67 Newport Custom - Pot metal molding

[BluegrassDan]

Howdy folks,

My rolling restoration is going steady. Interior redo, paint soon. But what to do about the pot metal molding that is pitted?

I feel bad about putting all this work into the car and trim it with pitted metal. Local replating shop quoted WAY too much. These lower moldings on the Newport Custom are really hard to find. A few on eBay...most of them look about the same as mine.

I'm thinking of just putting the old pot metal on and gradually buying up NOS pieces as I can find them. Does this seem like the logical approach?

 

[CBODY67]

When dealing with replaters, you probably need to specify that you are not desiring "show chrome", but "OEM chrome" finish. That might make things a bit less expensive?

Another consideration might be that, after discussion of how they'll refurbish the pitted items, that you might offer to bring them items which you've first filed-off the peaks on the pits so that all they might need to do is finish-grind the items, fill the pits, then re-finish it.

One other consideration is that if you have other things to get replated, do them all at once, in one batch. Finding a motorcycle chroming operation might be a consideration as they would doi smaller batches than other chrome shops might. But then, some of the larger chrome operations have vats of chemicals ready to go so batch size might not be important to them. Something to ask about, anyway.

In the mean time, polish what you have with a good chrome cleaner/polish. Carefully knock-off any pitted "peaks" and carefully apply some "chrome paint" into the depressions so things might look better, possibly. Mainly to have a more consistent color about them.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

 

[cbarge]

Another alternative is-- since I assume you are painting the car....
Air brush the trim on the car to look like real trim!!
Of course you will need to find someone talented enough to pull it off. You can show them your trim so they can duplicate the pattern but in paint!!
No old trim on new paint and wil look great!.Just have to fill the holes where trim attaches to the car.
67 was first year for Newport Custom and it is one year only model trim so finding NOS you have better luck winning the lottery.
Hope this helps.

 

[BluegrassDan]

I like the idea of sanding down the pitted peaks and dabbing chrome paint. This ain't a show car.

 

[cbarge]

When dealing with replaters, you probably need to specify that you are not desiring "show chrome", but "OEM chrome" finish. That might make isthings a bit less expensive?

My chromer is leary of some smaller potmetal trim pieces. Depends what is left after it comes out of the acid bath. Typically their potmetal quotes are " i dont wanna do it kinda price lol!

 

[WissaMan]

I've been working on replating pot metal pieces with my Caswell triple chrome plate kit for a while and I can attest that it is a royal PITA. I have been experimenting with various techniques for cleaning and filling the pits before plating and it's just so hard (for me) to get any kind of consistent results. A single part takes hours of labor of sanding, filling, plating, more sanding, more plating, polishing, more plating before a finished product is produced. Though when a nice finished piece comes out of the final chrome bath, it is very satisfying.

So often the problem seems to come from the pot metal itself, not necessarily just the condition of the piece. It's not uncommon for me to get pretty far along in the process and then suddenly there's a bubble or two under the plating that I have to completely grind/sand down to bare metal again. It can be so frustrating sometimes that I'm toying with the idea of casting small parts in aluminum and then plating them vs. trying to repair/plate the original.

It could be because the Caswell triple chrome system uses formulations that are less toxic than what the pro's probably use, and thus don't work as well (they have an alternative for the cyanide copper bath, for example) though they actually claim theirs work better. I think I'll have to become a lot more proficient/successful before my DIY becomes at all cost efficient vs. sending them away--though at this point it's more a matter of the challenge and satisfaction of mastering it than saving money.

But I'd be curious what you were quoted, please PM me if you don't want to post it here.

 

[C Body Bob]

Howdy folks,

My rolling restoration is going steady. Interior redo, paint soon. But what to do about the pot metal molding that is pitted?

I feel bad about putting all this work into the car and trim it with pitted metal. Local replating shop quoted WAY too much. These lower moldings on the Newport Custom are really hard to find. A few on eBay...most of them look about the same as mine.

I'm thinking of just putting the old pot metal on and gradually buying up NOS pieces as I can find them. Does this seem like the logical approach?

Send me some pics of the pieces you need. I have a few old Newport parts still. I think mine was a 68 I parted. Maybe I can help

 

[bigmoparjeff]

You may want to use one of the professional grade chrome paints. There's ALSA and Spectra Chrome.

You would sand blast your mouldings, epoxy prime them, and fill the pits with a two part glazing putty, then sand smooth. Put on a black or dark blue base, then use the chrome paint.

There are tons of videos online about both brands. ALSA used to sell a shaker can kit, but it might have been discontinued some years back.

Easy Chrome - The World's Most Exotic Finishes

Spectra Chrome – Advanced "Spray-On" Chrome Technology



Jeff

 

[WissaMan]

All the videos posted by the mfgrs/resellers of these chrome paints are very glowing, but I've also seen some independently-made videos that ended in disappointment. I did a lot of reading/viewing on them in the past and my conclusion was that none of them will give you that mirror finish of real chrome. And I don't think they would have the durability of chrome since they are paint.

