The steel grille and bumpers on my '61 F100 are painted and eventually I would like to run chrome bumpers and a grille. The bumpers I can either get repop or have them stripped and plated. The grille isn't available repop and the local chromer told me he won't plate it due to size vs cost. I am also toying with the idea of a grill swap, I am just not to that point yet. (haven't found anything that speaks to me) But I am thinking why don't I just strip and polish my existing grille and headlight buckets? If I do that what is the best way to protect the steel from dulling and corrosion? Clear coat? The truck will be a driver, but I don't want to pull the grille to clean it up constantly. TIA for any advice.
Try Bulldog Adhesion Promoter. Cody Walls told me he tested it against Gibbs and others and it held up best, plus it promotes adhesion of paint when you do decide to paint it.
He told me he won't do the grill because of it's size? Said it's not worth it. I have no idea. I hate to shell out the cash for plating or a good chrome grille when I am still unsure of the direction I want to go.
I don't know of a protectant that will last forever without a reapplication. I just polished a steel tube bumper I made, Mother's Chrome Polish says it's a protectant as well as Wenol metal polish. I used the Mother's then went back over it with the Wenol red, just have to see how it holds up I guess.
I made a few bumper bolts from some ugly galvanized cup head bolts by grinding and polishing the heads, and then giving them a coat of wax. So far so good, but I'm going to hit them with clear acrylic if they start to go south.
That sounds dodgy. Surely it should be you who decides if it is worth the cost or not. Is it that he is not confident of his ability to get a good result??? As for a polished finish, the finer the polish, the better the resistance to rust/tarnishing/contamination of the surface. It is all about reducing the ability of contaminants "keying" to the finish. A really good fine polish, along with regular upkeep and applying a sealant like wax or polish will last well. 'Mr Sheen' works extremely well for this sort of thing, and is a spray on/wipe off deal. Google is your friend. I am sure it is available in the U.S.
As the former owner of a DeLorean, the go to for stainless is Sheila Shine. This product can be found at wholesale kitchen supply companies
Yes, automotive wax. Might have to lightly touch up/polish with mag polish if you neglect the waxing for too long. Automotive wax (liquid) works good on polished aluminum too. Been keeping a SBC polished intake manifold looking like new for 20 years by applying a light coat of wax every so often (basically when it starts to look a little dusty)!
I have had a can of this in the shed for about 25 years, and never thought to use it on the outside of a car. I am going to check if it has silicone in it, so I can keep it away from paintwork. (It's a bastard to touch up if it gets on there)
It does have silicone in it. Lots of bike guys swear by it. It makes clean up of tar/bugs/etc a breeze..... and has a nice lemon scent.
If anyone has any suggestions for a plater let me know. I am in NE OK, and I called every shop I could find with Google in Tulsa and OKC, and finally got a recommendation for "Speed and Sports" in Houston, TX. It seems the majority of shops that still do plating are limiting business to commercial/industrial applications. I didn't start out looking to cast that wide of a net, I was hoping to find someone local. I am sure I can find a shop SOMEWHERE, but if anybody has a personal recommendation let me know.
I’ll second this. Havent done it on car parts, but on bars I’ve made and polished I waxed them and they’ve held up for 3 years w/issues. Just wax every year(ish) maybe sooner if the parts are baking in the sun for weeks on end.
