Technical removing old pitted chrome plating

Well, I used a sanding disc on my angle grinder....hard to not get flat spots, but came out OK for my project.

Here is the finished product, with the paint I used. I had sanded a rusty chrome alt bracket on my old truck and painted it with silver paint and it didn't come out as good as this did I think.

Just hope it holds up in the UV , if not, I'll paint with different paint

 

UP Nice job! I was hoping for a work in progress, bare metal picture. So, what color was the base metal?

 

Well, I took it down just far enough to smooth it and give it some "tooth" for the paint.
The long one I think was br***, but not sure on the other. It did look like some copper in the plating layers though.
New ones are $669 and supposed to be chrome plated br***, but this set is from 1982 and the company may have been bought since then or changed materials (also, there is a bracket that installs behind the panel and holds the cables as well as the levers they hook to.

 

I like the look for a everyday street driven car as opposed to the cost and upkeep of chrome.
An alternative to chrome for fans, brackets,timing covers, suspension parts etc.....maybe with a little pin-striping to accent the parts

 

That looks good. I have not seen that product. They are coming out with new products all of the time. Thanks for the update.

 

All these products claim to be rust preventive. Hell.. a well placed booger can prevent rust.

 

Where did you find that tech? American Pickers??!!!LOL

 

Boat stuff very well might be br***

 

That's a lot of Boogers to cover a ch***is.

 

ya grind that frame enough without a mask. Ya might have enough.

 

You bet!

 

Simpsonrl;
Be careful if you have die cast zinc/pot metal/unk something or another dipped to strip it. Die cast has lots of different formulas which include clay, & since they absorb moisture - resulting in the pits under the chrome, the base metal can be very unstable, melting in the tank, when the plater does nothing wrong. You nor he will find out until you dip it, strip it, & lift it. If it comes out good w/o any plating on it, then you should grind/drill out the pits - which are corrosion, then have it copper struck. Or use Muggy weld carefully, along w/equal amounts of care/sanding filing/etc.
Sure does look nice when recromed over a properly done surface.
Marcus...

 

Any time I've had to strip chrome for a part that mattered, I bring it to the chrome shop who electrically strip it.

 

Yeah, I forgot to mention drilling the pits.

 

A problem with abrasive removal of chrome plating is that it is much harder than the pot metal, so the pot metal will tend to be removed a lot faster. Same for most chemical stripping.