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The Journey Begins
Lining up a plater may be your biggest challenge, since most hate pot metal parts. Be prepared to dodge rouge sticks, buffing wheels, or other tools of the trade if you meet a plater who's had one bad experience too many! Even when you find one who's more receptive, cautiously explain the process to him. Despite its simplicity, he may see this as too much of a pain, or even as a personal attack on his craftsmanship. Getting past these objections takes tact, humility, and lots of self-deprecating words. Tell him you had your first date in this car, or talk about how anal-retentive you are....and keep smiling.
After arranging for a shop, the next step is to strip the plating from those parts. Basically, Ford's pot metal was plated in three stages: a layer of copper coats the base metal, both to fill in any minor imperfections and because chromium won't directly adhere to pot metal. Over this goes a layer of nickel, which produces that nice, shiny finish we expect. Finally, the layer of chromium adds its own "bluish" tint and, being harder than nickel, forms a somewhat more durable surface.
Chromium is easy to remove, so that's the first thing you'll ask your plater (now, a dear friend) to do. A dip in one of his burbling tanks will quickly strip your parts, right down to the nickel layer. Chemical processes are available to remove the nickel and copper, but these leave behind a rough surface. That's why professionals must have all those polishing wheels and buffing compounds. And that's why I suggested leaving the nickel as intact as possible. Otherwise, you'll find it difficult to keep that "grained leather" texture in the painted areas. |
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Tool Time
On your way home, stop for hardware supplies. Grab some #80 or #100 emery cloth, plus lots of #220, #320, #400, and #600 wet/dry paper. And, if you don't own one, I recommend buying a rotary sanding attachment of an appropriate size. They can be used with a die-grinder or any electric drill, but you'll need some of the special sanding disks made for this tool. Lastly, arrange for the following tools: a couple small metal or hard ceramic blocks, a 1/8" triangular cross-section file, a 1/2" half-round file, and a spray bottle for wet sanding. |
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Let's consider the "brushed" section first, since that's usually in the worst shape. You'll probably have to sand through the nickel and copper layers, maybe even removing some pot metal before you get a flat, smooth surface. To start, I recommend using the rotary sanding disk. Be sure to layer duct tape over anything you want to protect from the sander. And be careful - a disk cuts through plating very quickly. Stop when you notice a fair amount of the copper showing through. As seen here, this appears as faint patches of orange or yellow. |
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