posted 07-09-2004 08:41 PM                  

Advanced Plating & Powder Coating
1425 Cowan Court
Nashville, TN 37207
1-800-588-6686
1-615-227-6900
Fax 1-615-262-7935

I regret to have to inform you that we will not be able to process your prowler grill for chrome plating. After plating several of these grills it seems we cannot achieve the quality standard that is expected. The problem area is the bottom of the fins. There is always a spot or two that will not plate correctly. The bottom of the fins reflect onto the front of the fin and the spots shows up. This seems to be a problem we cannot overcome and painting the bottom of the fins is something no one wants to do. Since we cannot get satisfactory results we feel it is better to return your part rather than ask you to accept substandard quailty. We appreciate the opportunity to serve you and we apologize for and inconvenience this may have caused.

Thank you
Tom Sullivan

Now lets hope that Norb can come up with a plater that can do the job. I have ended up with a silver grill and I know several others have bought grills and sent to Advanced for plating.

I too am sorry for any trouble this has cause my fellow Prowler owners. When I stopped by Advanced plating last year they told me they could make it look as good or better than the one in my car. We (Tom Sullivan & I) tried to make it perfect. I told him what I saw in the grill he did for me last year. It does not have the imperfection that he describes, but some others that should have been easily corrected. I have made several calls about the grills in the last few months hoping he would be able to work this out.

Most Prowler owners want a perfect chrome grill. I would say that with any chrome you can find imperfection in it if you look close enough. Looking at the grill before installing it can be very disappointing. My Custom Coating grill was very disappointing when I took it out of the box. But I went ahead and installed it in the car and told Sue if I didn't like it I would put the yellow grill back in it. In a few days I was sold on it and now I have the Advanced Plating grill in there and it looks better than the Custom Coating except for the top fin when the hood is open due to the fact they didn't think it would show. This was a test piece and they were to correct this on future grills. What happened between my Test grill and the following ones that left a gouge on the bottom of the top fin I DO NOT KNOW.

What we need and I have talked to a few people about is a metal grill made to look like the stock grill that can be chromed easily.

Again I'm sorry that Advanced Plating could not do the work they promised

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Larry & Sue Mayes

posted 07-10-2004 12:07 PM                  

It would be nice if someone w/ clout (from DC) would allow Siegel-Robert to make a batch of "after market" grills & then chrome plate them for Prowler owners willing to pay for a quality product. I'd be willing to head-up the task of getting things worked out w/ Siegel-Robert, but DC must approve the idea in writing before anyone will take notice.

What is the over the counter cost of a stock grill (in primer)? Memory tells me its over $700. What are we willing to pay for a stock "chrome" grill? $1000, or? Keep in mind that the bottom of each & every louver requires clean-up (by hand) to prevent reflection issues.

posted 07-10-2004 04:43 PM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by Ray:
Anyway, sorry for the disertation, but we all need to enjoy things more, search for "perfection" less and support those few people/shops that are willing and able to perform work/services for our "limited and now out of production" cars. SOMEONE out there may find ONE. =) Prowl on Folks!

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posted 07-10-2004 05:12 PM                  

In all fairness...I have to say I am VERY satisfied with the work Custom Coatings did on my stock grill.

JMO
Chromer.

posted 07-11-2004 12:15 AM                  

I believe you should get what you pay for. I was told, after specific questions to Tom, that this grill was to have no marks, all polished. That's not what I got, so I sent it back.

I work hard for my money, (song tittle).

Customers expect a certain quality from my business, if I don't give it to them, they either make me fix it, or pay me less, or not at all. Workmanship, craftsmanship is going by the wayside in the good ole USA. Or we are paying twice as much as we use to, for what we once expected as the norm.

Each of us has our comfort level on certain things in our lives, what things are important, and what are less important. It's not up to me to tell someone else what level anything should be in their's, I would expect the same respect from them about mine. In fact I think I fought for it way back when.

posted 07-11-2004 09:38 PM                  

quote:

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Workmanship, craftsmanship is going by the wayside in the good ole USA.

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posted 07-12-2004 09:51 AM                  

ps-When we build our concept cars, every component on it has to be "Perfect" for our clients since it is a show car. This perfection comes at a very high price. We have to chrome many different parts made from different materials on every concept car and we have the best vendors that can achieve any of our requests & demands. As a few of you have mentioned in this topic and us vendors have talked about for several years, the quantity is the real reason that drives up the price. Metalcrafters has spent as much as $3500.00 to chrome (1) grill for a concept car and it was bitchen looking when it was completed. I am not saying that the Prowler grill will come anywhere close to that price, but can you see my point?

As I posted last Friday, I received my sample grill back and it looks good. The chrome plating is even around all of the fins, including the top fin. The underside of each fin is not polished so you do get that satin look that reflects into the top of each fin below it. This is a simple solution that will require us to hand surface the underside of each fin before sending it to the chrome shop for plating. I will work up the labor cost with my surfacing dept today. This is an additional cost that you might be willing to spend to achieve this perfect grill? I will post my prices by tomorrow, 7/13 and will see if it fits into your price range?

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Metalcrafters Automotive Enhancements
"Formerly TGF Automotive Enhancements"
11161 Slater Ave.
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
Ph: (714) 444-2000 ext. 505 (7:00am - 4:00pm PST)
Fax: (714 435-1003 Business Cell: (714) 231-1223
www.metalcrafters.com / nschroll@metalcrafters.com

posted 07-12-2004 10:08 AM                    

quote:

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byNorb@TGF: What is a "reasonable" price most of you are willing to pay for a "PERFECT" chrome grill

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posted 07-14-2004 12:54 PM                  

He would not even concider it.

It is my opinion that JD grill must have not gotten coated in the beginning under the top fin in the area that would not plate. Then in attemps to get it to plate since this area was missing the original coating would not except the chrome.

Tom told me even pot metal will have DEAD SPOTS that do not plate and that is what they called this on JD's. But since the grill I have does not have this DEAD SPOT, I believe it was something else. At this point it doesn't matter, he will not do another.

The Plater that did Steve Millers stated, "He would not do another"

From the pictures of JD's it looks good and mine looks good

I just wish he would have reconcidered and plated my virgin grill

Now that NORB has stepped up to the plate and is trying to get some of the platers they use in the concept cars they build, we will have an option for a chrome plated stock grill that will satisfy most all customers

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Larry & Sue Mayes

posted 07-14-2004 05:52 PM                  

I want to make this right before I publish any costs to you all. As I mentioned in my last post, the grill we just did turned out great and the customer is okay with having those bumps on the underside of the fins, so it was never a thought for us to remove them. The grills should arrive to me by this Friday, 7/16. I will then prep these on Monday and Tuesday of next week so we can try to end everyone's curiosity very soon.

Please stay tuned............

posted 07-21-2004 08:12 PM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by Norb @ TGF:
I never received the 2 grills I was expecting last Friday! I am going to purchase a new one and run it through the complete process to finish my cost analysis. More delays......so stay tuned.

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hey Norb!

posted 07-21-2004 09:21 PM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by SuperKat:

I believe it is in use on the car it was made for? Now we have lost this supplier. Bummer. I too believe in quality but not at the expense of every other potential customer out there. I am really disappointed.

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Would this be acceptable to you?

And after being returned

I guess I was suppose to take one for the team on this one?

I don't think so.

Seems like I am the scapegoat for everyone not having a quality grill.

Nobody beat on Tom that I know of, every conversation we had was cordial and businesslike. It was his choice alone that made him stop making them, which in fact is not entirely true. But you best go to him for those details.

The grill is at a custom shop now being fixed as best as possible.