Chrome Plating

When you're working on your truck, eventually

you're gonna wanna have some chrome plating done. It is the finishing touch on any project.

Unfortunately,

chrome plating can be a little expensive if it's done right. And it can be really expensive if it's done wrong because it'll have to be redone.

So the question is, how do you know when it's done? Right.

And what's involved in this process? Well, come on, we're gonna show you

one of the premier chrome shops in the nation is a place called advanced plating in Nashville, Tennessee.

And as you can see, we brought them a whole sea of parts and stuff that needs to be plated. Now, right here beside me is the owner of the company Steve Tracy and he's gonna take us through the chroming process.

All right, Steve, let's have the bad news.

Can you do anything with this stuff? Well, stace the parts you brought in today are gonna require quite a bit of restoration.

If you want to step down this way, I'll go in detail more of what I'm talking about.

Sounds good.

This step is where we removed all the chrome, the nickel and all the rust and the glass and the bumper has been glass

beaded

due to the severe rust pitting in this particular bumper. The bumper has been re ground and we filled the holes with brass.

Ok. At this step, we have D A sanded sisal buff and then colored the steel out that is just raw, polished steel pitting, still intact.

First plating step in the process is the hard cyanide copper plate.

Our second step in the plating process is the acid copper plate and this allows us to cover over our brass repair work and it's a repetitive process of being plated and sanded and buffed to fill in all the pitting.

Our third step is the nickel plating

and you can see the deposit that's put on the bumper. This is where all the brilliance and the depth come from.

And the final step in our plating process is the brilliant hex chrome finish.

This finish allows all the beauty of the nickel and the copper and the pre polished steps to show through.

Now, all that sounds easy enough. But to get a real understanding of what goes into this process, you need to see it being done.

The first step is called the stripping room and it is right out of a Frankenstein movie with huge vats of hydrochloric acid,

sulfuric

acid

nitric acid

caustic that literally eat all sorts of grease paint, old finishes everything off the metal.

Of course, working with acid can be a little tricky and dangerous for you

and the metal because you have to know what type of metal

that you're dealing with. You put the wrong metal into the wrong tank. You can literally dissolve it and it'll be gone.

Some parts also make a trip to the media blaster to make sure they're perfectly clean.

Once the stripping is done, that's when the repair work begins. Dents are hammered out and worked smooth,

cracks and holes are welded up and worked down with a grinder

and everything is buffed and polished. So it's nice and smooth. No matter what the size

or the shape.

When the repairs are done, it's off to the tanks to get a coat of hard copper for a base and soft copper to fill imperfections.

Now, this is where the real work begins as the copper is polished down smooth.

If any imperfections remain, it goes back to the tank, then to the polisher,

then back to the tank, then to the polisher

and so on and so on until the parts are perfect.

Once all the imperfections are gone, it's time to move on to the nickel tank.

Now, this is the step that gives the part its depth and luster.

Once the parts are rinsed and they pass yet another inspection,

they finally go in the chrome tank

and when they come out, you have brilliant triple chrome plating.

Now it is inspected one more time and only then is it wrapped up and given the advanced plating stamp of approval.

As you can see, there is a lot involved in the chrome plating process to do it. Right. As you probably guessed

the amount of labor and expertise that a place like advanced plating brings to a project. Well, it doesn't come cheap. So the question is,

is it worth it?

Well, let's take a look. You remember what this stuff looked like before? Yeah, pretty rough.

Take a look at this stuff. Now, man,

now, easier projects like these valve covers or these Zoomy headers or this battery box or even this six deuce intake are absolutely beautiful. Now, I call them easier because there is a lot less prep work involved in a ra M tube like this or an intake before you stick it in the chrome tank.

But let's take a look at something that they had to do a little bit more restoration on.

Now, this is a window trim that I actually chopped in two areas and I bet you money you will never find those chop marks.

Now, this grill, I know this went into the copper tank at least three times because there was a lot of pits and a lot of imperfections that they needed to fill. So this thing would lay all nice and smooth

and of course, this windshield trim.

This thing was rough. Now,

it looks like a brand new piece. So,

was it worth it?

Absolutely. But the real question here is not cost. The question is, can you afford to not do this? Right the first time because

the old saying you get what you pay for definitely applies to a chrome shop. So now hopefully you understand more of the process. So you know what it is that you're paying for.

We'll be right back after this.

Welcome back to trucks before the break. We took you through the chrome plating process. What's involved in that procedure? Now, we're gonna deal with an area that affects just about every truck enthusiast out there,

polishing metal because just about every truck has got some sort of polished aluminum wheels or accessories on it

and keeping that stuff polished can be a pain in the butt. So

I'm gonna show you how to keep things nice and shiny

in the comfort of your own garage without wearing your fingers down to the nub.

