I picked up another pair of 58 edsel wagon taillights But they have a fair amount of PITTING in/on them. What's the best way to "address this issue" when it comes to chroming? I was thinking of sandblasting them...? Or should I just leave this up to the chrome shop to "fix" it?? I don't want any inconsistencies in the CHROME, So what's the best way of having it turn out perfect?
Jon Wright @ CustomChromePlating. (Grafton Ohio) HE is the MAN when it comes to diecast or potmetal plating and repair..... Go ahead,ask me how I know.
DON'T SANDBLAST!!!! Chroming pot metal is a task. I would leave it up to the pros on that one. How's that car coming justin?
Potmetal is tough to do, don't try anything yourself, leave it to the shop, E-mail Polisher here on HAMB, he runs a plating shop and can advise you on the best methods and procedure to use a local plating shop, or send to him and have him do the work.
Get the pot metal brazing rod from MuggyWeld and fill eash pit BEFORE you take it to the chrome shop. This will cost you many hours of labor (depending on the number of pits) but it will significantly reduce the cost of the plating and it will ensure that the chrome shop won't be buffing your pieces down so far to get the pits out. Most shops won't mess with filling the pits and the one's that will charge appropriately for thier labor...
CharlieLed- How do I "clean" the area to GET a good weld? Or are you saying I should just weld over the chrome? Speedaddict- Actaully, cars coming VERY SLOW, (as always) The fenders WERE looking cool, until I grounded down my ****ty welds- and NO RANCHERO yet either... (Germ's a busy guy!)
From what I understand, it would be cheaper and easier to make a mold out of the original potmetal and form yourself some new ones out of something that can be chromed. The plating guys laughed at me when we tried to get our 40 ford pot metal grill chromed. Said they wouldn't even touch it.After asking a couple other chrome shops we just gave up searching for a guy willing to do the work. -Dane
Pot metal is easiest described as a piece of termite infested wood. You CANNOT properly address the pitting until the plating has been stripped. I've seen decent looking pieces turn to swiss cheese after the plating was removed. Chrome plating must be chemically removed from pot metal. They put it in the tank and reverse the charge to remove it. Sandblasting will completely ruin the definition and detail of the piece and will not remove the chrome entirely. After the chrome is removed you can weld up the pits. Then have it copper plated and see how it looks. The build up of copper is the same as primer to paint. All imperfections can be removed in this stage, the hard part is finding a shop willing to let you screw around to get it perfect. Most just do "production" plating these days and could care less about "rare" parts. Good chrome equals BIG BUCKS! We threw away EVERY piece of chrome on my first '56 Chevy after my dad took it to a "production" chrome shop. EVERY piece was burned or over-buffed and total trash. These were super nice pieces that went straight in the dumpster. Be careful with rare parts, or what I do these days is just buy only parts with nice original chrome. Yes it takes longer to find and the parts cost a little more, but it's still a lot cheaper than having them plated.
Polisher doesnt do pot metal. The chrome can be stripped with sulphuric acid which is what many shops use. Not for beginners since you can easily destroy the pot metal so find a shop that will strip, neutralize and give the piece back to you. I havent found an electrolysis process that works, or at least doesnt cost an arm and a leg. Any info on building a good one appreciated. You DONT want to copper plate over corroded pits and you DONT weld them up. Lots of bad info on here. The pits have to be completely cleaned out or the corrosion will come back thru any plating. Use a Dremel and various bits to do the cleaning. I use various stones, drill and mill bits. The pits can now be filled with silver solder or some of the other products on the market. I use jewlers quality silver solder and a jewlers torch that was my grandfathers. DO NOT use any lead bearing solder, it will destroy the platers bath. Once filled the hard work comes. It is a lot more labor intensive as Bondoing over sheet metal pits, since it takes longer. Use a contrasting primer paint to find the high and low spots, something that cleans right off with lacquer thinner or acetone. Once you are satisfied that your repairs as well as the good pot metal is polished to perfection take it for copper plating. Then polish the copper to perfection then take it back, plate, polish again, etc, etc. About now you have an understanding why the shops charge so much to do it. Ive been doing my own as described for around 25 years; gives me something to do in the winter when I dont even want to go to the shop. Just a warm ba*****t and a worktable with plenty of light. It once took me 2 winters to do a 37 Buick grille.
[ QUOTE ] CharlieLed- How do I "clean" the area to GET a good weld? Or are you saying I should just weld over the chrome? [/ QUOTE ] No need to clean the area surrounding the pit, just take a drill bit and twist it into the pit until the pitted area is smooth. The MuggyWeld comes with a flux that is applied to the clean pit and heat applied. When the flux turns root beer brown you know that the piece is at the right temperature to apply the brazing rod. Puddle it in and let it cool. Knock down the high spots with a file and you're ready to send the piece to the chrome shop...
I've been reading some of the other posts on this thread and would add one more thing, my chrome shop (the one I use not the one I own ) strips the pot metal parts that I turn in so that the copper plate is still on the part when I get it back. The copper coat is not completely intact but the areas that need to be repaired are obvious and the pot metal beneath is not excessively eaten away by the process of removing the plating.
bluegr***boogie- You shoulda got to know me sooner! This is about the third pair I've had! "abeLugo" got ONE of my "sets", In exchange for directions (and $$$) on how to mount 'em- If I decide these will be too much of a pain, should I letcha know? PM me
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