Replated insturment panel

firechief5215

firechief5215

Senior Member
I have a early 1928 aa, I need a instrument panel that has been restored/replated . The panel I have now is chrome. Do you have one or know where I can buy one. My truck is a early 28
with the Pop Out banana switch Thank You
 
Take your chrome plated panel to a plater. Tell them you want to remove the chrome and leave the underlying nickel. I had this done to a '29 cowl band where the plater made a mistake and chromed it. It took just one minute in the acid tank hooked up to a reverse current and waalaa it was nickel. They should be able to do it while you wait and a lot less expensive than another E-28 panel.
 
I used muriatic acid to remove the chrome on a speedometer cover. I just brushed it on waited about 1 minute and rinsed it off. It came out beautiful nickle.
 
firechief5215 said:
I have a early 1928 aa, I need a instrument panel that has been restored/replated . The panel I have now is chrome. Do you have one or know where I can buy one. My truck is a early 28
with the Pop Out banana switch Thank You
Click to expand...

There is at least 3 maybe 4 instrument panels for a 28 - mid 30 cars
and CCPU's. Plus the repop junk. You need to post a photo of yours,
both inside and out, if you think yours is original. The frame number will
be helpful...if you know it. I should have asked this first....how or why
do you think your Truck is early?
 
The engine number is *A30592*, I cannot get the frame number because it is a fire truck and it is nearly impossible to get to the frame number. Also there is no number on the fire wall. It does have the e brake in the left side of the driver.
 
firechief5215 said:
The engine number is *A30592*, I cannot get the frame number because it is a fire truck and it is nearly impossible to get to the frame number. Also there is no number on the fire wall. It does have the e brake in the left side of the driver.
Click to expand...
The engine was made in the last week of Feb.1928, the J/S say you should have panel #2, with the flat top, but with no counter sunk holes at the bottom screw holes..
 
Yep......Fred beat me to it, he's also correct. It's very close on the dates and with
" the first in last out " it could have had the 1st style of panel. It depends on the
other parts on the Truck....too date it closer.

The engine stamping date...2-22-28.
If you can, post a photo or two of the panel. Also, the Fire Truck, please. Some of
us like looking at the " early stuff ".
 
What other parts could I post pictures of to help us date this closer .
Thanks For all your help I would love to date this as close a we can. We have just lost our last fire member who was around in the late 30s who new a lot about this truck and we weren't able to get a lot of valuable information from him due to failing health for the past 15 years Thanks Billy
 
Pinstripe said:
Tom, Will the muriatic acid bother the nickel at all.
Click to expand...

The chrome speedometer bezel is a very small part, so I did the job in the basement bathroom sink. I brushed on the muriatic acid and waited a minute or two, and saw the part turning black. I immediately rinsed it in hot water and had a beautiful nickel bezel. It was a mistake to do this in the house though. Muriatic acid fumes are very powerful, and I'm sure do damage to the lungs.

The only other thing I tried to strip the chrome from was a set of chrome inside window cranks. That was a mistake, as the chrome had no underlying nickel. As soon as the thin chrome layer was gone, so was much of the potmetal window cranks.:mad:
And the acid killed the grass in a 6 foot circle for about 6 months.:eek:
 
Tom Wesenberg said:
The chrome speedometer bezel is a very small part, so I did the job in the basement bathroom sink. :mad:
And the acid killed the grass in a 6 foot circle for about 6 months.:eek:
Click to expand...
Tom, did it clean the sink well? OH! & Buster T.:cool: says that its ALIENS that kills the grass! He says they come at 2:27 A.M.:eek::eek::eek: Bill W.
 
Timothy Kelly said:
I too am not Tom, but like Tom, I too have used muriatic acid to strip chrome and reveal the underlying nickle.

I had some tire lock rings (not Model A) plated and was using them with stainless wheels. I couldn't decide whether nickle or chrome would be a better match. The plater suggested that he plate them with chrome, and if I didn't like it I could easily strip the chrome using muriatic acid to reveal the nickle plating. He also mentioned that the muriatic acid would not affect the nickle....except for darkening it if I left the ring in the acid too long.

As it turned out the chrome looked terrible against the stainless so I stripped the rings as suggested with muriatic acid. The first ring I stripped I didn't leave it in the acid long enough to dissolve the chrome. So I dipped it again, and again. After leaving it in the acid for a few minutes the nickle turned dark...just as the plater said would happen. I was, however, able to restore the nickle luster with polish.

Once I had the chrome removed I dipped the rings in a baking soda and water rinse to neutralize the acid.

For me the issue isn't whether or not muriatic acid will in any way damage the underlying nickle; it will not. It's what to do with the waste muriatic acid laced with chrome.... I put it in plastic bottles and delivered to the plating shop as I wanted no part in disposing of what I suspect was a hazardous material. The plating shop has both a hazardous materials license and means to dispose of hazardous materials.

Also, it's worth noting that while the muriatic acid will not affect the underlying nickle plating, it may well affect the underlying metal...such as pot metal. So far, I have used muriatic acid to stip chrome only from steel and brass parts...without encountering any problems.
Click to expand...

This was of interest to me because I knew I have used Hydrochloric Acid to strip original Model-A instrument panels so that I could repair the ribs before sending them off. I did a quick search on the internet to see what others say about this, and it seems like some places say it won't while other places say it will strip the Nickel. Maybe my comment should have been prefaced with "this has worked for me".

/
 
Any 28 early 30 original A & AA panels I have seen were not plated at all,but were painted black.Maybe it was a Canada only thing.The Pu,s had a plain steel cowl cowl band painted body colour.As well the HL buckets as well as the rad shell were body colour.The OCPU,s used the plain steel W S posts.
 
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