Outside door handles

[Rickv]

Well , I have another new bee question . My outside doorhandles and bases are toast ,bubbling, peeling ,nasty chrome . Does anybody reproduce these and or , does anyone have a nice pair they are looking to re home? If they are badly pitted are they worth having them rechromed ? I really appreciate the great info I've been getting of this page . You guys are the best , thanks in advance !

[jdsnoddy]

Your best course is to have them rechomed.
Because parts are scarce/expensive, your first course of action should be to refurbish what you have.

[Rickv]

Any chrome shop recommendations John ? So no one repops them ? I'm thinking where I'm at , California chrome work is outrageous .

[jdsnoddy]

Rick:
Here are the recommended forum vendors
https://www.markiiforum.com/showthread.php?976-Vendors-of-Mark-II-Parts-and-Services
I think Barry Wolk may have replated some of his things by himself. Just depends your interest/skill level.

[Milsteads Garage]

There is only one good chromer I know of and that’s Royal plating in Tucson Az. I believe they can fix pits in pot metal but you might want to ask.

[Knickoliss Iv]

These guys do amazing work. Expensive but very good. They will quote your parts with photographs. Regardless who does them, make sure they know the difference between filling the pits in and grinding them out. The squareness of the castings can be easily lost by a chromer trying to grind out pits.
https://customplatingspecialist.com/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2UvAsBsJ8kplOJoYoinVGK w0-tk89lVo9xjo_Odi2RJhTMCAw3HerXo-g_aem_2h0wHO0NC-xbxE7mAmaUTg

[Barry Wolk]

Rick:
Here are the recommended forum vendors
https://www.markiiforum.com/showthread.php?976-Vendors-of-Mark-II-Parts-and-Services
I think Barry Wolk may have replated some of his things by himself. Just depends your interest/skill level.

I only do zinc-plating like that used on many Mark II copper and steel tubing and fittings. It's very soft. Chrome plating is far more dangerous, health-wise, so I don't do it.

There's a lot to plating automotive chrome. Anyone can dip parts into tanks of chemicals and electricity, but the real work is in the prep. Yes, big pits must be filled with copper and sanded smooth before re-plating can begin. This is the step many tips overdo, leading to "fat" parts that just don't fit anymore. Door handle pushbuttons are a great example of one part needing to fit inside another.

At the last minute before sending the Ruxton to Pebble I found out that the hub caps were not fitting in the metal hubs. The hubs had been plated with way too much copper and the caps would not snap in. I found out how hard chrome really is.

32239

32240

[Rickv]

Thanks for the great info guys .Since I'm on a bit of a budget , I've devised a bit of a plan .I removed the handles and locks and sanded the bubbles out as much as possible. Then I polished the crap out of them . While not perfect in any way , shape or form , I think I can live with them for now . Just gotta figure out some kind of clear to protect them from tarnishing . I'll post some pics soon . Thanks again for the advice and info .

[Barry Wolk]

You might luck out and find the casting is made of stainless steel. If you have a shop where they can de-chrome it you should be able to refinish and polish it to a similar appearance. If you've ground through the chrome, nickel and copper and now you have a spot that stays rust-free, that would be a good alternative.

I have the original blueprint for the handle and under material it's partially missing, but reads. "NLESS". I'm going to assume that the underlying metal is Stainless Steel.

[Graham Rollo]

Would say stainless steel or maybe a brass casting, they are not made from steel

[Rickv]

Hi Graham , I'm pretty sure they are cast iron . They have pits and stainless doesn't pit . On mine ther was a chrome layer , a nickle layer and copper over the cast iron .I stripped them with 80 grit ,and worked through the grits up to 1000 . They look alot better than they did but far from perfect . But in California , I'm guessing it would be at least 5 to 700 bucks a handle . The locks are made out of the same stuff so I did them also . If I can figure how to post pictures I will .

[Roger Zimmermann]

You most probably mean "pot metal". Iron would rust but not get pittings. With maybe some exceptions, all door handles from all manufacturers are made with pot metal.

[Graham Rollo]

Not cast iron, as a magnet would stick. On mine magnet does not stick, they also feel to hard to be potmetal

[Barry Wolk]

Not cast iron, as a magnet would stick. On mine magnet does not stick, they also feel to hard to be potmetal

Agreed, however there a few grades of stainless that are magnetic, but none rust. There are others that do stain, but they don't rust, but they do pit from contaminates in the metal. The blueprint shows that they are stainless. Likely polished and flash-chromed like the rest of the stainless on the car. Don't know why this would be different.

I've had several off of cars and they have the heft of steel, not aluminum or pot metal.