Hello, We have tried almost everything from Simichrome to FLITZ from our motorcycle days and they always looked nice when we finished. But, our old grille did eventually shine well and stay nice looking despite the daily dose of salt air. For a while, after a heavy dose of salt air during a light fog, the sedan delivery got a wet chamois wipe down and a full car cover to protect the surfaces. We even tried the standard Nevr-dull to get any surface blemishes off first, before any application of a wax protective coating. At one time, for our 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery Grille and chrome accessories, we even borrowed some metal polish from our mom’s cabinet called Brasso. she saw me polishing the shiny stuff and offered her supply of the stuff. She used it on her stainless steel copper bottom plated pan and it was so shiny and clean. Our grille was spotless and always was a draw when folks got over the idea of a “worker’s” van used as a hot rod. But, what ever is on any chromed parts, we have learned to use the Nevr-dull wadding first. Then coat it with the best polish in current sales, everywhere. Colonite paste wax. They have been around since 1936. Jnaki At the time of our hot rod builds, drag race builds, Colonite was around, but not as popular as Vista wax, Cadillac Blue Coral, Turtle Wax and finally, Classic Car Wax. So, it did take a long time in “salty” air environment to use all of those wax products from the big name auto products and the winner is Colonite for shine and long lasting, even if it sits outside in the salt air 24 hours of the day. 7-8 months was the longest time between the polish coating application necessity as the protection was there, but needed help to keep the salt corrosion elements away. Ocean influenced, harbor, salt air is not the most friendly of nature’s attack on everything coastal. We used this stuff for everything from stainless steel products to white gel coat surfaces. But, if you have to have liquid, they have a line of detailers and cleaners. In comparing the two products, paste versus liquid, obviously, the liquid goes on easier, but does not last as long as the paste wax coating. So, we cut down the refurbishing the surfaces exposed to direct salt water and the overall deck that gets 100% salt air moisture daily and nightly 365-66 days of the year. Now, it was definitely 5-6 months before it started to feel not so slick. Water still beaded, so there was a covering, but it just was not a super slick surface. YRMV Remember, this is on the salt water directly, not your average car in a garage. Once applied to the car surfaces, it stays cleaner and shiny for over a year. The cars do not sit outside and when we go somewhere, we always use a covered parking area. The only time we had to redo the Colonite wax was when we had to leave our cars outside for many months during a household construction project. It was still protecting and shiny, but it just needed another cleaning and detailing when we could finally get the two daily drivers back into the garage. someone mentioned that some products do not say "auto" on the label or description. for us, we got introduced to the product when it was one or two versions and it was all the same idea... "wax on, wax off." If you are still hung up on having "AUTO" on the wax product, they have that line up, too. “For over 40 years, the mystique of Collinite's flagship and legendary product continues to find its way into the detailing conversation, while it continues to exceed expectations. In the age of innovation and miracle products - what is the fuss all about?” “For the versatility, the value, the look, the ease of use and the durability - there's truly nothing else like it.” NOTE2: since 1936 Of course, your choice and method will vary with what you use. Colonite has been around for ages and does not get the big name advertisement as Meguiar’s, Mother’s or other big names. But, it does work and works better than those big time hot rod company products. 1958 Our Collinite surface stays a great looking area for such a long time, that we tend to forget how long it has lasted. A real wipe on/wipe off type of application and if you have to, several coats adds to the protection, but is not necessary... YRMV
I just had a bunch of parts for my '40 Plymouth project chrome plated. I used JB Chrome plating in Fort Worth. They did a good job. https://www.jbchrome.com/ Several years ago I had these guys do some tough to plate parts on my Mysterion reproduction. Carbs, deep headlight doors, etc. Did it by mail from California. I was super happy with their work and their prices were as low as any I have ever seen.
I'm a former electroplater and I don't know why the guy you talked to would say that it costs too much to do. That's up to you and I would have given you a quote if I was in a shop that handled that stuff. Unfortunately the bid would have been pretty high as chroming a surface with lots of edges can be a nightmare. The way that chrome throws down, edges that are closer to the anodes get hit harder than the deeper draws that you also want the chrome to throw down in to. This can cause a type of burning on edges that looks like white paint was sprayed on the part. You get around this by building a custom anode jig that fits the surface of the part so that chrome is thrown evenly into the deeper draws of the piece. This is a one-off item and can significantly add to the cost. If you've ever looked at a cheap chromed valve cover and seen yellow-tinged 'chrome' around the bolt holes, that's a condition called "nickel out". It didn't get plated as the voltage was too low, the part was poorly positioned or it needed a custom anode jig to do a proper finish. I worked at Tripleplate Chrome out on East Trent Ave. in Spokane a few decades ago and they're still in business. It's a high end plating operation (show cars, overseas stuff, restorations and such) with the plating tanks that go with it, so it's not cheap but the "Good Driver" level is the best price for quality IMO. They did some motorcycle parts for me and I was very happy with the results and the cost wasn't unreasonable for basically restoring an item.
That's why I was so impressed with Indiana Custom Chrome. They took care to anode these really tough parts and got near perfect coverage. And way cheaper than I was expecting.
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