Restorer32

Okay, just got off the phone with our plater. He called about some work he's doing for us so I asked him what happens to the chrome and nickle that is removed from parts to be plated. The chrome can be removed simply with the correct acid but the nickle has to be "deplated" onto special lead anodes that hang in the stripping tank. As soon as the power to the tank is turned off the nickle falls off of the lead and accumulates in the bottom of the tank in a form like pigeon droppings. This material is contaminated with copper as well as iron from the base metal and has no commercial value. Platers pay enormous amounts of money to dispose of this heavy metal waste, on the order of $5000 or more per drum. You would think someone would come up with an economical way to recycle these materials. Of course the stripping tanks are different tanks from the plating tanks. Even one ounce of copper/chrome/iron contaminants will ruin an entire tank of nickle plating solution. I always tell my customers, "Don't complain about the price of chrome plating, be happy you can get it done at any price".

Actually, it's the nickle you would want to recover. The chrome layer is ultra thin and actually clear. Next to labor the greatest expense in chrome plating is the cost of the nickel, with prices having gone from about $6/lb to about $30 lb in the last 2 years or so. I suppose the nickle could be "reverse plated" off of the bumper but don't know anyone doing it, likely because of the cost of electricity to do so. Contamination might also be a problem for anyone trying to use recycled nickle.

We use all PPG products, partly because of the great customer support. Salesman (who also paints professionally, part time) stops here every Thursday. Our advice to anyone, amateur or pro, is to stick with the same brand of primers, surfacers, paints etc. throughout a project. Never change products in mid stream.

Is this a 1936 Chrysler Imperial wheel?

To confuse you even further...the lastet "wet sanding" system from PPG is not actually wet and uses grits up to 3000 on a power sander. Works very well indeed but requires a reasonably large outlay for materials. Best bet for you would be to find a shop that would let you watch the process. If you ask a thousand amateur restorers you'll get a thousand suggestions as to the "right" way to do it. Ask a thousand professionals and you get maybe a dozen or so suggestions as to the "right" way. There is no magic to it and you would learn more by watching a pro than you ever will reading books, watching videos or asking your friends. Where are you located?

For the absolute best job you wet sand then rub the paint with $100 bills.

I think you missed my point. Yes, some of these cars do have value but the fellow is offering the collection as a whole, not individually. For someone to make a decent profit and justify the time to transport these vehicles, store them , find good transferable titles and eventually sell them individually the price for the group would need to be low. Would be interesting to know what the owners' expectations are. At auction I believe many of these cars would bring scrap price, if that.

Sounds like you're just the buyer they're looking for. Go for it!

you call Lebaron-Bonney to place an order and the lady is amazed that your customer # is only 4 digits.

I don't really understand what they mean by "ceramic coating". True ceramic would need to be fired. What is the difference between ceramic and porcelain? Is it firing temperature? Is there a technically savvy person here who can explain what is actually meant by "ceramic coating"? I suppose you could polish the manifold before coating it but I still don't think it would pass for porcelain. Is the "ceramic coating" that is being touted anything more than glorified powder coating? I'm always a bit sceptical of these franchised products that claim to be almost as good as what they try to replace but then I tend to be more skeptical than most.

Still, if you're restoring the car there is nothing that really duplicates the look of porcelain. Durability is another matter. Kinda like these new "chrome paints". They have their place but they do not begin to duplicate the look of real chrome, unfortunately.

Wow! Few restorable cars but lots of parts. I hope the owner has a realistic expectation of what this stuff is worth. Unfortunately right now many of these cars are worth more for their scrap value than anything else. It's RatRodder Heaven, no doubt about it.

Does the ceramic of which you speak have the appearance of porcelain?

Sometimes just writing down the question stimulates the memory. It was the Hyatt Regency.

Is anyone still operating Charles Selleck's Cadillac repro parts business? I believe he passed away? A thousand pardons if I'm mistaken. We need a cowl center molding for a '28 Cadillac Dual Cowl. Thanks!

Does anyone remember the name of the host hotel in Detroit where the 100th anniversary of the auto in America was celebrated? I remember the revolving restaurant on the top floor. Mrs Restorer 32 and I are traveling to Mich for the Grand National. She wants to spend a bit of time in the Henry Ford Museum, thought it would be nice to stay where I stayed during the 100th.

Desperately seeking 21" Firestone split rim as fitted to '25-'26 Hudson and a few others. Virtually any restoreable condition. Thanks!

I would sure hate to show this '26 Kissel at Hershey with no spare. I need 1 or more rims. They fit the following: Kissel '25-'27 Locomobile '25-'27 Peerless '25-'28 Hudson '25-'26 Paige Big Six '25 Must be one of these rims somewhere on Planet Earth! Thanks!

I have not yet seen any scientific effort that radials are "safer" on old cars. The safety issue seems only to be brought up by those who want to run radials and also seriously compete for a trophy. While we're at it, those old engines are not "safe" either. Maybe we should allow small block Chevy engines in the interest of "safety". Also disc brakes, traction bars, lowered suspensions for lower center of gravity, halogen lights, fuel cells instead of tanks, fuel injection instead of those old leaky carburetors...oh wait, that's already been done, they're called STREETRODS! What part of "restored to original as it could have left the factory" don't you understand?

Actually, some of our cars do get "blasted down the road" and we prefer to use modern insert bearingse possible. We just had a set of rods for a '37 Buick converted to inserts. On the same car we had to have the original factory insert rear main bearing shell rebabbitted because NOS rear mains are unavailable. No problem with the "09 ONLY we're restoring, it has roller mains and rods.

I let my dog Phideaux check my spelling.

Quadfins, You say you can tell from the judging sheets that your car scored at least the minimum 365? I have never requested a judging sheet so I am wondering how you can determine that you scored at least 365. Only way I can see to do this would be to add up the total maximum deductions for the areas checked and subtract from 400. Is this how you are able to tell or does the sheet actually say you scored at least 365? Just curious.

You know, you could improve your car so it could compete with that 400 point car. If the minimum were raised (and you stated that you had no objection to such a change) this is what you would have to do anyway. Are you sure your car would in fact receive the First if the 10 point rule were not in effect? It is commendable that you drive your car and that everything works as it should but, for better or worse, AACA judging does favor the trailered car and is a beauty contest, no doubt about it. It's a simple matter of deciding if that trophy means enough to put forth the effort required to take one home. I've been in the same situation, I showed a car 3 times against a nearly 400 point car in a very tough class and took home the Second each time. Yes I was disappointed but I also knew that my car was not as well restored as the car that set the standard that day. To me , a trophy won against stiff competition is more meaningful than a trophy won with just the minimum number of points. I guess I'm funny that way.

I started picking up planters shaped like cars at yard sales about 10 years ago. Then I discovered E-bay. I now have about 160 different ones, had to build a large cabinet to display them.

Had it not been for the 10 point rule his cars would have been restored to 365 (or whatever) and not a penny more. I agree that raising the minimum points for a particular award would likely accomplish the same thing.