So "Ol big bad" as I now call it has had its new paint for about a month. Still can't put any trim on it cuz I don't wanna screw up the paint. Gonna let it cure for another few months before I even start that. I can do the bumpers and such but not the two-tone trim yet.

A little background...

As I wait for the paint to harden up I got busy with related projects
mostly related to cleanup of parts that are going back on the car. I already screwed up a few parts with my misadventures with a buffing wheel so I decided to let the pros do it before I kill off an irreplaceable part. Came close to that once already..
8O
Fast forward to today and.....

Just picked up the second round of replated and polished trim and such from the chrome shop today.

I gotta tell you guys if you got kinda cruddy lookin trim give your local plating shop a stab at it. They took some rear window trim that was one step from the trash bin and made it look like new! I guess the best way to find a good one is word of mouth. Also doesn't hurt to see a few pictures of their client's hot rods on the walls and a few magazine cover cars they've done.

But man it aint cheap. But it's worth it.

I got my rear bumper rechromed and straightened for 285.00.
They straightened and polished:

my long bed rails
tailgate top molding (I thought I was gonna hafta toss this one)
headlight trim rings
trim pieces that go under the headlight buckets
front L-shaped two-tone trim pieces (ones near the front marker light
All the back window trim moldings

For all that and 2 weeks worth of waiting it cost 278.00 but it came out great! :-)

So that's around 560 bucks less in my bank account in the last 2 weeks. I'm doing this stuff in stages. I picked up the rear bumper and dropped off the front bumper today. I got another bunch of parts ready to go when I pick up the front bumper in a couple of weeks. Gotta stay within the ol budget too so can't get too overexcited over this! :o

I'll probably be around a grand 8O by the time I'm done but it comes out cheaper than replacing all these parts (if you can find them). But like I said, it's definitely worth it. But man I am so freakin broke right now. If it wasn't for all those stupid bills and IRS payments I'd have more money! :-D

I'll put updated pix in my album as I get parts back on the car.

8)

I second the "bring it to your chromer" notion. I was really surprised with how some of my stuff turned out. And I too am just about broke. I need to sell a few of my Elky's old parts before I get the stuff I really want :-(

Yeah, I learned it the hard way with a piece of window trim that I got off of ebay. 4 years of searching and fighting only to screw it up in 30 seconds. Man that was an ouch!

Just put the back bumper on the car today. No pics yet but it looks really sweet. It's a deeper shine than a mirror finish if that's possible. Really glad I did it.

:)