Need to Know

Understand the chroming process and save money by preparing your parts

Save cash and learn how the pros bring chrome back to life.

There are all sorts of things you can do to tart-up and preserve your classic’s chromework, as we’ve demonstrated on numerous occasions in

Practical Classics. Sometimes, though, original chrome is simply beyond rescue. If corrosion is eating away at the metal beneath the plating, splashing out on rechroming is the only truly aesthetically-pleasing way of ensuring the component’s long-term survival. Rechroming is also justified if you’ve restored the rest of the car to a very high standard, as even slightly dodgy chrome will stand out conspicuously.

Chrome is commonly applied to components made of steel, stainless steel, brass, copper and various forms of Mazak or ‘monkey metal’ castings. The chrome itself is exceedingly thin, providing a mirror-like surface over a thicker coating of nickel, which performs the more important roles of protecting the metal underneath and providing a smooth surface that’s totally free of imperfections. Nickel, in turn, is often applied on top of a base layer of copper.

The quality of the finished job relies on extreme attention to detail. The base metal needs to be prepared to exacting standards and the nickel (and copper) needs to be applied with great care. The quality of the metals used is also of great importance.

Traditional rechroming is a specialist process, but there’s plenty of preparation work you can do yourself. Presenting your bits to the plating specialist in ready-to-go form will save them a significant amount of time and you a significant amount of money. We’ll start by giving you some useful DIY preparation tips. We’ll then head to Cranbourne Chrome Limited (01329

830000, cranbourne-chrome.com) to get an insider’s view of the rechroming process.