We've Been Plating Chrome
On American Trucks
For 86 Years.
From a rented shop on Mier y Pesado in 1940, to the chrome on the original Ford Mustang in 1965, to the anodized facade of the Museo Soumaya in 2011 — every Galhor bumper carries three generations of metal-finishing knowledge baked into the steel.
Manufacturing
Ownership
Magnolia TX
And Beyond
Most chrome shops you'll find online were built in the last decade. They buy bumpers somebody else made and resell them. We're 86 years into pouring the chrome ourselves. That difference shows up in every weld, every plate, every bumper that leaves our floor.
— The Galhor Floor · Tlalnepantla, México
The Long Road
From A Polytechnic Lab
To Every Highway In America.
Founders die. Companies sell. Most family businesses don't make it past the third generation. We're still here, still pouring chrome, still owned by the same family — because every step of the way, we doubled down on the work.
Francisco Hornelas Lavat. The Polytechnic Lab.
Francisco Hornelas Lavat is teaching electrochemistry at the Instituto Politécnico Nacional in Mexico City. In the lab between classes, he develops the technical foundations that will become Galhor: tin plating, electrolytic galvanizing, chrome plating, silver, gold, nickel, copper, brass. Four years later, he opens a shop.
Teaching The Next Generation.
FHL with his electrochemistry students at the IPN, 1939. Many of the men in this photograph would go on to shape Mexico's emerging metal-finishing industry — several would join Galhor in the years to come.
A Rented Shop On Mier y Pesado.
Estañadora opens its doors in Colonia Del Valle, Mexico City. The first plating line handles tin, electrolytic galvanizing, chrome, silver, gold, nickel, copper, and brass — eight processes from one shop. The company that would become Galhor is on the map.
The Coyoacán Expansion.
Land is purchased in Coyoacán and a new plant rises on Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez. Anodizing and hot-dip galvanizing are added to the process roster. The shop becomes a real industrial operation.
Tlalnepantla. The Permanent Home.
Mexico City zoning shifts the Coyoacán neighborhood from industrial to residential. The DDF pushes manufacturing out. Land is bought in Tlalnepantla and the plant we still operate today is built. Sixty-six years later, the same plant.
Ford Motor Company Calls.
Ford signs Galhor for chrome plating on truck bumpers — work that, until then, was done exclusively in the United States. Every bumper, hand-finished. The relationship starts a chapter that will define the next several decades.
The Mustang's Chrome.
Galhor produces the chrome bumpers for the 1965 Ford Mustang — the year-model that birthed the American muscle-car era. The chrome on those bumpers came off our floor. It's the kind of fact you don't get to claim if you started selling aftermarket parts on Amazon five years ago.
Chrysler. General Motors.
Where Ford goes, the Big Three follow. Chrysler and General Motors join the client roster. The Tlalnepantla floor scales up. Galhor becomes a known quantity in Detroit's Mexico-side supply chain. "Propiedad de Chrysler" — stamped on every rack.
The Modern Chrome Line.
The chrome plating line still in service today is installed — 40% longer than its predecessor, with alkaline copper, acid copper, and brass plating integrated. The infrastructure that produces every Galhor bumper sold in 2026 traces back to this line.
Ford: Proveedor Confiable.
Ford Motor Company, S.A. issues formal recognition to Compañía Estañadora Nacional as a "Proveedor Confiable" — for development of a manufacturing system that meets Ford Universal Quality standards. Signed November 1973 by R.M. Dierkes (Supply Office) and R. González Telke (C. de C. Staff Manager).
General Motors: First Recognition.
General Motors de México, S.A. de C.V. issues formal recognition for contribution to their 1978 Model Year production goals. Signed by William G. Slocum, Jr. (President and Director Manager) and Pablo L. Hutterer (Purchasing Manager).
GM: 75th Anniversary Recognition.
Five years later, General Motors recognizes Galhor again — this time on its 75th anniversary as a corporation, for contribution to the 1983 Model Year. Signed by J. Michael Losh (President) and Pablo L. Hutterer (Purchasing). The relationship spans three model decades.
Ford Honor Mention.
Ford Motor Company issues a Mención Honorífica for "compliance with quality standards, on-time deliveries, and positive attitude that allowed us to maintain our supremacy and prestige." Signed November 1984 by V. Jerusalmi (Supply Operations Director) and M. Borghelli (Deputy General Director and Vice President).
Canacintra Honors The Founder.
The Cámara Nacional de la Industria de Transformación (CANACINTRA) recognizes Ing. Francisco Hornelas Lavat in life for his "invaluable contribution to the Mexican galvanoplasty industry." March 29, 1990. Signed by Roberto Sánchez de la Vara (CANACINTRA National President), Vicente Yáñez (Metallurgy Council President), and Andrés Estrada (Section 72 President).
Ford Q1 Preferred Quality Award.
Ford issues its Q1 Preferred Quality Award to Galhor — Ford's highest supplier certification, awarded only to manufacturers that consistently exceed quality, delivery, and engineering performance benchmarks. Q1 status puts Galhor in the top tier of Ford's global supplier base.
In Memoriam: The Industry Salutes.
