My 26 Canadian Tudor has a nickel plated instrument panel that is tarnished with age etc, can it be polished without damaging the finish.
I have bought a new set of headlight rims that are chrome, they look out of place against the nickel plated radiator shroud.
Can the chrome trim be scuffed or ?? to tone down the finish?..make it look more like a nickel finish.
Dave
Dave -- A shop which does chrome plating can easily strip the chrome from your headlight rings, leaving the nickel layer which usually is below the chrome. That can be polished for the look you want. If yours don't have the nickel layer, they can put one on, after stripping the chrome.
Dave,
The chrome plating can be chemically stripped off but it may be more economical to replace the headlight rims. From Mac's website Model T Ford Headlight Rim - Nickel Finish - A Well-Made Reproduction
Year: 1926-1927
Part #: T6575A
$25.95
In regards to the instrument panel, You can try a mild polish but chances are the nickel plating has worn through
Simichrome metal polish will make your nickel parts bright as new.
Here is an idea for the chrome headlight rims, "If you want to remove the chrome and take the piece down to the nickel, just dip the piece in muratic acid for about 15 seconds. The chrome is removed and the nickel will be shining bright. You can get muratic acid at any swimming pool store."
From http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/80257/117647.html?1261359012
WARNING*****
muratic acid vapour can and will kill
please take extreme caution
The choice comes down to just two things:
Nickel is correct, Chrome is not.
Nickel requires occasional polishing, Chrome does not.
You have the option of a correct "look" OR "low maintenance".
I would buy Nickel headlight rims from any T parts dealers and then sell your used chrome ones on the MTFCA Classifieds. You should be able to get 50-75% their current cost if they are like new.
I have the bezel ring for speedometers I restore nickel plated. One time, the plater chromed the bezels, and I called him to ask him to replate rings. He told me that all I needed to do to remove the chrome finish was to go to Home Depot and purchase a bottle of muratic acid and dip the ring in the acid for a minute. Sure enough, once the rings were dipped in muratic acid, the chrome finish was gone and the nickel was there. No buffing or any other stripping needed.
Hope this helps, Russ Furstnow
Russ
Please explain the safety precautions
Thanks
A regular chrome plating shop can nickel plate, but you will not be happy. They don't use the correct process. You need to find a shop that does the old fashioned Watts nickel or hard nickel process. There is a shop in LA called Christensen Plating, that does the correct process. All I have do do is wipe mine off a couple of time per year, with a soft cotton towel, and it's as good as new.
Steve, The muratic acid I used was the same that is used in swimming pool maintenance. I took the part outside for ventilation, and then dipped the part. I avoided the fumes....no problems encountered. Larry is right about hard nickeling. The shop I use plates with hard nickel, and there is virtually no polishing involved.
Hope this helps, Russ
Sooo fella's - can nickel be stripped off brass the same way ?
I had a platter years ago that would strip the nickel off of parts so I could repair & polish them. He retired and passed away. Since that time, I have not found a local plater that will strip nickel off of brass. Here's a link to the Caswell Plating site where they sell a stripper that will remove nickel from brass. The local platters that won't do remove nickel from brass are telling me it has to be done with a reverse plating process. When they do that, there is no way to keep that from taking brass with it. The stuff from Caswell is all I have found so far that says it will do it.
http://www.caswellplating.com/electroplating-anodizing/metal-strippers/metalx-b- 9-nickel-stripper-2-5lb.html
This is a a video showing how easy it is to remove plated chrome. http://youtu.be/d8qydB7e-MA
Thanks Verne !
There's nothing spectacular about Watts plating other than it's common acceptance and being the oldest commercial formula. It's also the softest of all the plating chemistry used.
Those that fling the terminology around know the least about it except what they get from Google.