C3 Trim Rings Flash Chromed? -- Part 2

[Dave S.]

Re: C3 Trim Rings Flash Chromed? -- Part 2

Alan,
You are right on. Original trim rings that are in very good condition and have not had the clips altered are very scarce. With the cost of restoration undamaged original trim rings have high value. They also look great as well.
If you find original trim rings with the clips indexed properly I'll bet 80% of them have been altered.

[Alan S.]

Re: C3 Trim Rings Flash Chromed? -- Part 2

Hi Pat,
That's pretty interesting!
I'm certainly curious how the plater did it?
Could the parts of the ring not to receive plating been coated with something???
Regards,
Alan

[Terry M.]

Re: C3 Trim Rings Flash Chromed? -- Part 2

Hi Pat,
That's pretty interesting!
I'm certainly curious how the plater did it?
Could the parts of the ring not to receive plating been coated with something???
Regards,
Alan

Alan
Chrome plating does not "throw" that well. It is pretty difficult to get it into all the nooks and crannies where you want it. Note the inner corners OEM of C2&3 rear bumpers and the underside of C3 front bumpers around the hole used for electrode contact. These areas will at best have a light and sometimes no plating because the plated material just will not go into these protected or shadowed areas.

I think it would be easy for the plater to shield the backside of the trim rings to keep the plated material off those areas. What I don't understand is why the acids used to clean and prepare the surfaces to be plated do not damage the finish of the grippers. Those would have to be coated with some acid resistant covering to protect their finish.

I have a fellow student in school who works in the plating industry, and when school resumes in September I can ask him how it might be done.

[John H.]

Re: C3 Trim Rings Flash Chromed? -- Part 2

I don't know, Tracy...

Doesn't it look funny to have the clips and attaching band plated?

And wouldn't the chrome tend to flake off these parts since the surfaces weren't prepped properly (which would be hard to do unless the ring is disassembled)?

I know the clips and band don't show much, but still...

Mark -

"Chrome" is CLEAR, not shiny silver, and imparts no coloration to the substrate material it's plated on; when plated on polished stainless steel, it provides a brighter "icy-blue" appearance, and its primary purpose is to protect the underlying polished stainless surface from oxidation and dulling. ALL GM polished stainless steel parts, including windshield and backlite reveal moldings and trim rings, were flash-chromed after polishing.

The bright silvery appearance on a conventionally-chrome plated steel or die-cast part comes from the nickel plating under the final protective chrome layer - chrome has no coloration.

[Mark E.]

Re: C3 Trim Rings Flash Chromed? -- Part 2

Thanks for the clarification, John. So does this mean that Rick's rings were probably chromed while assembled, and since the chrome has no coloration, it didn't affect the finish of the back side?

[Tracy C.]

Re: C3 Trim Rings Flash Chromed? -- Part 2

Thanks for the clarification, John. So does this mean that Rick's rings were probably chromed while assembled, and since the chrome has no coloration, it didn't affect the finish of the back side?

Rick may not rechrome his restored rings Mark. It would lessen his profits to spend that money.

tc

[Mark E.]

Re: C3 Trim Rings Flash Chromed? -- Part 2

Tracy,

I misspoke. Re-writing the sentence more clearly and using the right names:

So does this mean that Pat's rings (which he originally acquired from Rick) were probably chromed while assembled by the chromer Pat later hired? And since the chrome has no coloration, it didn't affect the finish of the back side?

[Tracy C.]

Re: C3 Trim Rings Flash Chromed? -- Part 2

Tracy,

I misspoke. Re-writing the sentence more clearly and using the right names:

So does this mean that Pat's rings (which he originally acquired from Rick) were probably chromed while assembled by the chromer Pat later hired? And since the chrome has no coloration, it didn't affect the finish of the back side?

Yes, I'll bet a dollar to a dog turd that they were flash chromed with the clips in place with no effort to mask them off.

[Mark E.]

Re: C3 Trim Rings Flash Chromed? -- Part 2

So if we're right, who gets the turd?

[Tracy C.]

Re: C3 Trim Rings Flash Chromed? -- Part 2

I think you can keep the turd and I will keep my dollar...