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Pursuing the Mystery Plating

RagTop

RagTop

Old Grumpy
Way back in 02 I started looking for some sort of info on the plating used on Mustang convertible inner windshield header bars and the sun visor brackets starting sometime in 68. Unlike the verts from 65 thru half of 68, which were bright chrome, it would seem that the Federales got to Ford and they began plating those parts in non-reflective satin tone as a "safety issue". Unfortunately, there seems to be a lack of consensus on what, exactly, Ford plated these babies with. When I bought my car in 98 the header bar was a mass of rust pits and the sun visor brackets, which are pot metal, were corroded with an ugly white oxide. I shot my header bar with Argent paint, which came close to the original tone, and I wire brushed the sun visor brackets to remove the oxide and some of the pitting. Based on VMF searches, I must have returned to the subject again in 07. Guys who are in the know then seemed to fall into two camps. One group is opining that the parts were nickel plated. Another group is voting for industrial hard chrome. The nickel group includes at least one very senior MCA judge. I tend to doubt the industrial hard chrome group since that is a fairly expensive process, and Ford is a very cost sensitive organization. I am having these parts plated as I write this post. I dropped them with a plating shop in Stockton yesterday. The guy was very interested in getting the right look, but he couldn't identify the residual original plating on the unexposed ends of the sun visor brackets either. They are going to be plated in nickel and have the shine knocked down with Scotchbrite. I highly doubt that Ford had folks standing around Scotchbriting those parts. Do any of you wizards know the facts about this plating or is it just one more mystery for the ages?
 
I'd pose the question in the sister forum: concoursmustang.com. Those folks spend a lot of time discussing finish plating and metallurgy.
 
Agree with Midlife. Ken, since it looks like you're not a member of ConcoursMustang, I copied your question over there. Let's see what Jeff Speegle and company has to say.

Craig
 
"RagTop" said:
I dropped them with a plating shop in Stockton yesterday.
Click to expand...

I did not know they still did chrome plating in Nor Cal, due to environmental reasons I thought it was only being done in So Cal. Can you PM me with the name of the facility?
 
Tom,
Superior Plating
1616 Pomona Ave
San Jose, CA 95110
(408) 947-7781


Valley Plating
491 Perry Ct
Santa Clara, CA 95054
(408) 988-5502

I've had great experience with both.
 
"SAC69" said:
"RagTop" said:
I dropped them with a plating shop in Stockton yesterday.
Click to expand...

I did not know they still did chrome plating in Nor Cal, due to environmental reasons I thought it was only being done in So Cal. Can you PM me with the name of the facility?
Click to expand...
Tom:
Try Valley Plating in Stockton at 1236 N. Filbert St. Phone # 209-465-4281. The owner' name is Mike and the place looks like it was once a chicken coop, but I think they are doing the plating on site. Closer to home is AAA Plating in Sacramento. They're just north of 80 and west of the old McClelland AFB on Rene Ave. Phone # 916-929-6895. Their pricing was fair, but they didn't have a clue as to the finish I was looking for. BTW, they are also in a lovely part of town. :hide
 
I wonder if it's about the prep, instead of the actual coating. If you start with a matte surface, don't you end up with a matte finish? It's not like paint...
 
There's a good place for chrome plating up here in Redding -- Walker's Custom Chrome. I've seen the product that he does every year when I do their inspection. And I've had a couple of small pieces chromed by him. Howard is a perfectionist, so everything looks great. IIRC, with the conversions I've had with Howard, it's the nickel that gives the metal the shine, and the chrome is the protective coat. If the shop is still using the evil chromium-6, then it will come out very bright. If the shop has folded under the pressure and converted over to the eco-friendly chromium-3, then it has a more of a yellow tint to it.

If I'm out harassing the public (I mean inspecting) up near his shop, I'll stop by and talk with him. He is very knowledgeable and would know the answer.
 
I had the guy in Stockton do the plating for me and the results were "meh". It came out properly dull, but it looks sort of blotchy. I may just pull the damn thing off the car and re-spray it in Argent. That looked fine for all those years and, as it turns out, is what the folks that offer a dull finish 68 header bar in the catalogs are doing to get that effect.
 
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