Still Workin' Hard on the Bumpers of the Nifty Fifty

Well, the final step in the chrome-plating process is the chrome-plating itself. As my buddy Jim from Custom Metal Finishers lowered the nickel-plated bumper center into the tank, I asked him to pull it back up for a picture, You can see that initally, the chrome-plating gives the part an orange appearance.
After the piece is immursed in the chrome take, the electrodes attached, and the power swithed on, the chrome in the solution is attracted to the part. Once the process is complete, the part is removed and washed.

You can see from these pictures of Ol' Scruffy working hard, the goldish-orange color comes off in the rinse leaving a beautifully chromed bumper section.

Sometimes the process has to be interupted to address an imperfection. While I was working at the chrome-plating tank, Jim was in the other building copper-polishing and buffing out some imperfections in one of the bumper ends.

Come back tomorrow to see if Ol' Scruffy can FINALLY get his bumper sections completed.

Back to Custom Metal Finishers....

Well, I got some time this past Saturday to get back to my buddies chrome-plating business in Hagerstown, Indiana. Regular readers of Suede and Chrome may remember that I've been working on the front and rear bumpers of my '50 Chevy....(by the way, someone told me calling her "Ol' Blue" was derogatory, so from now on...she will be referred to as the "Nifty Fifty").

At any rate, when I left 2 weeks ago, we had polished the bumper pieces and gotten them coated with the initial layer of copper. I started the day using a 600 grit polishing belt to knock off any roughness to the surface of the parts. Then I used a buffing wheel to buff the copper.

I really "dig" the look of polished copper. And actually gave a quick thought to the idea of leaving the bumpers like this. (I saw a '54 Chevrolet at a show once that was painted flat black and all the chrome was left in copper! Pretty kool....BUT what happens when it oxidizes?!?! If you don't mind bumpers with a pretty green patina, I guess that would be o.k., however, I'm really looking forward to some freshly chrome-plated ones!)

Well, here is another shot of the parts after I had copper buffed them. More pictures from Saturday's progress tomorrow!

50's Bumpers Get Prepped for Rechroming...

Well, thanks to President's Day, I had the day off. So....I took advantage of the time to take the bumpers of my 1950 Chevrolet over to my friends at Custom Metal Finishers in Hagerstown, Indiana. The place is a real family business. Jim and his three oldest sons, Jimmy, Josh, and Jordan are the backbone of the operation.

Well, the first bit of business was to grind the rivets holding the 50's three piece bumpers together. Josh is pictured above working on the rear bumper, Ol' Scruffy took care of the rear bumper.

Once the rivets were ground, it was a simple matter of punching out the back of the rivet to get the bumper pieces apart.

Once the bumpers were in pieces, it was time to work out some of the dents that had accumulated over the 50+ years the car has been on the road.

After a brief "training" session, Jim turned me loose on the belt sander. The purpose of this procedure is to remove any pitting in the metal and to smooth out any small dents that remained.

It took me most of the day to get the 6 bumper pieces ready for their acid bath. A wire was placed through each of the six bumper pieces as well as the front and back bumper guards. All the parts were placed in the acid bath and will remain there overnight.

The acid will remove any remaining plating, it will also remove the rust and overspray on the back of the bumper pieces.
Well, Jim and the boys will be removing the parts from the acid in the morning. Hopefully, I can get back over to Custom Metal Finishers this weekend to continue working on my bumpers. Thanks to Jim for giving me my "Chromeplating 101" training and allowing me to spend the day at their shop. I'm looking forward to returning and learning about the plating steps.

I have seen a lot of finished pieces that come out of the Custom Metal Finishers shop and I can say they do fantastic work. They are real perfectionists, and take great pride in what leaves their shop. Several members of the Righteous Rodders have had parts chromed for the rods and bikes at Custom Metal Finishers. If you would like to learn more about their operation, you can email them at: Chromeplater1@yahoo.com Or you can call them toll free at 1-866-489-4089.