Heater Face Plate ready for restore!

[newtonhubcap]

Just a quick note, the face plate is still in Rob's hands but since then I have sent another face plate to him to use as a reference how to repaint the face plate. I was going to do it myself but he convinced me to go ahead and let him do the detail work. No final estimate yet but he did say the face plate was done in regards to the vaccum plating. As soon as I get it back I will put up picture(s) and let the gallery decide on the quality.

[newtonhubcap]

Ok, I thought I should give a qiuick update on the heater faceplate replating. Back on July 13, 14 my daughter and I went to the Iola Car Show and Swap weekend. A co-worker of mine goes every year so we camp with him and his group. Anyway, while beating the rows of swap dealers I saw a Chrome Tech vendor and a bit surprised. So, I went to the booth and I asked if Robert was around and guess who I was acutally talking with, Robert. Needless to say we got to meet face to face and he apoligized for the delay but it has been so blasted hot here he has been only doing the plating when we have cold fronts push through. No problems I understand, so today I was with my Supervisor inspecting some clay for our dike project and guess who calls, yep, Robert.

He said the face plate is finished and he really was glad I had a second faceplate to reference back to for the painting but the face plate is done but not in hands yet. Anyway he is sending pictures of the face plate for me to look at before we finalize the project. So, I would expect to have the plate back in hand sometime late next week.

I will get pictures up and answer any questions anyone has. Stay tune!

[newtonhubcap]

Oh, forgot to mention that my daughter has and continues to thank me for taking her to the car show. In fact, she asked if we could go next year! Hearing that from her makes me a happy Z-dad!

[newtonhubcap]

Today I walked to the mailbox! What I found was my heater faceplate back from Robert. I got to admit it came out really nice. I want to dig out my new OEM faceplate to lay them side by side because I don't think one will be able to tell the difference, but I can find it in the $9,000 pile of parts right now.

Anyway, I have taken some picture, the first picture will be of the two faceplates. The one on the right is the restored and the one on the right is just a used plate I still have. Eventually I am sure I will send it to Robert to be redone. So, the remainder of the photos are of the retored faceplate. Robert did a great job of painting in and around the raised lettering etc. The sheen of the matt black in my eye is just right. I also included a picture of both plates from the back so you can see the comparison of the chrome.

Now, back to getting getting insulation up in the garage. I am in the middle of insulating and finishing the inside of my garage with steel siding alway the way through.

[oranngetang]

I would be interested in a set of decals should you end up ordering / making some for the hot / def / room, etc. I recently painted and refreshed mine, but the decals are gone forever!

[EhlersRS]

Wayne,

Just curious if you could share what the final cost was for the restore of the faceplate? I have a spare faceplate and would be interested in having one restored in the future.

Robert S.

[newtonhubcap]

The final cost to do the restore was $135.00. I know he spent a lot time on it so,

I would recommend to contract him for a quote. I have one more plate to restore which I plan to do next spring. One thing to remember I stripped the face panel to the base material before shipping it out which saved some cost.

[esprist]

Have you guys realized we have reproduction ones with no distoration or cracks like used ones? Using platable grade ABS platisc, We have plain black, chromed version, and finished version.

We also offer decal set for LH Drive US model and RH Drive versions painted in Japan.(Alum. backing for heat and water resistance)

Used one rarely work when you try to strip old chrome plateing.....

[EhlersRS]

Wayne,

Thanks for letting me know the cost. It looks like the reproduction faceplates would exceed my budget, but I also like the idea of using the original parts when they can be restored. I'll be sure to keep this in mind when the time comes to start the interior restoration!

Robert S.