Chrome Plating You Pick

[Mangy Mutt]

Here are some side by side differences between Borwn's Plating which a lot of you use
and Space Coast Plating that bdmridgeback suggested in another thread.
Both do good work and the finish is glass smooth on both.


COLOR
I guess personal preference makes the decision here.
These pictures were taken under Chroma 50 indirect lighting with
no flash for the best color correctness possible.

PRICE COMPARISON

Brown's
Clutch perch-----------103.00
Hand lever--------------38.00
Switch Housing----------32.00

Total------------------173.00

Spacecoast
Master Cylinder---------75.00
Master Cylinder Lid------15.00
Hand lever--------------30.00
Switch Housing----------25.00
+ 6% for has/waste------8.70
& nickel/copper
surcharge.

Total-------------------153.70


Other items sent to spacecoast:
Speedo Mount 25.00
Speedo Housing 45.00
Speedo Face Ring 45.00



TURN AROUND TIME:
Brown's 1 week
Spacecoast 4 weeks, they DO TELL you this on their website.


PAYMENT:
Browns payment was easier, fill out Form with credit card.
Spacecoast: COD or prepay with Money order while you wait.

Other than color I don't see much difference between the two,
but I guess TIME will tell on the quality.
Next winter the rear end gets done.


A CHECK IT OUT for 06 Mastiff owners and others if wired the same.
While the speedo was off I noticed the wires that go up in the
handlebars had been rubbing on the sharp edge of the bars.
Needless to say what this could cause. Some clear tubing for a
quick fix. :2thumbs:

A special thanks to Lena for the how to tutoring service of the pix.

 

[NascarNutCase]

You got to have better eyes than me for sure, cause I can't really see any difference. They look good though.

 

[woodbutcher]

i kinda like the Brown's "deeper, darker, richer" color. but i notice that brown's is almost 25% higher on a comparable piece but they don't charge for haz. mat.

 

[Raywood]

Been using Browns since the 80's and never been disappointed

 

[Five Five]

Side by Side comparison I dont see much difference with the pictures provided ...... in my earlier life I was a tank jockey doing alot plating even had a shop for a short time, spent alot of time in my lab developing processes for chrome plating on plastics .... A good chrome plate is all in preparation of the base metal (good polishing) Bright nickel plating which is under the chrome is highly lusterous and this is acheived by how long you stay in the plating bath and what makes our stuff look so pretty The Bright Nickel Plate is what gives it the brown tinted color.... The chrome plate is what gives it the white tint over the nickel and provides protection to the nickel plate.... whereas the part may spend 45 minutes in the nickel bath.... it only spends 1 to 3
minutes in the chrome plating bath, any longer than that in the chrome will turn you part flat grey.

For the best show quality chrome plating you:
1. Good polishing to the base metal
2. copper plate
3. color buff the copper plate
4. bright nickel plate
5. color buff the nickel plate
6. chrome plate

:2thumbs:

 

[bdmridgeback]

My sissy bar was sent out to Brown's plating and I keep it waxed with carnuba wax on a regular basis. Now, after about 4 years it is showing very fine tiny pits all over it. If it doesn't stay waxed they start to show quite a bit. My oldest part that Space Coast has done is only about 3 years old. It is a gas cap that has NEVER been waxed and looks like the day it was plated!! I'll be sending my sissy bar to Space Coast one of these days to have it stripped and re-plated.

Just my 2 cents

The Pre-Pay (no credit cards accepted) deal with Space Coast has always been a pain in my ass, but they give you a total a couple days after they get the parts so that you can have a check to them before they are ready to ship.

Also, Space Coast did a 7 day turn around on my last Gas cap plating I had done. About a dozon parts. Most the time it is a 2 week turn around. The longest for me was 4 weeks.