Featured Technical CHROME PLATING AN OIL PAN

For those prepared to chrome, I salute you and I have a question. I received a very kind gift yesterday in the mail from one of our own for my flathead in the form of a Merc oil pan and the pickup.

It has a couple dings and s****es that I will remove and metal finish and then drop off at the chrome shop for a coat of the shiny stuff. My question is this, how do I prevent the flash chrome from going in here?

I could ask the plating shop, but their concern is making stuff shiny, not the future health of my flathead.
Should I be concerned?
If so, how do I seal it off?
Or should I sand it the interior once it is done and paint it?
Am I over thinking this?
I have seen countless chrome pans at swap meets and speed shops that have flash chrome in the pans but that doesn't mean it is a good idea.

 

So you aren’t a flash in the pan, I’d suggest oiling the inside of the pan as soon as you get it back from the chromer. But I wouldn’t worry about it any after that.

 

That there's funny.

 

I mean it’s probably the same as valve covers.
I’d ask the chrome guys I bet there’s a trick

 

guess it would depend on how it looked inside after chroming around the baffle, only thing that comes to my mind is scotch brighting the inside, blowing it out with air and then coat it in glyptal to seal it if really worried about it. We have a chrome pan in the 55 and 56 Chevy's with nothing on the inside and have had no real issues.

 

What exactly is your concern? As chrome plating (and powdercoating for that matter) are both partially electrical processes, the coating will do what all electrical circuits do; take the path of least resistance. I'm ***uming you're worried about plating with poor adherence coming off inside the pan, but I would also ***ume the plater will arrange the electrode/anodes to keep the expensive metal from going places it's not needed/wanted. There's always a bit of 'leakage' however, those pesky electrons don't take orders well unless there's a very clear path and even then there's bound to be a few strays.

If your concern is overwhelming you, a solution would be cutting a piece of bare steel expanded metal to fit right at the pan rail and tacking it into place with some minuscule welds. That will act as a 'net', capturing any strays before they can get inside the pan and leaving just the tacks to be removed after plating.

 

That is what I was wondering, using glyptal in the pan but that baffle makes it next to impossible to get in there. The plan is to have the pan hot tanked after my repairs are finished to make sure the inside is clean. Whatever chrome hits there should have better adhesion I would think. I plated the covers on my HEMI and never thought about it. It just came up in a conversation the other day and it gave me pause.

That is the exact concern, that the oil impregnated steel in an 80 year old oil pan will cause the flash chrome to peel off and enter the engine, that would be no bueno. New pans and valve covers never had oil in them in the first place so adhesion is not an issue.

 

A reminder;;;
Chrome anything,were gaskets need to seal*,needes ruffing up{sand so gasket n sealer has something to grab*,as long as the gasket seal space is shiny> it will not seal well.

 

Apply this stuff to the chrome side, it won't leak...

 

I believe that is referred to as the Revel Rule from model building in my youth.

 

Funny bit of story about a chrome flatty pan I bought: it was chromed and never used after that. I got it probably twenty years after chroming. I was checking it over and noticed that the front rope seal had never been removed before dipping. There was no chrome covering the rope, but a little built up at the edge, almost like it wanted to start creeping over the rope. I filed that off.

 

guess people chrome parts under rides so that the roadkill will have something pretty to look at as they p*** under.

 

That and the occasional protester, they deserve chrome and it cleans up easily.

I bought a chrome windshield frame at the Portland Swap Meet for a 36 five window I built as a kid. Someone chromed the frame in one piece without removing the screws or anything. Just a wall hanger after that. I have no idea what become of it, too long ago. Probably took it to the swap meet and re-sold it.

 

Banged out The dings in the rear corners. looking good with minimal effort. I had to order spot weld pull pins, I was out. They’ll be here in a couple days. I’ll need them for a dent under the windage tray.

