[Billy Nees]

Well, I sent Brad a PM explaining this but since Jeff has brought it up I guess that I should fill everybody in.
The process is called Electroless Nickel Plating and I was turned on to it by Greg Stump of ACP Headers (the old Stahl). From what I've seen, it is primarily used on huge valves and pipes that are used in underground water projects. It coats the inside and outside of the pipe through a dipping process that actually gets into the micro-cracks in the tubing. So far, all of my customers (me? customers? how about buds) have been very satisfied.
I use a company that is somewhat local to me, whose name I can't remember right now, and have always been given prompt and courteous service.
In Brad's case, I would suggest looking locally for a vendor. I know just from googleing "electroless nickel plating" I have found 3 other places close to me that offer this process. The vendor that I'm dealing with will only do silver but there are others out there who offer the process in black also.
Just one more thing, GET AN ESTIMATE! Pricewise, it's + or - competitive with ceramic coatings but I have had some surprises when it comes to pricing because of the market price and amount of nickel used. The headers that I have had done so far have been done with a .003 coating and they're great. The vendor told me that he could go as thin as .0015 and really drop the price but he doesn't know how it would hold up. The next set that I do for myself I'm going to have done at .0015.
Oh, because of the need for the part to be very clean, the vendor who I use will only do NEW headers.