Specialists in the restoration of Vintage, Classic and Custom chrome

 

All of the parts are first listed and priced individually, so you know exactly what you are paying for. A copy of this is given to the customer to keep.


This is how we restored the chrome on a Riley RME quarter bumper.

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This is the bumper as it arrives from the customer. Nothing has happened to it yet.
Any bumpers are usually paint striped in hot caustic soda to remove paint and dirt from the back. Here you can see the aluminium-based paint being rapidly dissolved. (Aluminium dissolves in caustic soda causing a violent reaction that gives of a lot of heat and hydrogen gas)
Before we can restore any parts, we have remove any old plating and get it back to the bare metal. This is done by plating the old finish off in a bath of strong sulphuric acid.
All rust must be removed before parts are polished, (rust hinders effective polishing and causes iron contamination in the plating tanks). It is dissolved off by being 'pickled' in hydrochloric acid. (the same acid as is in your stomach).
The first polishing operation is termed 'cutting out' or 'bottoming out.' This is where rough abrasives are used to remove all of the marks left by corrosion or damage. We then use progressively finer grades to remove the scratches we have put in during cutting out. We can use as many as seven grades (usually 5 on steel) of abrasives to achieve the 'glazed' finish required for brushing. All polishing work is highly skilled, as inexperience would invariably result in poor results or damage to the part.
This is the last polishing operation on steel before plating. All of the abrasive marks are removed using a sisal brush and polishing compounds. If marks were still present at this point, either through poor material or the inability to remove all of the corrosion marks due to the material being too thin, this would be overcome by applying a layer of copper plate and then polishing the copper.
All grease and dirt has to be removed before plating. The only effective way to do this on the varied work we do is by hand.
This 'activates' the surface of the metal (removes any trace of oxide film which may have developed). Oxides on the surface of the metal may result in poor adhesion of the plating.
A layer of bright nickel is applied to the bumper. It is the thickness and quality of this layer that will provide the mirror finish and weather protection. We apply the nickel in the old fashioned way, using the same methodology learned at Jaguar by Bill Olner the company founder.
Between processes, all solutions have to be washed off to prevent cross contamination and poor results
The chrome layer is to prevent the nickel layer from tarnishing, this layer is very thin, not usually more than 0.00002 inch. Contrary to common conceptions, weather protection is afforded by the nickel layer.
Parts are dried to remove water from the surface.
All parts are cleaned from water marks using metal polish. They are then inspected for quality.
Here is the bumper restored.