S30 Chrome ashtray Restoration Techniques? Anyone? Anyone?

[cremmenga]

Naval Jelly!! Works wonders!

[hls30.com]

Hopefully I will have some good news to give those of you with scratched ashtray slides very soon! A while back I sent two more off for refinishing, and after a couple of conversations with the plater they should be coming back to me soon! I'll post pictures of, and a commentary about the results.

Will

[monzter]

I actually did a restoration of the tray slider and ashtray a while ago. It looked pretty good.

If you look at the backside of the tray it is not textured, but smooth. Mine had a kinda bluish pink tint on some areas. I brought it to my local specialist in plating, and this is what he said.

The part looks to be glass beaded with a fine size, and then Silver zinc cobalt plated. Basically it is standard silver zinc, but I guess it is then put into a special cobalt sealer, that gives it its clean cool hue. I tried it and it looked pretty good. The plater is caller Reid Metal finishing in Santa Ana California. The still do Cad. which is getting hard to find these days as well as all types of special plating. The company has been sold since I had my parts done, but I am sure the new owners still do the process. Ask for Ivan

I have since acquired a NOS ash tray and slider, and can defiantly see the blue pink tint on the bottom. I was going to take a picture, but I can't find my camera, so I will post the picture later.

Jeff

[hls30.com]

Thanks Jeff,

I'll post some pics of this attempt when I get the pieces back, and hopefully between your attempt and mine something will be right!

Will

PS, have you got a phone number for that plater-I'll probably send them a couple of covers too, just to see which is the closest...

Thanks,

WIll

[rtaylor]

Will. I had some parts annodized by them a few years back and was satisfied with their work. I didn't know that the prior owners sold out though. The phone number is 714-549-3771 .

[monzter]

Thanks Jeff,

I'll post some pics of this attempt when I get the pieces back, and hopefully between your attempt and mine something will be right!

Will

PS, have you got a phone number for that plater-I'll probably send them a couple of covers too, just to see which is the closest...

Thanks,

WIll

The original owner was Jerry Reid, He retired maybe 2 years ago. Ivan is the new owner and really helpful. I give them all of my anno. nickel and cad/zinc work.

Will, if you need some help, let me know, I could stop down at Reid with the NOS parts and talk to those guys again. Just let me know when you send them, and who you talked to. The production manager’s name is TJ. He knows me, and I can go see him. Just tell him Jeff Soucek from Felt Bicycles

[hls30.com]

PM Sent

Will

[monzter]

Hey Will,

Back from vacation and got to work on those covers today, thought I would fill you in on the details.

Well, after showing the old and new parts to the plater 100% sure they are chrome plated, and not Cad or Zinc. The Cad or Zinc can be made to look like the finish, but not durable enough. So I brought to my Chromer I use (Bush Polishing in Garden Grove) and had him look at them, he said they are simple to do. First the part was media blasted (well get to this one later) then nickel flash plated (needed for the chrome to stick) and then chrome flash plated. There is no copper used, as copper is primarily used as a primer of sort to build the flaws and polish them out. If no copper is used then the texture and grooves will remain. So I had him strip the old chrome off, this was done by dipping them in a muratic acid with the part reversed charged. This literally pulls the chrome off without disturbing the nickel plate. If the nickel needs to be removed then it has to go in sulfuric acid.

Next off to another vendor (Embee - Metal Improvement in Santa Ana) These guys specialize in shot peening and special media blasting. They do alot of aerospace parts that blow me away ever time I stop in. He said the only way to match the finish was to simply try different techniques and see how they come out. It is had to tell what will happen, because he does no know the hardness of the metal. First attempt was a very fine glass bead, looked really clean when finished, but you could still see the scratches from the years of opening and closing - no good. Next was shot peening (like we know is done to connecting rods) and pretty good results, but a few problems. First, the texture was a little more than the original, but all the scratches were gone. Next, the big problem was warpage. The idea behind shot peening is that when the balls hit the surface and deform the metal, they actually stress relieve the surface tension. This stress relief actually caused the part to bow, and I am sorry to say I think it is a goner, see the pics, sorry. The second part is still fine, and now ready for the third attempt and I think final process that will work. He has to re-setup the machine tonight so I will know tomorrow, but the plan is to use a heavy glass bead. This will provide a similar texture to the shop peen, but without the surface tension relief that bowed the first part.

After the texture is done and correct I will bring it back to the chromer for the finish flash chrome.

Again sorry about screwing up one of the parts, let me know if you need me to dig up another one.

I will give you more info when I have it.

PS is it normal to have to wait 1 day for uploaded images to be approved, and I cant use the attach image button, any ideas?

Best Regards

Jeff

[=Enigma=]

I am sorry to say I think it is a goner, see the pics,

Where's the pics?

[monzter]

Where's the pics?

I am waiting for the pics to be approved after uploading them. Does anybody know how to avoid this?

I uploaded them to the members area, and the thumbnail shows, but the big picture will not.

Jeff

[MikeW]

You can attach pictures directly to a post which bypasses the whole approval process.

[AndysPlit]

I know this may be a little off-topic but has anyone noticed that the open ashtray makes a great cup holder!?