Cylinder Plating, Boring and Honing Frequently Asked Questions

Send us a picture to sales@usnicom.com. We stand behind our work to make sure our customers gain the greatest advantage on the track with NiCom.

Make sure to request a tracking number when sending your package to us. With the tracking number you will know exactly when your part arrives to our shop! Don't forget to print and include the order form that was emailed to you in each box you send.

All orders MUST have a US Chrome order form included in each box shipped. Any cylinder received without this form is subject to rejection or delayed servicing. We currently do not take special instructions over the phone, but you can email them directly to sales@usnicom.com.

If you are shipping larger items that require special handling, please ship them in a plastic tote or wooden box to ensure safe shipping. We also recommend you insure the shipment for the value of the item(s) and request a tracking number. US Chrome is not responsible for damage caused by carrier mishandling.

In short, we wont know the cost of a service until we evaluate the part. Our pricing list is available on our Cylinder Plating Pricing Sheet. For quotes on piston coatings, please visit Wiseco.

There are various stages to the cylinder servicing process. If your cylinder has been here longer than our current turn time, please have your dealer contact us directly at sales@usnicom.com. We are only able to communicate service updates to the authorized dealer that started the service.

Please check our home page or order form for the latest turn time information.

All our cylinder plating is backed by a 1 year warranty. Please see our warranty page for full details.

Since 1940, US Chrome has provided superior technical depth, research and development capabilities - we have 2 PHD chemists on staff at our corporate headquarters. Robust and tightly controlled cylinder plating chemistry and accurate bore sizing is the heart of what we do. We also offer custom honing mandrels which ensure your cylinder bores have unsurpassed roundness and straightness.

We provide fast turnaround time, premium rush service, cylinder exchange, piston and parts sales. 

We provide our cylinder services to a wide range of industry-leaders, including Mercury Racing, Kohler Engines, Kustom Kraft Performance, Max Power Engines, Eric Gorr Racing, Finish Line Engines, RK TEK, FAS Lane NASCAR Racing, GM/Corvette Racing and many others.

Founded in 1940, our cylinder plating shop has been in the business over 80 years! We were also the 1st in the industry to discover how to adhere electroplated coatings onto aluminum base material.

We provide:

• Cylinder Plating
• NiCom Plating
• Nikasil Replating
• Cylinder Porting
• Cylinder Honing (& diamond honing)
• Cylinder Boring (& cylinder bore restoration)
• Cylinder Exchange

Our cylinder plating shop has 2 PhD chemists on staff and a full test laboratory, plus full dyno capabilities. Our cylinder plating baths are diligently monitored and our coatings are harder than any in the world (650 Vickers hardness)!

We perform our services on:

• Motorcycles
• Snowmobiles
• Dirt Bikes
• Street Motorcycles 
• Shifter Karts
• ATVs
• Race Cars
• Boats and Personal Watercrafts
• Chainsaws

Yes, we offer aftermarket pistons and parts from the best in the industry, including Wiseco, Wossner, Vertex, Pro X, JE, SPI, and more.

Our snowmobile cylinder core exchange program is our most popular cylinder service. We have thousands of snowmobile cylinders ready for immediate, same-day exchange.

The turnaround time at US Chrome will change depending on the season, but you can always find out latest turn time on our home page and order form page. We may also have availability with our Cylinder Exchange program, where remanufactured cylinders from our extensive inventory can be shipped same-day with a refundable core deposit.

It is highly recommended, but not mandatory, that you send along a new piston to most accurately set your final piston-to-wall clearances. Please do not send the ring(s); we measure your piston from the skirt and do not require the rings for processing. If you do not send a piston, please specify the final bore size for us on the work order form. If no sizing information or piston is sent, we will assume you want the bore restored to original factory bore size. US Chrome is a dealer of Wiseco, Pro-X, SPI, Wossner and other aftermarket pistons. Do not hesitate to contact us for competitive piston prices!

We offer a one-year warranty against any plating issues, such as adhesion. Please see our warranty section for full details.

All products should be shipped to the following address:

US Chrome Corp. of Wisconsin

650 Oak Park Avenue

Fond du Lac, WI 54935

Please see additional instructions on the shipping page. Dealers must complete an online Order Form. A copy of the Order Form will be emailed to the dealer to be included with the shipment. An order form is required for each box being shipped to us. We require this to make sure we receive all the information we need to quickly return your customers product to you. Acceptable methods of shipping include UPS, US Regular or Priority Mail, SpeeDee and Fedex.

Yes, US Chrome offers custom race or trail-porting. Our cylinder plating process will NOT affect your previous porting modifications.

A quality replate is proven to offer very substantial performance benefits over steel sleeves, including vastly improved heat dissipation, durability (hardness of 600 Vickers), significant weight savings and tighter piston-to-wall clearances. A plated bore will never twist, turn, or slip. Best of all, NiCom plating is usually less expensive than sleeving, making these performance benefits available at a lower cost!