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Hi all,

Funds are running low and I still have the whole front & rear of the chrome to be done. I was going to talk to the chromer to see if he would work with me on me doing the prep work.

So after he removes the chrome layer, I was going to take over with the buffing down and more importantly, filling all of the pits with solder.

Does anyone out there do their own prep work? I realize that the chromer may not warranty the work, but, I'm not sure what the warranty would be anyway.

I know that it sounds like I'm being cheap. But I figure that I may take more care and time than a shop. I realize that I would need practice. ...and I have enough spare parts to practice on.

I'm just looking for feedback, and someone to tell me that I'm nuts.

Thanks,

Mark

Yes to the last question. There are some parts of a restoration that can be done and are rewarding to do for the "love" of your car. Trying to attempt to do the prep work for replanting is not one. Any screw up in the process will have the finial plating be flawed. The chrome is the first thing most see when they step back to look at a car. So the falling off the plating 6 months from then will not have a very good effect on your car. As my hero Clint Eastwood would say "A man has to know his limitations". So leave that part of your restoration to the pros, and pick something else to do the prep work on.

my dad did the prep work for his 36 12, bumpers,, and i am planning on prepping the shutters cause they are in bad shape,

the shop would most likely do a touch up, before plating ,,if needed

You are not being cheap!!!

I have dealt with some of the notable platers and seen them foul up work.

If you can find a good library you can get a book on plating that will tell you how to go about things.

For pot metal you need zinc rod and a torch, but get some junk parts and practice.

For dented parts if you can find someone who tunes brass instruments they may be able to help you. I'm sure they will if you just offer to pay to watch them.

You can always get junk and put dents into it.

The problem I always had was people telling me that I am stupid and slow and when I ended up fixing what other people were paid more than me had done; I had to agree. Those screw ups are smarter than me!

I do all my prep work, that way I know what the final product will look like. I agree with Tim 100%, get some practice on some junk parts. See if your plater will do a "copper build" job on the parts, most of your pits will come out in that stage, and save you from having to fill pits. If they are really deep, then you have to do the fill job. A lot of what you have to do when working in the copper stage is putting detail back in that the copper build process takes out. I start with 400 grit paper, then 400 wet, 600, 600 wet, 1000, 1000 wet then 2000 wet, and it is almost polished at that point. If you do your own buffing in the copper stage be very careful not to heat the part up.

How many of us had done our first body panel work, straightened, filled, sanded, etc. until we were certain the surface was true and perfectly contoured or flat, only to find that upon applying the gloss paint, finding all manner of waves, dishes, etc.? The same is true for preparation for plating - maintaining contours, avoiding flats or dished out spots on grinding and polishing, preserving contours and fine details when present are among the most critical steps that, in the end, differentiate a fair job from an excellent job. I suspect we've all seend bumper bars with dishes, waves, flats, etc. This final profiling and polishing is the skill you pay an experienced professional for and if you're going to do it yourself, LOTS of practice is essential, under the guidance of a pro if possible, and carrying out the process thru the plating so you can observe the final results. Even with steel but especially with die-cast, a couple of seconds too long or a little too much pressure and the item can become trash.

O-D, I use a sponge, bucket of water and a flourescent work light to check the contours of my work, that saves a lot of grief later, and best emulates the look after the nickle-chrome has been applied.

MrPB, that sounds like a good technique - I wonder if the pros use something similar? Never had occasion to take notice.

Thanks for the feedback...

Part of the reason that I am contem-plating (get the pun!)is the first parts that he did.


It was the turn signal bezels on my 22nd series. Yes, cast parts. When I picked them up they did look good. I probably see about two extremely small bubbles on the faces of each of them. The backs had more bubbles, but I know not to worry about that. I don't know if I should expect a perfect part.

He mentioned that he had to plate them twice as they tend to bubble with the pits and cast parts. He said if there was a problem, bring them back. I probably won't get them on the car until the winter. I have been getting pairs of parts done at a time as the only complaint (that I have heard) about this place is that they lost parts. So I give them two at a time.

I forgot to ask them how they prep the pits. (I tend to forget some important things sometimes). I will ask them that when I pick up the next batch of parts.

There are other chromers in the Chicago area. ...but as none of them are open on weekends. It is difficult to make multiple trips to them during the restoration process.

I do realize that you get what you pay for and practice makes perfect also.

Thanks for listening to my concerns.

Mark

P.S. I realize that some (or more) of you will tell me to run from that plater also.

They should start by stripping all plating off of the part by means of a very nasty chemical process, one that was rumored in Detroit to have completely made Jimmy Hoffa's corpse dissapear in a matter of hours.
Then the part should be glass beaded.
At this point I fit to piece to the car, and mark then grind any high spots so that it fits the contour of the body as "per print" as possible. Most production diecast does not fit "per print" and you will see high spots that get in the way of an ideal fit.
Then deep pits are ground out to clean metal, like a dentist drills teeth. Fine carbide burrs on a rotary tool are usually used for this. If there are no deep pits you can just copper build the piece and work the pits out in the copper stage.
If there are deep pits they will have to be soldered full, filed then sanded to the original contour then sent back for re-coppering.
After the final copper dip they are sanded and polished as I outlined in the previous post. You finish sand to 2000 grit wet and buff, and that is what you get back from the plater, with nickel and chrome plating. If you are lucky, and the plater is good, his polisher didn't lean into the work too hard and heat the part, distoring it.