chrome on buffalo hood emblem

[Kory Fox]

Chrome on my buffalo hood emblem is in bad shape but the green and black parts are good. Can the chrome part be redone without messing up the good parts?

[51Deluxe]

Unfortunately no- the chrome plating process involves grinding, removing old plating, etc. over the whole piece before plating with several new layers.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

It better be only one layer of copper strike base and one layer of chrome, NOT several layers.  Your chrome shop is padding their bill if they did that to you.

I was quality manager for a commercial die caster and chrome plater for over 6 years.  Customer base included Honda of America (motor cycles), GM P&A, tier two supplier to Harley Davidson & both Danchuck & Trim Parts (when we operated, we made the 1957 Chevy center bars with the plastic 48 state emblem for both companies off separate tooling).

[51Deluxe]

So if a chrome shop has a basic level chrome job and a better one, what's the difference? Better prep? Can the one layer of chrome vary in thickness?

[Kory Fox]

What do I do to fix the green and black parts after chrome then?

[51Deluxe]

You would have to hand paint it which would take the right paint and some skill. Instead of the expense and time involved in having  it re plated and re painted, it might just pay to look for an NOS emblem or good used one.

[Gordie]

There are many hood ornaments in nice condition on eBay.  It is not worth the money and time to restore one.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

There is standard plating (the cheap way) where the part is stripped (old chrome removed chemically) then ground to remove (as best as they can) surface issues (pits, outgassing holes, etc) and plated, 1 pass through the electroplate tanks.  The better way is stripping the chrome, the grind operation, then copper strike.  After copper strike, it goes back under the wheel.  When the friction warms the part up, the copper gets soft and can be moved around a bit in an effort to fill any remaining holes.  After that the part goes through electroplating.  Check prices and only 1 pass through electroplating in chrome which needs to be Hexvalent ("Hex") Chrome which is the brightest for outdoor uses (door handles, bumpers, etc).

Price the work first then check on eBay or club vendor sources to see if you can buy a good NOS piece first at the same or lower price.

[JoeKeys2010]

I had mine plated along with everything else so hard to say if it would have cost any less if I had not included it. I learned pits are a problem as they must be ground out. Mine had some small ones few in number so I left them alone.

I taped mine up and sprayed it then wiped off the raised surface (where I did not want paint). Worked out good for me.

Here is some photos of the green going on.

[Kory Fox]

what kind of paint did you use? i assume you're going to do the black also?

[JoeKeys2010]

Here it is finished. I used a good quality spray paint. I'll see hoe it holds up. If it gives me any trouble I'll re-spray it with automotive paint. I masked off the edges to keep over spray off the car. The wet a thick paper towel (on of the blue shop kind) with thinner and wiped all the raised areas. I thought of using a brush but was afraid it would leave brush strokes.

[Kory Fox]

Maybe I'll do that. Can you tell me exactly what brand and color paint you used?

[JoeKeys2010]

I'm away from home but will be back on Friday. I'll sent it then. I bought it at Walmart though.