W116.org

on the weekend while Mr thread doctor was here, i got him to repair the chromed housing that contains the boot lock button and the licence plate lights. one of the licence plate lights had broken off screws in it...

Anyway, to remove this centre piece, you have to remove the tail lights and the side chrome pieces that wrap all the way around. Since all of these pieces looked so shithouse, I've dropped off the outer 2 to be re-chromed. I will have to disassemble the middle one before it can be accepted.

This stuff is apparently "dicast" what ever that means, and they do no warrant that it wont have the odd hardly noticeable blister or pit, but it is guaranteed to look a hell of a lot better than it does now.

I will have pictures in a week. Unfortunately, i forgot to take before pictures. But i assure you, they looked shithouse.  Depending how good the job looks, i will probably get all the bumpers done too.


*** edited to correct atrocious spelling

If you want to be very fastidious about rechroming potmetal you can have it cleaned, then plated with copper.

The imperfections are then filled with solder and treated with fine sanding - like paintwork and then re-plated with copper and then chrome plated.

I have the book which describes this.

I also understand that the real show people will purchase a new part and then have it cleaned, repaired and triple chromed so that it looks better than new.

The pot-metal around the rear is probably about the hardest to get right and most of us have pits so it will be interesting to see how they turn out.

Bill

after doing some research, it apears that rechroming these outer peices cost about 90% of the cost of new ones! Doh! too late now.

I guess its only really worth it for larger items like bumpers that you know are gonna be very expensive new

is this plating business somethign a person can realisticly do at home ? or is it best left to the pros

chroming,
isnt that what the local tools at the train station do with a plastic coke bottle?!

are you sure about the price of those chrom bits...my silly ass father went to the dealer and just ordered (well, a year ago), the two chrome surrounds
onr the front quarter panels that are continuous with the bit above the headlights on the bonnet (does this make sense)...they were something like 120 bucks each he dscovered after they arrived...i cant imagine the large chrome bits (which arent just plastic) you mentioned would be anywhere near as cheap as what you suggested the cost of rechroming was??

Sounds good... they can look pretty bad at times. I polished the ones on the white car with Autosol with reasonable success (I am obsessed with that product). New/re-plated ones would be awesome.

I was quoted $1300 for the mid section of the rear bumper recently, $800 for the grille surround. I wouldn't think they would be too expensive (comparatively). However, sometimes pricing defies any known logic.

Tim

those outer bits ive been charged 120 each side plus gst, so 264 all up. the centre peice will be a bit more i imagine.

The worrying part is that the studs that the boot lock is screwed onto are rusted to hell, i think they will snap off when i try dismantling. If they do snap it'll be cheaper to get a new one rather than pay for it to be repaired then rechromed aswell. I'm getting new licence plate lighting aswell since the globe holders are rusted and crappy. lenses are new though. all the rubber pads that these chrome parts are screwed onto are cheap too.

That sounds a bit steep, I paid $300 for the front middle section to be straightened and chromed.

The bar was in pretty good shape, I can see something rusted with the chrome lifting could be more but not that much.

koan

I forgot to add... that's brand new from the dealer.

Tim

That makes a bit more sense...

koan

What does a re-chromed 116 bumper look like, got a picture ?

It is quite possible to chrome at home Patrick.

Plenty of books available but fumes and neighbour's reactions may be a problem.

Nathan in his capacity as ENT Registrar can give you a dissertation on "Chrome Plater's Septum" which I have seen a couple of times.

I have a book on DIY chroming and the biggest problem is getting a powerful rectified power supply for even deposition of metal as well as a trough big enough for large bumpers etc.

To do a good job the skill and time is, just like painting, in the preparation.

I also understand that "Australian Chrome" is a different colour to "German Chrome" and you have to do all pieces of a bumper to get a match.

Bill

Diecast, otherwise known as pot metal, is an absolute bugger to re-do, and most places won't even touch it. Those that do charge for the amount of work involved to get it right.

Plating of Pot Metal, Die Cast and White Metal
   

Due to the natural deterioration of this type of material it requires a great deal of work and time to restore. We can repair cracks and dents. In cases of severely deteriorated parts, filling pits, repairing cracks and dents can be achieved by hand filling and polishing. We do not grind out the pits. This is the most difficult metal to refinish and your parts are only handled by experienced personnel. All pieces go through an acid copper plate and buffing process. This takes a great deal of time and is very labor intensive but results in the best possible finish. Sometimes parts may be too deteriorated to restore to perfect condition. You will be notified in such a case. We reserve the right to refuse orders that will not be satisfactory to us.
 

what is this pot metal, and why did MB use such a low quality metal in the first place ?

i answered my own question.

IS it even worth rechroming this stuff
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pot_metal