Had your moldings flash chromed?

[BillOhio]

My windshield and back glass trim is dent free but needs shined up. I talked to a guy who has polished trim with years of experience and he said he starts off with 180 grit sanding. I assume that will remove the flash chrome?  Has anyone had their trim re chromed with clear?  Was curious if people are just taking chrome off and polishing or what.
thanks

[vtfb68]

Bill,
 I had my mouldings polished about 4 years ago and they still look great. The cars ARE covered in the garage.
      VT

[BillOhio]

I thought that's a plus.  My buddy said when he tried to do his own he must have got thru the chrome in some places and said it didn't feather edge and had odd color. I think he ended up stripping his. He didn't know what it was at the time. Maybe the chrome is thin after this much time too. Thanks

[Mike S]

 I had a professional metal polisher/restorer polish all the molding on my ragtop's  back molding  and the front windshield and they were as bright as the original finish.

Mike

[vtfb68]

Window mouldings are stainless steel, I beleive that it was cheaper and quicker to flash chrome these pieces as oppossed to polishing for mass production. The old finish needs to be totaly removed before they can be polished. A professional is your best bet as they can twek very easy.
   Good luck.
    VT

[68 Ragtop]

My windshield and back glass trim is dent free but needs shined up. I talked to a guy who has polished trim with years of experience and he said he starts off with 180 grit sanding. I assume that will remove the flash chrome?  Has anyone had their trim re chromed with clear?  Was curious if people are just taking chrome off and polishing or what.
thanks

I have never seen any chrome flash plating on first generation Camaro stainless steel trim.  I believe all the trim is just solid stainless. I have sent out damaged trim to be repaired and it came back looking better than new and there was no chrome plating applied. I've been actually had to polish the rest of the stainless steel myself. And then it all matched.

As far as I know "Trim re-chromed with clear" is not a process, and I don't think it's even possible.

[JohnZ]

My windshield and back glass trim is dent free but needs shined up. I talked to a guy who has polished trim with years of experience and he said he starts off with 180 grit sanding. I assume that will remove the flash chrome?  Has anyone had their trim re chromed with clear?  Was curious if people are just taking chrome off and polishing or what.
thanks

I have never seen any chrome flash plating on first generation Camaro stainless steel trim.  I believe all the trim is just solid stainless. I have sent out damaged trim to be repaired and it came back looking better than new and there was no chrome plating applied. I've been actually had to polish the rest of the stainless steel myself. And then it all matched.

As far as I know "Trim re-chromed with clear" is not a process, and I don't think it's even possible.

ALL GM exterior polished stainless steel moldings (including windshield and backlite reveal moldings, convertible windshield inner garnish moldings, wheel trim rings, etc.) were flash-chromed after polishing to protect the stainless substrate from oxidation and dulling and maintain the icy-blue appearance. Whatever flash chrome remains on old moldings needs to be removed (it was only .0003"-.0005" thick - a third to a half a thousandth of an inch) before polishing, and the parts should be flash-chromed (clear chrome only) after polishing in order to maintain the original appearance.

[L78 steve]

With the chrome polished off, the trim will have a yellow appearance when held side by side to original.

[68 Ragtop]

ALL GM exterior polished stainless steel moldings (including windshield and backlite reveal moldings, convertible windshield inner garnish moldings, wheel trim rings, etc.) were flash-chromed after polishing to protect the stainless substrate from oxidation and dulling and maintain the icy-blue appearance. Whatever flash chrome remains on old moldings needs to be removed (it was only .0003"-.0005" thick - a third to a half a thousandth of an inch) before polishing, and the parts should be flash-chromed (clear chrome only) after polishing in order to maintain the original appearance.

Well, I am not an expert in chrome plating, but chromium is the element that is used in chrome plating to give it the shiny appearence. It is "steely-gray" in color so I fail to understand how it can be used to provide a clear coating. Perhaps it is just semantics, and "clear chrome" is not really clear. Please enlighten me on the subject. Your knowledge of the original GM processes is always appreciated.

[JohnZ]

ALL GM exterior polished stainless steel moldings (including windshield and backlite reveal moldings, convertible windshield inner garnish moldings, wheel trim rings, etc.) were flash-chromed after polishing to protect the stainless substrate from oxidation and dulling and maintain the icy-blue appearance. Whatever flash chrome remains on old moldings needs to be removed (it was only .0003"-.0005" thick - a third to a half a thousandth of an inch) before polishing, and the parts should be flash-chromed (clear chrome only) after polishing in order to maintain the original appearance.

Well, I am not an expert in chrome plating, but chromium is the element that is used in chrome plating to give it the shiny appearence. It is "steely-gray" in color so I fail to understand how it can be used to provide a clear coating. Perhaps it is just semantics, and "clear chrome" is not really clear. Please enlighten me on the subject. Your knowledge of the original GM processes is always appreciated.

Actually, chrome IS clear, and nickel is "steely-gray". The production "factory chrome" process on steel or die-cast parts plates the nickel first, then the chrome. Aftermarket "show chrome" plates the part first with copper, then polish, then plate with nickel, then plate with (clear) chrome. The factory stainless steel process was polish, then (clear) chrome plate.

[enio45]

Recently - depending on the type of restoration your doing - we send the molding out and have them chromed vs polishing.  Price is about the same  - the trim POPs nicely on the car - - long term it does not dull and they chrome process ensures a flawless finish on the moldings. 

Just another way to do these if you choose. 

[169INDY]

Well, I am not an expert in chrome plating, but chromium is the element that is used in chrome plating to give it the shiny appearence. It is "steely-gray" in color so I fail to understand how it can be used to provide a clear coating. Perhaps it is just semantics, and "clear chrome" is not really clear. Please enlighten me on the subject. Your knowledge of the original GM processes is always appreciated.
[/quote]

You may be confusing the Clear chrome (Decorative chrome) application used for appearance with: Hard Chrome Plating. High Wear, Low Friction, and Improved Corrosion Resistance. Hard Chrome plating (also known as “Industrial Chrome”) is applied to ferrous and nonferrous materials to improve wear and abrasion resistance, reduce friction, prevent seizing and galling, and to restore the dimensions of undersized parts ...

We use Hard Chrome in the restoration of Submarine rotating components to Fix shafts & fits and bores at the Naval Shipyard & You are correct Hard Chrome is NOT decorative in nature.