Team Camaro,
I spent the day searching how to plate my header on the 69 Pace Car. Looks like it should be all satan with polished legs. I verified with my pair this afternoos (attached picture) and all looks good.
My question is, how do I plate the visor hinge? I attached a picture of my original pair and they look satan but it is very difficult to determine. Are they satan?
My last question is, how do I seperate the hinges for plating? The spring looks tight and I can't see an easy way to seperate. Any advise?
I appreciate all the help,
Jim J

The satin plating is very difficult to replicate. If your visor brackets are in fairly nice shape, I suggest cleaning them and using them. Just live with any minor imperfections knowing that they are original parts.

Mine were moderately pitted, so I took mine apart and had them re-plated in satin chrome. I disassembled the spring by grinding the head off of the "rivet" holding everything together. I then drilled & tapped a hole and used a hex socket head cap screw to put everything back together. A drop of red Loctite on the screw will keep things from coming apart. I'll try to take a few pictures tonight and post them.

My chrome shop did a nice job replicating the satin chrome on the visor brackets, but they did not want to attempt it on the header moldings. They had a difficult time getting the satin finish to look consistent, and they didn't want to risk putting the time & effort into the header moldings with less than perfect results. I'll just end up going with polished chrome when I have my NOS moldings re-plated.

Note that the reproduction brackets are not made correctly and can be spotted a mile away. On the repros, the area where the convertible top latch hooks into the bracket is made the same on both sides. The originals were different on each side. One side has a "V" shape (as shown in your picture) to center the hook and hold the top frame from moving side to side.

I love this site!
Thank you jeff68, nice response. I tried to polish my brackets this morning but they have a few pits I'm not happy with, so I will try to grind, drill, tap, and screw tonight. (still talking about visor bracket)
I have my fingers crossed.
Thanks again,
Jim J

I was able to polish the satin 68 parts to use on my 67. It appeared to me that the satin finish was done by media blasting polished pieces to reduce the shine.

It appeared to me that the satin finish was done by media blasting polished pieces to reduce the shine.
I thought the same thing about the factory pieces. My chrome shop said this is not usually how it was done. They said that the satin finish is made on whatever is under the chrome and not in the chrome itself. I believe that they media blasted either the copper or nickle layer before chroming. I'm still not really sure how it was originally done way back when.

I wonder what type of plating process is used on the repro pieces - they seem to have the correct finish.

... the satin finish is made on whatever is under the chrome and not in the chrome itself. I believe that they media blasted either the copper or nickle layer before chroming. I'm still not really sure how it was originally done way back when.

I wonder what type of plating process is used on the repro pieces - they seem to have the correct finish.

Thought we came to a consensus on this a while back in another thread :confused:

I researched this with some industrial finishing engineering friends and, after they reviewed the original header from my 68, they can to the consensus among them that it is a "Matte" Nickel/Chrome process - common in the industrial plating serices.
The substrate material(s) Copper and/or Nickel are mechanically (via media or other impingement process) or chemically (via a 'reverse-plate' or acid etching) roughened prior to the final Chrome top plate (just a very thin coating process).
This allows the rough undersurface to show through the top finish but still maintains much better corrosion resistance than just a nickel finish by itself as "Chrome" is all but transparent as it is applied to metal parts we are used to seeing - it's the polished material underneath the "chrome" that look 'shiney' to us :yes:

They furnished me with a few sample plating 'coupons' (little test panels done under different processes), the light mechanically cleaned and the acid etched samples looked the closest to my part.
Soooo - I would guess GM had their vendor doing one of these processes ...
As this process was also common for other interior 'low-glare' requirement parts lie rear-view mirrors etc. it wouldn't be a 'issue' to do it on other parts.

Hope this helps :thumbsup:

Thought we came to a consensus on this a while back in another thread

I researched this with some industrial finishing engineering friends and, after they reviewed the original header from my 68, they can to the consensus among them that it is a "Matte" Nickel/Chrome process - common in the industrial plating serices.

I think the problem is that while this satin chrome process may be common for industrial plating, who is going to perform this work to the standards of someone restoring a car? Industrial plating shops want nothing to do with restoring parts and fixing/smoothing pits. The shop that did my chrome work usually works on Pebble Beach cars, and they had not done this type of satin finish chrome prior to doing my visor brackets (which was many years ago). So, apparently, this satin finish chrome is not all that common on automobiles.


Anyhow, here are pictures of my replated visor brackets.

Screw installed to hold spring assembly together:
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j126/jac04/Camaro/VisorBracket001.jpg

The finished product:
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j126/jac04/Camaro/VisorBracket002.jpg

Great pictures Jeff68,
I finished tapping them tonight. Your pictures help guide me through it. It's off to the plating shop tomorrow.
Thanks again,
Jim J

Glad I could help, Jim. Please post some pictures of how they turn out.
Are you going to have the header moldings done as well? I'm very interested to see how they look, especially the line between the satin & polished surfaces.

2x

... The shop that did my chrome work usually works on Pebble Beach cars, and they had not done this type of satin finish chrome prior to doing my visor brackets (which was many years ago). So, apparently, this satin finish chrome is not all that common on automobiles.
...


I don't think that it's 'not all that common' as much as folks don't know what to ask for ...
Besides, things like 'Rear View' mirrors and the like are common among lots of vehicles and readily available from the 'repoppers' now.
Obviously, they knew how to do it as it's a well documented and standard finishing technology - just maybe not in their shop yet ...
Most shops know how to 'reverse-current' clean a part and leave a fairly rough surface doing it (just get more aggressive with the bath voltage usually ;) ) - it's something they would normally try to avoid though if trying to get a smooth clean surface for common 'shiney' chrome.

Anyway, was just trying to give the information so folks could have a better chance of getting it done correctly.



... Anyhow, here are pictures of my replated visor brackets.


Great pictures and finish :thumbsup:

Just dropped off 17 pieces today and will post pictures once I pick them up. The Header is part of what is getting plated. The shop is fairley well known in the SoCal area. There name is Artistic Silver Plating. I called a few restoration shops and noticed Chip Foose has used them on several projects so time will tell. They seemed to understand what I wanted on the Header and said it wouldn't be a problem.