The first thing that you need to understand about buffing and polishing metal is the process. Basically, you need to take the coarsest grit compound that it's gonna take to get all the scratches or oxidation out of the metal and then slowly work up to a finer compound and a finer compound until you have the polish you want

very similar to wet sand and buff in a car.

This brings up a question though. How do you know what compounds and buffs that you're gonna need?

Well, the answer is you don't because each project is gonna be a little different.

So, the best thing to do is to buy a complete kit like this one we got from max polishing systems.

Now it's got all the compounds, coarse, medium, fine,

all kinds of different buffs, different sizes to get into tight little areas.

And it's even got these little tiny dye grinders that'll really put a shine on quickly.

Now, for our demo piece, we've got a standard valve cover that you'd find in just about any swap meet,

very tarnished, very neglected,

but it's not scratched at all. So we're gonna be able to start

with this medium grit Tripoli compound. It's very good for soft metals like aluminum or brass.

And we're gonna add to that a spiral sewn buff because it's the most aggressive that we've got.

First, I'll load the compound on the bus,

then go to work on the valve cover.

You wanna work in small sections

until you see that shine starting to come through.

Remember you let the compound and the buck do the work

when it stops polishing. Well, it probably means you need more compounds

from time to time. You'll need to take a sharp object and rake it across the buff to clean it, then apply more compound.

This keeps the buff from loading up with old compound and not cutting.

Also, these smaller buffs are perfect for getting into these tight areas like this.

All right,

looks good.

But it can look better. So the next step, we're gonna move on to this ultra fine finishing compound.

And to go with that, we're gonna use this really soft Canton flannel buff.

That's gonna give us that ultra high polish. We're after

the technique that you'll be using

is the same here as it was before.

What you're looking for is for any haze or cloudiness to completely disappear

and a brilliant mirror like finish to remain.

Once you're finished, just wipe off all the excess polish.

And that is it just in case you've forgotten.

This is what we started out with just a few minutes ago

and this is what we ended up with, man. Is that a difference or what

looks like a brand new piece?

The best part is I got these valve covers for free because the guy that had them thought they were junk, thought that they couldn't be polished. You know, he obviously doesn't watch trucks.

Now. There is a drawback to doing this though when it's all over my shirt and my hands and everywhere else. This is messy. This is not something you want to have to do every weekend.

But what would you say if I said there was a possibility that you only had to polish your aluminum once every two or three years

and you'd probably say, yeah. Right. Impossible. And I would say

you need to come back after the break after I changed my shirt

just can't get enough of trucks. Check us out online at TRUCKS, tv.com.

Welcome back to trucks where today's show is all about shiny metal. How to keep it that way. Things like chrome and polished aluminum, stainless steel, brass.

You name it.

Matter of fact, before the break I showed you how to take an old nasty tarnished piece of aluminum

and literally bring it back to life just by buffing and polishing on it.

Unfortunately,

there is a lot of labor that goes into buffing and polishing metal, especially

if you've got something like this huge 15 inch deep five smoker

that I got from Team three wheels. You wanna see some polished aluminum check that out. Now, you gotta admit this is an awesome looking wheel, but

nobody in their right mind is gonna wanna buff and polish on this thing every week. But to keep it looking this good. Well, you gotta polish it,

don't you?

Well,

maybe not an alternative to buffing your life away

comes from Zoe's products and what they call Zoop Seal. Now, this is not a paint or any kind of coating.

This is a ceramic sealer

that actually impregnates the pores of the metal

and this keeps the metal from oxidizing or tarnishing for up to three years. That's pretty amazing. So,

how do you put it on?

Well, that's pretty easy. I'm gonna show you how

the first thing that you need to do is to completely clean the part that you're gonna seal

using the special cleaner that comes with the kit. Now, the only thing to remember here

is when you go to rinse, this, make sure that you're using distilled water

because this won't add any kind of chemicals or contaminants back onto the metal,

like ordinary tap water will,

once you're done rinsing,

you need to dry off the part. Now, this is very important

because water and zoup seal will not mix.

Now, go back to the kit, mix parts A and B together

and pour it on one of the cloths that's included with the kit. Now, it's important that this cloth is not just dripping and saturated with this stuff, you just need it to be damp.

Now, just wipe on the Zoop seal. Now, the reason you don't want to put too much of this stuff on

is because you're gonna have to buff it off later on if you do more is not better here. Also, remember this is not a polish. If you've got scratches or hazing in your part,

you need to polish that out first before you put this stuff on

because it's gonna seal it just exactly the way it looks.

