a thought .... if you want to try it.

Dave

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Tom,
Regarding aluminum deco trim and windshield moulding/ trim......

I had a jeweler friend use his cloth type polishing wheel with jeweler's polishing paste on my windshield trim (removed of course) and it came out absolutely stunning. It almost looked like chrome only better. There is no way you could duplicate the process using your hands in place of the high speed wheel. I had already tried that. I then put a good wax/polish on it to hopefully preserve it. I don't know if it will also improve the looks of chrome but worth a try. I definitely got my money's worth for the bottle of merlot. In this economy, I bet you could find a jeweler happy to make some extra money. It took my guy about 30 minutes but he also made a couple gashes in it look much better.

If the chrome pitting isn't too obvious, like some of mine, I left it as is...... It gives my driver some "character" ....... in my eyes anyway.

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Randy Mittelstet
1960 Roadster
1997 Schwinn Moab

Thanks, guys. I knew I could get some really helpful insgight on the Registry Forum!

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Speaking of re chrome I have a set of c wheels 5.5 and I am trying to decide weather to have them chromed of buy new. I can't seem to find any vender's who have them in stock, I would even take a set used in good condition not being a show car guy.