Chrome Pitting - Means or Methods for Repair?

[46HudsonPU]

I have some pieces of brightwork/chrome that have pitting - as is somewhat typical with most older pieces...

Other than getting the pieces to a good/reputable re-chroming business, is there any way I can do some of the work myself, to repair the pitting, while keeping the integrity and 'lines' of the various pieces?

I have seen a lot of pieces re-chromed, and quite a bit of it will loose the 'lines' and 'crispness', due to excessive layers of chrome (or undercoating)...

[rpmonroe]

On occasion I will do metal and pot-metal prep for customers who have had the same experiences with plating shops.

It's more expensive usually to have me prep the work but the end product is much better.

If you are very skilled with die-grinders, small 90 degree sander/grinders and disk sander/grinders you could prep some yourself but as I said it is very necessary to have a high level of skill with such tools to attempt it.

If you send me product I'll make sure it's done properly.

[Hudson Dave]

Hey Rick Send it to me and i will get it done RIGHT the first time . It first needs to be chemically striped before you can do anything . I have been doing this for a long time :) . Give me a call Hudson Dave 352-564-4284

[SuperDave]

Hey Rick Send it to me and i will get it done RIGHT the first time . It first needs to be chemically striped before you can do anything . I have been doing this for a long time :) . Give me a call Hudson Dave 352-564-4284

Dave, How do you chemically strip pot metal? I've experimented with some junk parts and end up with smaller junk parts :eek:

[Ken U-Tx]

Hey Rick Send it to me and i will get it done RIGHT the first time . It first needs to be chemically striped before you can do anything . I have been doing this for a long time :) . Give me a call Hudson Dave 352-564-4284

As Dave says, the part needs to be electro-chemically stripped to get all the corrosion out of the pits, before copper plating, or else the pits will come right back. Grinding on the parts is almost certain to show up under the new chrome. Larger pits are usually filled with a low temp (350F) alloy after the copper plating is applied. The filled pits are then carefully filed and sanded to blend in, then usually another coat of copper plating is applied, then nickel, and finally the chrome. Ken U

[46HudsonPU]

Hey Rick Send it to me and i will get it done RIGHT the first time . It first needs to be chemically striped before you can do anything . I have been doing this for a long time :) . Give me a call Hudson Dave 352-564-4284

Thanks Dave - I'll give you a call, hopefully soon. I was/am hoping this is something I can do - to reduce costs (stripping and other work) & to ensure the quality of the end product.

[bellbigdawg]

spent around $1800.00 dollars already on all the potmetal pieces for my 41 truck. the hood nose potmetal piece or hood ornament was slightly pitted, took about $375.00 to have it look better than new, with no detail loss. the big reputable people around the country do charge alot, but it is a lot of work! just have the steel grill pieces and the bumper to go, hope it costs much less!! anyway, I have had stuff turned to junk in past on other rides, so paying the extra for me is worth knowing that I'm getting all my stuff back in perfect condition!!

[chrome2300]

We can assist. We do a lot of antique auto parts in our shop. Bring your parts in for a quote. Pot metal is not something that can be priced out by a picture. Once you strip the pot metal, usually there are a lot of surprise pits and holes! A lot of time and tedious craftsmanship from the chromer is spent doctoring up the mess. If you have an experienced chrome doctor, they will get the part back to the state you are looking for.
Thank you.