The drain plug requires attention. Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away someone added an oversized plug…a bit askew. I need to fix it before I go any further. I thought there would be companies selling a weld in bung and drain nut. Found one in canadia at lue Oval but they won’t sell to Americans. I did source a drain plug 7/8-16 (Dorman 090-018) and ordered it. I also found a mild steel pinion nut the same size and pitch. I shall make my own bung by turning down the edges of the nut. Then I will drill out the pan and weld it in…I hope. You know how these things go. I dream things I cannot have, it’s a fantasy that costs real money. But sometimes…

The things we go through in pursuit of shiny parts.

 

Why not just weld up the hole and redrill and tap it? Or would that be too difficult?

 

Your commitment to shiny stuff is admirable.

 

I had heard, a long time ago, that there was a paint,/lacquer, that you could put on, to prevent the plating process from sticking, to gasket surfaces, or tiny hole. Easily removed after the chrome was on. Your plater should know, esp. if he does carbs.

 

I had a chrome oil pan on a Pontiac engine and found out that the chrome couldn't keep the connecting rods from coming out of the engine.

 

Paint it! It’s a hot rod not a lamp.

 

BAWAAHAAHAA! That’s good!

 

Not enough meat to tap wihout an insert. It needs to go back in the same spot as the pan is troughed to empty the oil to that point. It needs a new bung hole.

I appreciate that. It has been a lifelong commitment. My wife offered to have a casket painted with that chrome paint for me when the time comes, I told her to cremate me and use a polished aluminum overflow bottle I have in the garage. Live shiny, die shiny.

I will ask him about that...when he returns my call.

That's a wall hangar!

It's a major award! Hmmm, fishnet paint? Like lace but ***ier.

 

Do you have a full flow oil system were 100 percent of the oil goes from the pump directly too the filter? Chrome flakes should be large enough that there is a 100% chance of them getting caught in the filter and not making it to the bearings. The pump might take a little bit of damage, but they are resilient. The other thing you could do is take regular oil samples, have the samples ****yzed, and watch for a spike in Chromium. If you see a spike, drop the pan an inspect of peeling and flaking.

 

I've seen plenty of cars where you can see the oil pan. Nothing wrong with making it look nice. I've got a polished finned aluminum job for my 55 if I ever get around to installing it. OMG SO CHAINER

 

Why not ask the plater if they can mask the interior?

 

Oil...filter?

I called H&H about their ribbed aluminum pan, I just couldn't part with the nearly 2 grand after tax and shipping. Build it!

Cause he won't return my calls. I have learned you have to have patience with him.

 

Having worked in and around plating shops at various points in time I am familiar with these processes. There is a paint on mask that platers use. It is very time consuming to apply and not really needed here. I would not worry about the plating flaking off into your oil. The biggest concern to the plater is going to be oil contaminating their solution tanks. There is the internal baffle and even the plates that strengthen the pan rails. These are just spot welded in place and create a nice trap for not only oil but plating solutions too which is very hard if not impossible to clean and rinse with confidence. Platers do have hot baths and degreasers but its still risky. Plating baths are not cheap. Starting with a new part offers less risk. Can it be done, maybe, but it is going to cost some coin.

 

Blue Oval/Cl***ic Truck/Muscle cars and Cl***ics etc, etc is just a company that brings in parts from the US and resells them in Canada to keep the duty and shipping costs down. I highly doubt it is some proprietary part that is not available in the US. Half the time they don't even have stock of the parts and just bring them in with their next order when you order something.

 

I plan on hot tanking the pan once the dents are out and the drain welding is done. Hopefully that is clean enough for him.

 

I wonder if there is a link..........?

 

Spent the afternoon hammering out the low spots and hand filing the high spots. Round rasp on the contoured areas.

looking good so far, these back corners were a bit of a challenge but flat now.

some of the dents are probably factory folds and there are some pressing marks. Those add character.

The leading edge of the reservoir has some pitting. I ordered some 2” flapper discs and new abrasives as I was running low. This is just in brown scotch bright right now. Do you think they will come out with flappers? Too deep? Weld them up and grind them down?

there’s a lot of steel to play with on these pans. Weighs three times more than a SBC pan.