But I never did actually try one myself. I'd love to see someone try one out and post here. They might be good for plastic interior pieces.

 

[CBODY67]

I've looked at those videos, too, as a possible product to use to refinish the inside reflector of tail lights and such. Rather than using just shiny silver paint.

I haven't seen any of these products in real life, but from the videos, suspect they might get close to real OEM chrome, but not an actual replacement. Probably closer to the more recent "satin nickel" finish? BUT you also have to understand the various "grades/levels/colors" of "chrome", which might allow for some of the manufacturers' claims.

OEM chrome is more satiny, while hard, when compared to the more silvery show chrome (and its very hard, shiny, smooooth polished finish surface) or some OEM chromes (Toyota pickups of the '90s) that had a more blue tint, which stood out against the other hues used by other OEMs back then. Making the others look "flat" by comparison, as if the Toyota chrome was "the standard" rather than just something different to make their products stand out a bit from the others (i.e., better).

By the same token, (I believe) there's now a satin nickel "chrome" wrap that can be applied to surfaces? I believe tha's what's on the new Silverado piclups, as when they came out, it looked a bit different to me. A tap test indicated that it was some sort of wrapped composite front bumper, but I never did investigate it past that.

Of course, with the tight EPA regulations of chroming operations, the number of small chrome shops has greatly diminished over the past 50 years or so, Remember "hard chromed crankshafts"? Which leaves only the larger operations and the new possibility of the "paints and wraps" as viable options to "real chrome plating", on smooth surfaces.

Seems like the plastic chrome might be an option, if the application process is not too onerous for "in the field" use? Seems to have held up pretty well on the radiator grilles on the 1970s Lincolns and others since then?

Just some thoughts and observations,
CBODY67

 

[WissaMan]

The blueish tint of a chrome finish is from the chrome layer itself. Nickel without chrome has more of a yellowish tint. So with the Toyota, maybe they had a thicker layer of chrome to make it more durable and thus it was more blueish than a typical chrome plate. The mirror shine comes from the surface prep of the copper & nickel layers before the chrome and that's where 90% of the effort is refinishing a part. One thing I have noticed when stripping old Chrysler pot metal pieces is that the copper layer is bonded extremely well to the base metal and is much harder to sand off than when I do my own copper plate and then have to sand it back off. It's also more yellowish than orange which makes me wonder if it was pure copper or perhaps a copper alloy.

I ordered a small bit of the 3M (I think it was) adhesive chrome wrap thinking I could use it to refinish small interior parts. Their description was that it was their best "chrome like" vinyl product and it was pretty pricey. It still did not have the mirror shine of real chrome and it also was not very flexible. i.e. it would be fine for larger pieces with gradual curves but for small pieces it would not conform to the tight angles.

I really really wanted to find a suitable alternative to chrome plating before I invested in that triple chrome plating setup but I just did not find anything, at any (reasonable) price, that could provide it.

 

[Big_John]

Howdy folks,

My rolling restoration is going steady. Interior redo, paint soon. But what to do about the pot metal molding that is pitted?

I feel bad about putting all this work into the car and trim it with pitted metal. Local replating shop quoted WAY too much. These lower moldings on the Newport Custom are really hard to find. A few on eBay...most of them look about the same as mine.

I'm thinking of just putting the old pot metal on and gradually buying up NOS pieces as I can find them. Does this seem like the logical approach?

First, nothing beats chrome. Real authentic, honest to god, done right chrome. None of the paints, powders, wraps etc. will ever look or perform like chrome.

Second, getting diecast "pot metal" chrome replated is always going to be expensive. The labor involved in getting it right is high and the chances of screwing it up gets a little high too. The labor is in the prep, getting the part filled and ground so there are no pit marks takes time. The plating part is cheap in comparison.

So, if you don't want to pay for rechroming, but you want the look of real chrome, you'll have to find some NOS or some good used stuff. It's out there, just hard to come by and what some call "nice" is other's version of "junk".

Full disclosure: I used to be a business partner in a shop that built chromed products for the OEMs, so I'm biased towards real chrome.

I would look into some of the chrome powder coating. That could be really good especially if the pieces are lower on the car and you won't notice the difference. That would have some durability and reasonable pricing (compared to rechroming) . Take a look here: Custom Powder Coating

I haven't seen anything that has convinced me that the chrome "painting" solutions are durable. In fact, from what I've seen, unless they have significantly changed (and they may have) the finished products were pretty delicate, both scratching easy and degrading in UV light. I haven't followed it though because I think there was too much hype that proved untrue early on. Things may have changed...

 

[marty mopar]

I have one of the diecast moldings NOS for your car

sent you a PM