i just received a grille for my 41 ford cpe and it is pretty nice. chrome on top section is ok however stainless verticle bars are pitted. any advice on cleaning them up? rechrome is not in the budget.thanks,tom
41 Ford grille is NOT stainless. It's pot metal and plated with chrome. This holds true for all 3 pieces. Stu
If it's stainless don't use steel wool on it, the carbon will just contaminate it and encourage more rust. If it needs it start with 600 grit and work up to a metal polish. Use something like Flitz or Mother's polish to finish unless you have acess to a real buffer and some jewelers rouge.
the reason i said stainless in that is nonmagnetic. does that hold true for potmetal? if it is potmetal would it rust if bare metal is exposed? no rust on it now. thanks again, tom
I thought the ***le sounded odd, I didn't think stainless could even become pitted (although I guess a shotgun blast or some chemical exposure might "pit" stainless).
Pot metal wont rust. It gets a white crossion on it. If thats a stock grill it's pot metal. and can't be polished. It will need replating and that will cost big bucks I mean big. A lot of 41's had painted grills.
Agreed. Stainless comes in a variety of alloy mixes and some of them are rust-resistant, not rust-proof. Some stainless is better than others. Also, I'd say that all stainless IS magnetic.
how much can it really be to re-chrome that grille? out here in az i looked into getting my grille for MY 54 chromed and it was only gonna be between 150-200 bucks, isn't the 41 grille just i center piece and two smaller side pieces? or do they tax cause its separate pieces?
Why all the discussion about stainless? It has been pointed out that the grille parts are pot metal. Potmetal outg***es (like magnesium). That means it corrodes from the inside out. The first sign are little pimples on the surface, which means there are holes forming underneath the surface. Then, when it gets worse, you get craters or holes in the potmetal. The remedy is to take it to a good chrome plater who knows what they are doing. The pits and holes will need to be cleaned up and silver soldered prior to acid copper etch and then bufed coppered and buffed until the surface is highly reflective and polished. Then it's time for the nickel and after that, the final chrome dip. The silver color comes from the nickel and the final whiteish blue comes from the chromium - which is a blue tinged transparent electrocoating. A few shops have successfully repaired pot metal pits with a electroplateable epoxy compound, manufactured by Devcon I think. The only correct solution is to repair and rechrome the grille, but since that is not in the OP's budget, he would be better off finding another grille in better shape.
It depends on the grade and what you are calling stainless. Most of the common ones have slight magnetic properties, some more than others.
You sure that 150-200 quote isn't missing a zero?? You talking about across the border? Just curious, as I'd bring my whole grille out that way for a $200 rechrome...
The chevy grill is ease to buff out, the 41 is one piece and will require lots of hand work. you were thinking about the 40 standard grill that is three peaces. But that to needs lots of hand polishing in between each bar.
thanks to all for your input.i paid 125 for the grille. had none prior to that. spoke to plater in my area ie pauls chrome got a price of 600-800 not in budget. not looking for show quality. top radius bar is flawless but verticle bars have raised pits. dont want to paint it . possibly sind bars and srray clera to prevent oxidation? thanks again,tom
well I got a lesson in metallurgy, but you grill is pot metal not stainless or more. a chrome plater can help you.
Only the cheaper Deluxe version of the 41 P***enger cars had black-painted side or fender grilles. All the cars had a chrome-plated center grille section.
The '41 has the center grille and the two side grills that sit in the fenders. It's still 3 piece, it's just that the 3 pieces aren't connected together.
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