Paul Russell and Company

Re-chroming is neither the most difficult nor the most time consuming part of the restoration process, but it is typically demanding. The dismantling of chromed pieces is simple enough on a new car, but often frustrating on one that is decades old and has suffered through multiple paint jobs. Invariably, the hardware holding the chrome to the body proves to be a mishmash of original and improvised fasteners, 90% of which are frozen with rust. Those that do not break off will spin freely inside the trim piece, making it especially difficult to remove the piece without disfiguring it. Thus, what may look like a three-hour job has actually required a day and a half.

After removal, the chrome is inventoried and any special instructions for the plater are recorded. The pieces are laid out and photographed. Non-original pieces are set aside. While we search for correct replacements, the three-step plating process begins.

Chrome platers are usually not interested in the time consuming work of welding, filing, and metal finishing that is necessary to repair bent or damaged chrome. Therefore, all chrome pieces are first sent out to be stripped to their base metal. Next, each piece comes back to us for all repairs and preliminary adjustments, following which they are returned to the chrome plater for copper plating and buffing. In this shiny copper stage any imperfections or waves that would show up later in the chrome finish are obvious and will be fixed.

Selected pieces, whose alignment to the body or to each other is critical, are fitted for trial assembly while they are still in copper and the body panels are in final primer. When a damaged chrome piece and a damaged body section have been repaired, they must be checked for contour and fit with each other as if it were the final assembly. Only then will the pieces be sent to the chromer for the two-part application of nickel and chrome plating.

The chrome is installed after the car is painted and ready for final assembly. Where prudent, tape is applied to the body in order to prevent marring the paint finish while installing the trim. In cases where the original hardware or more modern substitutes are not available, new ones must be made, which can be quite an undertaking. A Mercedes-Benz 300Sc, for instance, has hundreds of special fasteners holding on the chrome. The task may not be extremely difficult, but it is very time consuming.

For those who have never been involved in a restoration, words can only provide a taste of the experience. Nevertheless, we have chosen to illustrate the re-chroming process, a small facet of any large project, to illustrate three essential points.

1) A proper restoration takes time.

2) The problems encountered in chroming underscore the benefits of starting with a good original car - not one that has been 'fixed up' several times over the years.

3) Only a restoration shop with specific experience on your car should be entrusted with this complex work.