'51 Special
Active Member
My pace for putting my '51 together has been slow. I had the back bumper re-chromed in 1996, and am just now getting it back on the car. Here is my problem: There is a 24.5 inch rail that mounts between the bumper guards, and on that rail was mounted a piece marked "Guide L-43," which in turn mounts the license plate and a small light to illuminate the license plate. The light is held on by two screws that are riveted to the piece. The plating company (now out of business) chromed the entire Guide L-43 piece, including the threads of those screws. There is so much chrome on the threads that I not only cannot screw the nuts back on, I cannot even get a die on them to cut new screw theads.
My question: Is there any way to get the chrome off of the threads?
This is what I have considered: If I am careful, I would be able to immerse just the threads in a solution. Could I just wire the piece to the positive terminal of a battary, dip the threads of the piece in salt water, then wire some clean scrap metal to the negative terminal and sinking the scrap into the salt water? And, I assume, watch to see that I don't take off too much material from the threads.
Any better ideas would be appreciated.
'51 Special
My question: Is there any way to get the chrome off of the threads?
This is what I have considered: If I am careful, I would be able to immerse just the threads in a solution. Could I just wire the piece to the positive terminal of a battary, dip the threads of the piece in salt water, then wire some clean scrap metal to the negative terminal and sinking the scrap into the salt water? And, I assume, watch to see that I don't take off too much material from the threads.
Any better ideas would be appreciated.
'51 Special