Anyone had a grill re-chromed? - what prepwork did you do? How much did it cost?

I cleaned mine up a few years back and hung it on the wall while I worked on the car. I accidently knocked it down at the weekend and when I picked it up noticed it has rusted and pitted on the back and in the horizontal bits - front still is OK but a little dull. Thought if I was going to fix it up might as well do it properly.

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

Im still awaiting on radiator shroud that was sent to a company at the start of August 2008.......please pm me if you want details

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http://www.youtube.com/user/Hanras

Answering my own question here - just done some reseach. Electrolysis removal is easy enough, then I have the gear and chemicals to bright zinc plate it - how do you reakon that would look or should I look at learning how to chrome plate it? - more steps involved and I have to get the chemicals and electrodes.

Edit: OK Chrome is too difficult (poisonous) to do it at home but you can Nickel Cobolt and buff to a high shine - might give it a go and report back

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

IMO unless you do a lot of it, chrome plating yourself is a hassal and results can be a bit dicey and variable, in other words not worth the time & trouble.

Speaking from my experiences with nickel plating, maybe chrome is easier but would doubt it. The kit I bought eventually ended up in the bin.

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1967 Cooper S - new front bearings to do.
1965 Cooper S shell - Slow progress. No time or money!
1966 Deluxe- next rustoration!
Mk 2 & XJ6 Jags. Less said the better.

Are you certain you have a chrome grill? Most I have seen are stainless..

I've had a chromed mild steel grill deluxe/cooper before however, it was as heavy as a brick... but looked fantastic.
I pulled a grill apart by drilling out the rivets and buffed each slat on the buffing wheel only recently.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

The 997 & possibly 998 Coopers had chrome grills and are quite rare these days, the slats are slightly thicker and they look really nice compared to the later Stainless grills fitted to the Deluxe, Cooper S etc

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Have a Nice Day.
If already having a nice day please disregard.

Hey Morris thats a pretty good price - think they would still do it for $3.55?

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

Sounds real cheap now, but in 1962 a tradesman's wage was about £20/week. So it wasn't that cheap...

BTW I was in my first job out of school then, I got £6/week (ca$h) for 40 hours.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Give them a ring on LA4317

That ad is awesome. I really dig old stuff like that.


I am thinking about doing the opposite to my grill/bumpers and dechroming and gettting them powder coated or painted. Do you think that it is worth getting the chrome stuff off or will the paint or powder coat work straight on top if I give them a good clean and a sanding lightly?
Sorry for the hijack.

D

From what I have read today nothing much will stick to chrome and if it gets rust under it it will flake and lift anyway. Chemical removers are nasty and most reports don't work, blasting will remove the chrome but leave the nickel and also not much sticks to it. The best way to get it off is with electrolysis. Needs an acid bath using hydrochloric acid (1 cup in 3 gallons of water) heavy copper wire in the solution for cathode (negative) and work piece to the anode (positive) of a battery charger - don't let the work piece touch the copper wires - the acticle I read said a 'few' minutes will remove it all then immediately rinse in a sodium bicarbonate solution to neutalise the acid then water. Don't play around with this stuff unless you know what you are doing and know how to handle strong acids and can dispose of the acid/chrome mixture when finished.

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

so is it a chrome 850 grille you're working with David?

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

I am also doing the opposite, I bead blasted an 850 grill then etch primed and top coated it.
It looks pretty smicko right now but from what Wombat is saying maybe the paint will all fall off soon

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The 850 Man

I presume it is - It's 63 MK1 - it's heavy, the front is shiny with a few pin pricks of rust - the tops of the bent tabs are moderatly rusty - the back and bottoms of the tabs are very rusty - can't see any noticable 'lifting' of chrome but does look like chrome 'going rusty' - like bike wheels

This is still 'a thought in process' and I've come across this site http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/rust/electrolytic_derusting.htm - I might try this method first - it uses the opposite to chrome removal - both solution and electrode hookup. At least it will remove the rust and let me see what the metal is like underneath

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!