Spot on!!! It's even worse for me having to heat up the metal to cure chrome-replica and other powders -- it brings all the air bubbles and impurities (trapped in the typical low quality pot metal when it's cast) to the surface, creating new adventures in filling and smoothing to perfection.

What has not helped our cause in the automotive restoration hobby is the plain and simple fact the EPA has cracked down severely on chrome shops the last couple of decades. Forcing mandatory closure versus crippling financial upgrades for more environmentally-friendly procedures has sadly closed most of the "good mom and pop shops" we all used to use and love.

This in turn brought the spray-on chrome industry which has yet to prove itself, at least to me, on comparable UV protection, durability, and especially the longevity of real, triple-plated chrome. I want to see how that stuff looks five, ten, fifteen years down the road sitting in the sun of southwest Arizona first. I tell those SpectraChrome folks in New York that same thing every six months when they call me to try to peddle the $25,000 "start up package." LOL Noooo thank you!!!

With all that being said, I think the only alternative with a public decent reputation these days is Tri-City Plating. Even the famed Brown's in Paducah closed a couple years ago.

Good luck with your quest!