Once your sealer's on, you need to let it dry to the touch,

then move on to your final seal

and you'll buff out the wheel with this.

What this does

is remove all the excess sealer and bring the part back to a high gloss

Now, if you put on too much Zoop seal in the earlier step, this is where you have to buff it off.

Well,

there you have it

polished aluminum wheels that look just as good. Now as they did when we started, they're not milky or hazy or anything.

But the difference is now they're sealed from the elements like rain and break dust and things like that.

And when they do get dirty,

all I've got to do to clean them up is hit him with some of this cleaner

and wipe them out with a rag. Like you would, a chrome wheel still skeptical, aren't you? Well, come on over here, got something to show you.

Now, there's Zoop seal on this valve cover.

Notice how the water

absolutely just runs off of that. It just sheets off of there. That is amazing.

Now, Zoop says this stuff should last 2 to 3 years. Now, if that's true,

will you be crazy not to try this stuff? We'll be right back after this

in the world of cars and trucks. One of the most popular upgrades to do to get more power is to upgrade the computer, whether you're using a power programmer or replacing the chip. The question is in the world of big rig trucks, can they use that type of technology to get more power out of these engines because they're always after more power? Well, we're in the dining room at Wyotech. We've been doing some testing. We are gonna answer those questions for you because we're gonna show you how it works.

Oh,

it's worse

brought to you by

Woch.

All right. Don, why don't you talk the viewers through the basic electrical set up on a big rig diesel? All right.

Well, the driver sits in the cab and he's usually pushing hard on the throttle pedal that sends a signal to our ECM down here.

The ECM will take all information from the turbo boost sensor or something like that.

And it's gonna either give the engine more fuel or if he wants to slow down, he can, but he's got to take his foot out of it.

This just controls fuel. This sounds like a basic setup that you'd have on any computer controlled engine.

Ok.

Now, I understand you can really tweak these engines for some more power just

by messing with the computer.

How does that work? We got a PC, much like people have in their homes and we have a password

and a computer program and we can up rate this engine 50 horsepower. If we want to slow that guy down, we can be rate it too

all without touching a wrench

touches

clean hands.

That's awesome. Now, I heard you guys talking about ESP, what is that? ESP is electronic, smart power, it's a fuel savings program.

Uh,

the driver's going down the road, he's got it in cruise control

and we're coming up to a hill, this computer, the ECM,

it monitors the engine speed and the turbo boost and the air temperature coming into the intake manifold

and it feels that truck is lugging back a little bit. It boosts the horsepower automatically. He doesn't touch a thing.

Wow. Now, one of the biggest things with cars and trucks

is satellite control. You know, using power from satellites control that way. How do big rigs do that? Big rigs use satellites quite a bit. Uh, we use GPS just like

what OnStar is and things like that.

Uh, they can tell where a truck is anywhere on the globe. If somebody were to steal a truck,

they could, uh, shut that truck down with a computer

and shut him down, he can't start it and make a heck of a practical joke.

Well, hopefully this shows you that not just cars and trucks are on the cutting edge of technology. Big rigs have to be there too

because things keep changing all the time and as they change,

we'll continue to show you how it works and we need to do something in this. No, no.

Come on, let me shut this

down.

You

can,

you can,

I don't know what's wrong with it.

It

not being easy if

it turns over by road

fire.

If there's one company that's been around for a long time helping hot rodders go faster and faster, it's Excel. So it really came as no surprise. When they came out with what they call the cool blue air filter element.

Now, this thing not only filters particles as small as 2.8 microns, which is tiny,

but it also increases air flow. So the engine breathes better and you get the performance that you're after. Now, the best part is these things. When they get dirty, you just wash them up, put them back on the truck and off, you go over and over and over again

for up to a million miles. Now, as you can see, you can get them for almost any hour application and you can buy them at just about any auto parts store.

If you've already got your truck breathing in well, and you wanna get it breathing out just as well.

You need to see what course of performance has got for late model trucks and suvs,

this is called the power pulse RSC exhaust system.

Now, this utilizes a very unique muffler. This fat little guy

reflects sound pressure waves against each other inside the muffler and that gets rid of any excessive noise, but it still gives you a cool sounding muffler.

Now, that sounds restrictive, but it's not, that's a straight through design. So you get good flow. Of course, you get all the pipes prebent

and all the hardware to bolt this onto your truck or SUV. Now, Corsa is famous for their polished stainless steel tips.

So of course, you have got some great choices there

that's gonna do it for today.

We'll see you next week.