frenchy51 Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 Does anyone know if between the ribs in this arm rest piece were painted black or just left all chrome? It's for my '64 Riviera-I'm getting ready to send it out for re-chrome. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexRiv_63 Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 I'm pretty sure there was no paint originally. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Curran Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 They were not painted from the factory and were hard to keep clean. A toothbrush works well on these to keep them clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 I've seen folks paint them black. It's an illusion to hide pits in the chrome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
65VerdeGS Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 No, these pieces were never painted - only chromed. Ditto for the ribbed section at the rear of the center console by the ashtray. I'll be curious to see how the piece turns out once you have it chromed. Sometimes there is a loss of 'definition' to the detailed casting areas when such pot metal pieces are rechromed. Good luck with the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsgun Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Has anyone successfully re-chromed those parts? Mine has pitting, i'd like to have them look new eventually. I also plan on painting the recesses a dark gray just for some contrast. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchy51 Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 11 hours ago, jsgun said: Has anyone successfully re-chromed those parts? Mine has pitting, i'd like to have them look new eventually. I also plan on painting the recesses a dark gray just for some contrast. I just got back a bunch of parts I had chromed at AAA Plating in Sacramento, Ca. They do a nice job. Attached is a picture of the armrest part. There is some small bumps in between the ribs that isn't very noticeable but it's there. I may paint flat black in those areas to mask it as RivNut mentioned.....not sure. I know someone will ask cost- I had front and rear bumpers done, guards, licence surround, backup light housings, lots of interior parts, both steel and pot metal pieces. Pretty much everything but grill and turn signal housings. Cost was $2K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Contact Gene Guarnere and see what he has in the way of good ones. He may also have some that have been rechromed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr914 Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 the rechroming never comes out well because of the pitting that they cannot get out, you can see by the example Frenchy showed. I had mine recrhomed (gene sold me a set for power vents, and although the flat portion looks great, the ribbed portion does not. Best one can do though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchy51 Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 3 hours ago, RivNut said: Contact Gene Guarnere and see what he has in the way of good ones. He may also have some that have been rechromed. Can you give me Gene's contact info please? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KongaMan Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Removing the omnipresent pitting from those grooves (in whole or in part) is both a chore and a job which requires some degree of attention to avoid destroying the detail. You need a narrow tool to go inside the grooves, but you don't want to round the top edges. This also applies to polishing the tops; a standard buffer is liable to remove the sharp corners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsgun Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 One of the reasons I bought my Riv was that it had rechromed bumpers. Glad I did, I forget how expensive chrome is. I plan on modifying my armrest plates, i'll make it a point to get rid of the bumps. I believe you can fill it pits with silver bearing solder, but i'd make sure before taking that on. My window surround chrome has lots of pitting, i'd like to get it done some day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KongaMan Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 15 minutes ago, jsgun said: I plan on modifying my armrest plates, i'll make it a point to get rid of the bumps. I believe you can fill it pits with silver bearing solder, but i'd make sure before taking that on. You can do that, but it's not clear that's a practical solution in this case. You will be replacing the pits with solder bumps that need to be smoothed out. It's one thing to do that on a large, exposed, flat surface; it's quite another to do that inside those grooves. IMHO, the best solution is to take out the high spots in the grooves (i.e. corrosion surrounding the pits), polish the tops, then plate. Yes, you'll be plating over some pits, but they'll be much smaller than they were before and much less noticeable. And remember, we're talking about pits in grooves here. They won't be that obvious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbinator Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 On 1/23/2019 at 9:47 AM, frenchy51 said: I just got back a bunch of parts I had chromed at AAA Plating in Sacramento, Ca. They do a nice job. Attached is a picture of the armrest part. There is some small bumps in between the ribs that isn't very noticeable but it's there. I may paint flat black in those areas to mask it as RivNut mentioned.....not sure. I know someone will ask cost- I had front and rear bumpers done, guards, licence surround, backup light housings, lots of interior parts, both steel and pot metal pieces. Pretty much everything but grill and turn signal housings. Cost was $2K Frenchy, I tried chrome powder coating on a two bar spinner that was in rough shape. Not bad for an item I was going to throw away. Here is how powder chrome looks... the picture with with a pile of stuff on a chair show two bar spinners AND the chrome powder treated two bar. The chrome powder is not a panacea, but not bad for some items. Turbinator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsgun Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 I really like chrome powercoating, it takes on the look of polished aluminum. I had forgotten about that process, that might be ideal for my interior window trim. I like the brightwork, but the chrome seems blinding. Maybe with powercoating, I could get the bright look, and still keep my retinas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbinator Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 On 2/9/2019 at 10:38 PM, jsgun said: I really like chrome powercoating, it takes on the look of polished aluminum. I had forgotten about that process, that might be ideal for my interior window trim. I like the brightwork, but the chrome seems blinding. Maybe with powercoating, I could get the bright look, and still keep my retinas. The chrome powder coat must have a protective clear coat. The clear powder coat diminishes the chrome coat bling, but does provide a polished aluminum look. Turbinator 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbinator Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 On 1/23/2019 at 10:49 AM, dr914 said: the rechroming never comes out well because of the pitting that they cannot get out, you can see by the example Frenchy showed. I had mine recrhomed (gene sold me a set for power vents, and although the flat portion looks great, the ribbed portion does not. Best one can do though George, I sent eight two bar spinners out for rechrome treatment. They had pits in them that could easily be seen with the naked eye. ‘I thought I’d see how good the shop was. Well, the spinners came back double and triple chrome plated and I did not see any pits. Here’s One I just mounted with my new emblems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbinator Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 On 1/22/2019 at 3:15 PM, Pat Curran said: They were not painted from the factory and were hard to keep clean. A toothbrush works well on these to keep them clean. Pat, Berkible 2+2 gum cutter will get that baby clean and fast. The Gum cutter removes paint a little better than Rustoleum Aircraft Remover. The Berkible 2+2 gum cutter was meant for carb cleaning. At least I think the gum cutter was meant for carb cleaning. Turbinator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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