FYI, for those interested in refinishing the grille slats, my plater, who is
a master, and I have examined two period grilled under magnification, and
come up with a strategy that comes close to perfectly replicating the satin
finish.
The SIDES of the slats are raw brass, plated with a thin coating, which
accounts for the matte satin finish. To approximate this, you can pickle the
brass in a modern plating solution and plate. However, the modern solutions
are purer, and the finish will be a tad brighter.
The FRONTS of the slats were stroke sanded, usually very well. However, on
one of the two original grilles we examined, you could see some uniform
'faceting' at the top, where the curvature is a little more extreme. We are
experimenting with different grits to get the best approximation of the
original graining, and a fair match to the sides. This is quite apparent
after the original plating has been stripped. you will see raw brass
surfaces on the sides, and faint grain lines in the front surfaces of the
slats.
I can vouch that both grilles were old. The one from our car had been
replated, and the corners of the grill slats were rounded. The other had a
relatively intact factory finish. My plater is going to refinish the less
intact grille and will be applying the foregoing. He will pickle the slats
to get the proper matte effect on the sides, then stroke-sand the fronts,
taking out the polish and at the same time correcting the former platers
rounding. If the results are pleasing, I will update the posting.
The plater believes that, contrary to notions of 'annodizing' or other
specialty finishing of the grille slats to get the mat finish, it was the
factory's expedient finishing technique that accounts for the matte finish,
and that a regular chrome plating was applied. In other words, its the
finishing of the surface metal, not the plating process, that accounts for
the final result.
Allen Miller, BN2/M
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