Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[FAB Cruiser]

Hi guys,

I just picked up an original bonnet ornament for my MKII Zephyr on eBay.

I got it really cheap but it could do with re chroming. It has surface defects rather than deep pits.

I'm reliably informed that it's cast in a type of monkey metal call Mazak (sounds more like a religious festival to me!!).

Anyway, can anyone recommend a specialist who could do this for me?

Cheers
David

[Roverron]

Mazac is very difficult to rechrome. It seems to be porous, like cinder toffee. Most platers won't touch it but you can do a lot of preperation yourself. First rub the casting down with fine wet-and-dry until the surface is totally smooth. Then with a small burr (get an old one from your dentist) in a Dremel and clean out all the small craters of corrosion. This will take a long time. This must be done manually because any chemical which will sort the corrosion out will eat into the Mazac. When all the corrosion is cleaneed out take the part to the platers and ask him to put it in his chemcal cleaning tank. Back home again use an electric soldering iron and resin cored solder to fill up all the holes. Be careful at this stage. When all the holes are filled use a buffing mop with fine buffing soap to polish it up. Finally take it back to the plater who will chemically clean it before plating it. Ask him/her to copper plate it first, followed by nickel and finally chrome.
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To Hell with ambition, it drives a man mad, I can scarcely wake up to be fed.

[Phil - Nottingham]

Very good advice - beware small pin-prick pits they open up into huge craters that go very deep and are full of powder with a hard crust on top.

This is the main reason to clear them out before you take it along to a plater as it may come back a different shape if anything is left at all.

The little Dremel machines are perfect for this job
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[FAB Cruiser]

Top advice guys - thanks.

I'm not totally convinced this item is Mazak at the moment because the inside of the casting is smooth clean metal rather than the rough grey granular finish that I'd expect.

Whats the easiest way to get the majority of the chrome plate off in the first place? I usually leave that to the platter.

Cheers
David

[Roverron]

Coarse buffing soap on a rag buffing wheel and some very fine wet and dry paper. You are aiming for the surface to be smooth. Many platers won't tackle this work because it is too labour intensive and takes up too much time, plus the huge buffing machines they use often loose some of the fine details. Do not worry about getting all the old chrome off. Most of it will come off anyway. You wil be really satisfied when you've finished as you will have done most of the work yourself. If you let your plater know your plans he will be happy to help (well the one I use would be) Good luck.
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To Hell with ambition, it drives a man mad, I can scarcely wake up to be fed.

[magic9r]

Once stripped & cleaned up the traditional method for filling the pitting was burnishing with a soft brass stick which would fill in the voids.
If the cheapskate manufacturers had used a propper copper/nickel/chrome process to begin with we'd never have this problem in the first place
Nick