Today I bought a shiny new part for my funky old Deuce. It stands out like a sore thumb. I tried soaking it in muriatic acid. I think that actually made it brighter. Other than paying a chrome shop a fortune is their a home way to remove chrome? It is the front hood hinge holder.
An Exorchromism? Perhaps a young priest and old priest? Gives me chills thinking about it. You try hydrochloric acid?
Depending on what the part is, maybe you could trade with somebody who has a funky one and wants to upgrade to shiny.
Grinding and breathing the dust , is not the greatest health idea .This is my story and Im stickin to it
Um, Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid or spirits of salt, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride (HCl).
Plating shops do it in an electrolytic bath. The shop I worked in used a basic solution and reverse current to strip it and it just takes a moment. Once stripped the part was subjected to 'forward current' during the cleaning process so it could be plated again. Stripping it this way produces a toxic waste (hexavalent chromium), thus the extra charge to strip it. If you want to keep the underlying nickel I would send it out to a plating shop and pay to get it done right.
What is the part? gimpy beat me. Muriatic is usually diluted HCl. If the muriatic was strong enough to dissolve the chrome, there is still shiny nickel under there. Sandblast and powder coat or epoxy and paint. If you insist on stripping the nickel : empty the sulphuric acid from the stash of batteries in the corner in a plastic bucket and use a reverse current from a battery charger.
We soaked rusty chrome parts in HCl, rinsed them and dropped them in the chrome stripping tank prior to starting the cleaning and restoration process. The chrome was still on the part after the HCl soak. That and HCl attacks good metal at a 4 to 1 ratio when stripping rust off of it (IOW, keep it short). Soaking it long enough in acid might work but if any steel is exposed then you will lose good metal while doing it.
@Rodney Dangercar I have stripped chrome in HCl since starting in a bumper rechrome shop in 1970. In the winter a cold weak solution will not eat the chrome. A heater or a fresh bucket of acid kicks it up. Reverse in a caustic (base) solution will passivate the nickel and can cause problems in a shop that is not big enough for a proper activation tank. Some shops will strip chrome and nickel in a sulphuric reverse tank. If the solution is not operated under optimum conditions it will eat the steel part dangerously. There are proprietary chemicals that will remove nickel and not affect the base metal. Any acid soak, plating or reverse current will lead to hydrogen embrittlement.
The Muriatic acid will only strip the chrome, which isn't very thick. Probably a few micro millimeters and the chrome is only there to keep the bright nickel from tarnishing. You probably are already through the chrome layer since you went after it with the acid. The nickel, which is the "bright" part, will not be stripped. So you either go after that with a sander, or take it to a chrome shop and have the remaining nickel stripped.
Why not spray a bonding primer like XIM and paint it your favorite color, that would be much cheaper than having the chrome stripped. HRP
While what you said is true, a cold solution pickling slows all reactions. Not just the most reactive metals. Leave chrome in an HCl solution and eventually it will strip the chrome. But you will lose good metal if any reactive metals are exposed. While my experience was in the late 80's to early 90's, I was hired to manage the plating systems of a high end shop and jumped into doing everything because it was all new to me. I only left because it eventually sunk in while talking to older electroplaters that it's a killer occupation. No need to explain reactions, solutions, ionic equations, reduction reactions or endo/exothermic reactions or any of that to me though. I was cleaning up the shop the other day, consolidating storage containers and I tripped across these old things... Been to the rodeo, rode the bull and got the paperwork that goes with it. With that I will politely bow out of the conversation.
have we heard yet what the part in question is?? maybe someone here has a crappy worn one that they would trade for a nice one....
Instead of messing up a good shiny part, this could be inspiration to spiff up the rest of the car instead.
Rear ……….. front…….. The part in question is a reproduction front hood bracket that bolts to the grill surround. The centre stainless strip slides into it, and there is a similar wider one on the rear above the firewall that bolts to the firewall and body
have you tried it to see if the stainless centre piece fits on. I have the same one and it didn’t fit the original piece, hence a different one pictured above. I have original ones but wish to hold on to them at this time.
Little piece like that, I'd toss it in the blast cabinet, hit it with the torch for a second and rattle can it with Krylon semi flat black. Done.
I would wire wheel it, then take an old house painting brush and lightly spray some dark brown paint on the end of the bristles, then dab it onto the part to simulate some rust.
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