Guest BJM Posted June 4, 2007 Share Posted June 4, 2007 I just removed the rear bumper from my 68 Riviera yesterday. I am doing a full body off restoration. My rear bumper "was" perfect. except for a dimple dent without scratch on the drivers rear, about the size of a 50 cent piece. i always knew when i got the bumper off I wanted to try and push that out and simply polish the bumper rather then go automatically to a re-chrome. Well I hit it out allright but it's not acceptable, it's kind of crinkly looking so The bumper will need rechromed just for that reason. Anyway, this huge expanse of curved metal has a lot of great chrome on it. What happens to it? Given the scarcity of chromium and the environmental side of things, I would think there is a way to recover the perfectly good chrome that is on 97 per cent of this bumper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted June 4, 2007 Share Posted June 4, 2007 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Shaw Posted June 4, 2007 Share Posted June 4, 2007 Actually any plating company can strip all the plating from a chrome or nickel plated piece. I am no expert, but I don't think the nickel goes back into the electrolyte solution in a form that can be re-plated onto another piece. Yes, it is a heavy metal contaminant that must be treated as hazardous waste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted June 4, 2007 Share Posted June 4, 2007 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". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BJM Posted June 4, 2007 Share Posted June 4, 2007 I'm at work or I'd include a photo of it by attachment. What a shame I "hurried" and tried to beat it out myself. It was oval, like someone pushed it in with a knee cap although I know that's not possible. The 1st thing I did when I got that bumper off was try to push it out. I looked at that for 2 years waiting for the day I could hit it out. I used the ball side of my hammer. Now it's kind of crinkly looking where I hit it. It's out, but is obviously flawed. I used some of my chrome shine product - just a quick wipe on made a big difference so I think the whole bumper would have buffed out just fine. What a waste. The chrom eover that spot is even still attached just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted June 4, 2007 Share Posted June 4, 2007 I very much doubt that anyone could have removed that dent without destroying the chrome. I've never seen it done successfully on anything thicker than, say, a thin grill shell. Chrome just doesn't like to bend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave@Moon Posted June 4, 2007 Share Posted June 4, 2007 <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> 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. </div></div>Electroplating wastes are listed as hazardous by the EPA. Their listed waste code is F006, unless there are cyanides present in the process in shich case it could be F007, F008, or F009. All of these wastes are extremely high in valuable metals, especially copper (normally higher thatn even copper ore). It's a RARE legitmate TSD (Treatment/Storage/Disopsal) firm that disposes of plating wastes these days. Depending on metal prices and transportation costs it's usually cheaper to recycle the material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BJM Posted June 4, 2007 Share Posted June 4, 2007 Dave,It only makes sense though that somehow they ought to be able to seperate out Nickel and Chrome, brass, whatever else. I'm no plating expert (or else I wouldn't be asking about this) but it seems to me if they can attract the metals to the part using electricity, why can't they develop a recycling method for chrome removed from parts. There is a lot of chrome/nickel/brass on my rear bumper. The dent takes up only about 2 per cent of an otherwise good bumper that only needs polishing. It's just killing me to turn it in for redoing yet I'm not sure I can live with the results of me pounding it back out. It would be fine, for sure, if this was a daily driver car but I plan on putting about $25,000 into it total, only to have it constantly nag me about that 50 cent piece size blemish. But on the other hand, if it gets stripped, then that's unneeded toxic waste in the ground I guess, so I was hoping the technology was developed to recycle these metals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Skyking Posted June 4, 2007 Share Posted June 4, 2007 You might have had a better chance taking that dent out with an arbor press. NEVER hit it with a hammer. Most of the time you have to find a piece of steel with the same curves of the part you are trying to repair and press it out slowly.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RocketDude Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 No matter how small the dent, the metal was stretched, and without using the proper procedure to shrink the metal back, it will never be perfect. Looks like you spend the big bucks or live with a small dent. I feel your pain, it's tough to live with something like that. No one else will see it, but it will drive YOU crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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