Five years after honoring him in life, CANACINTRA and the Mexican galvanoplasty industry hold a tribute in memory of Ing. Francisco Hornelas Lavat at the IX National Galvanoplasty Congress in Ixtapa, October 27–30, 1995. Recognized as "pioneer of our industry, tireless fighter for our sector, and example for new generations of industrialists."
The T 300 Bumper That Saved Us.
Mexico's economy is shaky. Orders dry up. The shop floor goes quiet. The team bets on a single product — the T 300 truck bumper — and pours everything into making it right. That bumper saved the business. The company we're running today exists because of what was built in that year.
PEMSA: Supplier Of The Year.
PEMSA — one of Mexico's most demanding metal-stamping clients — names Galhor its Proveedor del Año 2000. The award is presented in Celaya, Guanajuato, January 2001. A recognition that lands differently in a market this competitive.
The Museo Soumaya.
Carlos Slim's Museo Soumaya opens in Mexico City — a landmark of contemporary architecture wrapped in 16,000 hexagonal aluminum tiles, anodized by Galhor. When you see the building photographed in design magazines around the world, you're looking at metal we treated.
Top Shop Medal.
Products Finishing magazine — the U.S. industry's standard authority on metal finishing — awards Galhor its Top Shop medal, recognizing the Tlalnepantla operation as one of the best in North America.
Cover Story: Products Finishing México.
Products Finishing México features Galhor on the cover of its August 2019 issue. The headline: "El cambio en automotriz." The image: the current Galhor team — third generation on the floor — holding a chrome-plated automotive bumper produced in Tlalnepantla. The same plant. The same family. The work continues.
Direct To The Driver.
Galhor opens galhor.com and a U.S. distribution facility in Magnolia, Texas — shipping bumpers directly to owner-operators, fleets, and chrome enthusiasts across the United States and Canada. No middlemen. Same Tlalnepantla floor. Same family. 86 years of work in every bumper.
The People
Behind The Chrome.
Marketing brands stock photos of "craftsmen." We have actual ones. These are real men who worked the Tlalnepantla floor across the Galhor decades — finishing bumpers for Ford, Chrysler, GM, and the trucks of the open road. The work hasn't changed much. Neither have the standards.
The Plaques
Don't Lie.
Anybody can claim quality. Few can hand you the actual papers. These are the original recognitions — Ford, GM, PEMSA, CANACINTRA, Products Finishing — awarded to Galhor across five decades of OEM and industry work. Hover any plaque to read it.
Where Galhor
Lives Today.
Galhor is a single company operating across two countries: bumpers are manufactured in Mexico, distributed in Texas, and sold direct to U.S. and Canadian truckers. We say this plainly because customers deserve to know exactly who they're buying from.
Tlalnepantla
Every Galhor bumper is fabricated, plated, polished, and inspected on the same plant floor that's been running since 1957. The chrome line installed in 1969–1970 is still in production. The team includes second- and third-generation metal-finishers — people whose fathers and grandfathers worked the same line. ISO 9001 quality framework. This is where 86 years of muscle memory lives.
Magnolia
Our U.S. distribution and customer-service hub. Bumpers ship from Magnolia to owner-operators and fleets across the United States and Canada — usually within 48 hours of order completion. The Magnolia team handles support, warranty processing, returns, and the Comeback Program. Open to the public for direct pickup and inspection.
Full Legal Transparency
Galhor Inc. is a registered Texas corporation operating from Magnolia, TX. Estañadora de México, S.A. de C.V. is the Mexican manufacturing entity that has been in continuous operation since 1940. The two entities operate as a single integrated company: bumpers are made in Tlalnepantla, distributed and serviced through Magnolia. Customer purchases at galhor.com are processed through Galhor Inc. (Texas) under U.S. consumer-protection law.
We disclose all of this openly because aftermarket truck-parts buyers deserve to know where the steel came from, who plated the chrome, and who stands behind the warranty. None of those things should be hidden behind a marketing brand.
Three Letters.
Three Decisions
We Make Every Day.
Values plastered on a website don't matter unless they show up on the floor. Ours do — because we built them from the questions we actually ask before every production run.
Adaptability
Just like the metals we work with — copper, brass, chrome, stainless — we transform and move flexibly into the future. The Tlalnepantla floor in 2026 looks different from 1940, but the work is the same. We adapt the tools. Never the standard.
Resolution
Barriers don't represent a challenge — they represent the opportunity to do things better. The 1997 economic crisis nearly took us out. The T 300 bumper saved us because we resolved to build the one product that'd carry us through. Every problem on the floor today gets met the same way.
Excellence
In everything we do, we make sure to do things better than everyone else. It's why Ford, GM, Chrysler, PEMSA, and the Museo Soumaya brought us their work. It's why Products Finishing awarded us the Top Shop medal in 2017 and the cover in 2019. The bar isn't set by competitors — it's set by what we delivered yesterday.
Eighty-Six Years.
Same Floor. Same Family.
Most chrome you'll find online came off a brand built last Tuesday. Ours came off a floor that's been running since World War II ended. Configure your bumper at galhor.com and put 86 years of metal-finishing experience on the front of your truck.
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