DIY Chrome Prep. Save a bunch of money (pics)

[David Luciani]

rescued article by Sam Bennet

Sterling had a question about nerf bar prep.

The SR-16 nerfs and seat struts were NOS, but just flash chromed with no prep. The finish was o.k., but not good enough. I had my shop strip the plating and this is what they looked like when done.







Yikes! I was hoping for a little less pitting!

I put them in a copper jawed vice and spent the cool mornings of March 2012 sanding. Using a roll of emery cloth, I cut strips about 24" long and stood there profiling the tube until the pits were gone. The technique is similar to shining shoes, or using a rope saw. It's crude, labor intensive, and discouraging.

When done it looks like sanded steel.


My plater remembered the finished parts coming back a few weeks later to get dipped. He asked how I got them prepped? I explained, and he brought he 2 brothers in to hear me repeat the story about the emery cloth.

They laughed at me and said, "don't you have any Lea {LEE?} Compound"? I didn't know what they were talking about. When they explained what it was, it seemed they were talking about Greaseless Compound--of which I hadn't tried.

As consolation for my suffering, they gave me a tube that had "Satin Glo" on the side. It was brick red in color and was as firm as Mozzarella cheese. They said, "pulse your buffer as you jam the tube against a treated, hard, spiral-sewn cotton wheel". "Once you get it covered, walk away and let it cool down." Once it's cool you have a hard crust of sanding belt around your buffing wheel.




Here are some pics I just grabbed. The yellow wheels are hard and treated cotton. In this world the yellow wheels are treated and last longer. These pictured are ready for another coat of Satin Glo. I frequently stack wheels by different diameters based on what I'm working on. A "V" shape arrangement is what I use for tubes and axles. You get more surface area this way.



The wheel below is not as hard and has more "give" for curved parts.



O.K. Back to how it works. This stuff is meant to remove metal and it does it quick! So much so, you will get sparks coming off the wheel. Since it's on a curved wheel it's great for blending. The compound can be bought in a variety of grits. I used 180 and 240. The 240 gives a very smooth finish.

You can perfect or destroy a part with this stuff. It cuts quick and is very obvious to the trained eye if it's been misused.

Disclaimer:
Eye protection is a must. A little chunk of this stuff is a small rock flying at over 100 mph.
Satin Glo should be kept cool and it must be bagged in a zip lock while not in use.

Here is the prepped part on it's way to chrome. I color buffed these which is why they look plated already.



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