Re: Material used in bumpers, trim, handles, etc?

Posted by afterglow On 2008/3/24 20:06:39

Thanks for the info so far. I'm getting some conflicting info though so lemme summarize what's been said. Once again, my car is a 1950 Standard 8:

bumper, grille, hubcaps: steel
side trim, window trim: stainless
handles, hood ornament, windshield frame: potmetal

How about the headlight/taillight bezels??

I'm trying to decide on how much of the chroming process I'm willing to undertake myself and how much of it to farm out. In the last car I did, I farmed out the entire thing and it cost me a small fortune. The Packard has a lot more chroming needed and having it rechromed will get really expensive.

The process I'm looking at is Copy Chrome and it's being pushed by caswellplating.com. It's not a true chroming process but it's supposed to look just like chrome without the huge power needs and the dangerous chemicals. I've seen some finished products and it looks fine.

The process for both pot metal and steel is similar. Plate the metal first with copper. Repair, polish and degrease. Plate with Copy Chrome. Their process for stainless is different: Stainless Steel Activator, repair & polish, Nickel Plate.