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MG TD TF 1500 - Moss Chromed Parts?

Are the chrome parts from Moss copper plated before the nickel chrome is added? PJ
P Jennings

I have some Moss running board strips. They were purchased perhaps 20 years ago and have yet to be installed. One was bent in storage and the chrome lifted to reveal copper plating under.

I have no idea if that's indicative of all their parts.
J E Carroll

Hard to say. It all has to do with the (chemical ) replacement series.

A part made of iron or steel would have to be first nickle-plated, then copper and finally chrome. Whereas a part in copper, nickle or brass, can be directly chrome plated.

Whilst aluminium does not normally need chromium plating, by using a special (read - expensive) process, it can be chrome-plated.

I have been leery of some of the quality of Moss' parts. I had to return a front bumper face before I installed it, because the chrome was already peeling and I could see some copper under the chrome.

I now don't mind paying the premium for a part that I know has come from the UK or is of acknowledged better quality than stuff that comes from Asia.

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué.
Gordon A Clark

That's kind of a blanket question. Their parts come from various sources all over the world. As a general rule I'd have to guess that yes they are as thats part of the process. I look at the copper for plating the same way I would primer surfacer is to painting. It's the material that is used to fill in the imperfections and worked in much the same way to fill low spots in the metal work. I kind of look at brass/silver soilder as the bondo/lead process of paint. The next step is the nickel which also has to be worked (polished) which is kind of like the color coat and lastly the chrome which could be compared to the clearcoat.
LaVerne

Gordon Clark I hate to disagree with you but I have been told be people who have worked in plating shops for more than 25 years that you put copper on ferrous parts first. Buff it, then flash it with nickel, then the chrome goes on.
Cheers,
Bob Jeffers

Having ridden HD motorcycles for 35 plus years, I've always used Brown's Plating, www.brownsplating.com , and they do a fantastic job. They have a state of the art plating line.

This winter, I'll be sending them my Lucas headlamp buckets.
R C Flowers

Back in the days when our cars were young, and I was too, I worked in QA for the Radiart Corp. as an auto antenna inspector (a/k/a a rod puller). In 1951 the Korean War caused a shortage of brass tubing. It was replaced by steel tubing. This necessitated plating a layer of copper onto the steel tubes before they went into the chromium tanks. Bud
Bud Krueger

To Bob Jeffers and a couple of other people who spared me the embarassment by contacting me off-line.

You all are, of course, correct. The right order is copper, then nickel, then chromium.

But it still boils down to the replacement series in which a metal with more atoms is added to one with less. I'm sure you don't want me to bore you guys, but the fact is, I can't remember the actual chemistry with free ions etc.

I hope I know when to shut-up!

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué.
Gordon A Clark

This thread was discussed between 31/08/2012 and 01/09/2012

MG TD TF 1500 index

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