Well I was happy to fins a company that would do my instrument bezels. They are local so they may need me to drive down to them soon. I sent my stuff there in Sept. They are still in process. He has been pleasant and answers questions when I call. He never disclosed how long it will take
Let us know how it turns out. There’s also another company that does this, called Vacuum Orna-Metal. I got quotes from both companies and found the latter to have a better price and shorter turnaround time (about 4-5 weeks as opposed to several months). Had them do a couple small pieces and they turned out nice. Might send them dash bezels, if so I’ll share results too.
Roger that. Not cheap, but thankfully they answer the phone and seem to be conscientious.
The guy answers questions immed. I think he outsources his plating. He has a long list of items getting plated. My stuff was around 1g. This included some repairs.
1967 Mercury Cougar
Main Instrument Bezel: Strip, re-chrome and detail paint 1 350.00 350.00
Repair Crack on right hand side, and 2 broken mounting bosses 3 25.00 75.00
Repair 3 upper mounting holes 3 25.00 75.00
Lens Center Buttons: Strip, prep and re-chrome 2 25.00 50.00
Passenger Panel: Strip, re-chrome and detail paint 1 295.00 295.00
Repair 3 chips along edge, crack on rear and broken mounting boss 1 105.00 105.00
Repair broken alignment tabs on left 1 75.00 75.00
$1,025
Well I got my bezels today. The repairs look great overall they are really nice. There is a couple of areas that concern me. Am I being too fussy? Please let me know what you guys think
More pics
On the bottom of the left pod there is an area missing chrome. The passenger side piece has a couple of chips they missed and chromed over
I can’t get the other pics to load……………………
pics
Those didn’t turn out as good as mine did. Still they look pretty nice. Are you going to be able to see the defects easily after they are installed?
I don’t think you’re being too fussy at all. For the cost of having them done you should expect better.
That looks similar to the results we were getting and at $400 per set, retail I just was not happy. We are still on the hunt for someone who can provide consistent quality at a reasonable cost. We alone could keep someone employed full time as every 67-8 out there needs this service at some point.
As stated above at the $1,000 price I wouldn’t be happy. At $400 I wouldn’t be happy either, but would accept the defects at that price.
Don, Bill, I thought we were close to getting a reproduction made?
No repros in site as minimum order is 500 pieces and they changed design between 67 and 68 and std and xr7. The newest hurdle is the import tariffs.
The 500 piece order would be a lot to have to carry in inventory.
Especially when it is x4 and one also needs the decorative buttons and AC rectangular bezels. Also… When a repro comes out we really hope to sell a large amount the first couple months to get back a large chunk of the initial investment. The problem is when it is a repro, folks will often think “I can get that anytime” " I should probably buy used and NOS parts this month because one never knows when they will be available again". We are looked at as the leader in the industry so when Drake or Dynacorn considers a part, they ask us if we will commit to 50 to 100. They know not to ask the other retailers… So far we have only sold 2 roofs.
At the priced they charged it should be perfect in my mind. For $400 bucks I would probably live with it considering there are not many options out there.
Really a bummer there is not a repro out there, Seems like everyone of these needs rechromed or repaired but it does make sense why there isnt one. No one said a cougar is cheap or easy to restore!
The flaws would annoy me too, especially for the price. But now you have to decide whether to move forward and live with it, or potentially send them back to be redone, which could take months and be difficult for them to do, IF they would even do it. Once they have been restored like this, stripping all of that off to start over is difficult and may result in damage or destruction of the plastic. The other company I spoke to said they wouldn’t do pieces that had previously been restored, for these reasons. So, maybe your last option would be to ask for a partial refund. I think the pieces will look very nice once installed, but you could make the case that the quality didn’t meet your expectations.
What’s weird to me is that they look spray-chromed, based on the slight orange peel texture. I would have thought that vacuum plating would have a smoother finish. But maybe it’s just the clear coat they put over the chrome.
Reading this thread made me realize how much I love the patina on my '67.
Your PS bezel is an XR7, you won’t be able to mount the dash face pad to it.