Hi, y'all.
After a two year hiatus, I am pushing to get Minnie together. The reasons for my stopping are a story to themself.
I am nipping at the edges, on what I can at the moment.
My bumper plates appear to be either nickel plated or painted, and they are pitted. I could grind down about 1/16" per side and probably smooth the bumpers out a bit, but is there a better way to restore them? I think they will be a bit thin if I do. Can they be filled?
What do people normally do?
Thanks for any help you can provide.
Dennis.
Take them to your local plating shop. They will grind smooth, fill any small imperfections and pits with coppper and then sand it smooth before plating with nickel.
Is that expensive?
One way to find out - get them down to the local plating shop and get an estimate. It's free, except for the time you spend getting there.
I've had some really rotten looking stuff get plated reasonably, and other nice looking stuff cost a lot. I never know until I know.
There are plating shops and there are plating shops. Choose yours carefully. I had some Packard door handles destroyed by a plating shop where they didn't try to fill the pits. They just ground the handles down until the pits were gone, along with a considerable part of the handles. As the saying goes, I was not a happy camper.
This is helpful.
thanks.
Dennis, repros are available from the vendors that are made from stainless steel. Stainless looks very much like nickel and it lasts forever. I haven't had any experience with them myself, but they may be worth checking into. Just a thought. Dave
Thanks. I will have to wait until I have some money. My plan at this time is to grind them myself (I have a table top belt sander that my better half bought me that I can put to work for the first time to finish the job). I won't get all of the pits, but it looks like I can clean the bumpers dramatically with a grinder and sanding. I have found some stainless paint that looks pretty good.
I do like the idea of using stainless, though.
Thanks for the ideas.
Dennis.