Greg Lemon asks:
Does anyone know if a home method to replicate the satin finish on the
Healey 100 Grill?? I had a couple of bent pieces I straightened, but
in
doing so marred the finish a bit. Tried some fine sandpaper, but
finish was
too shiny.
1954 BN1
###
All I could find was this post by Bill Barnett much earlier this year.
Probably doesn't help much... .
DC
###
Allen C Miller, Jr. wrote:
> <snip>
>
> 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.
I'm the second owner of my BN1 which was extremely original when I
purchased it in 1978. It had never had any type of restoration or
replating done, nor any front end damage. IOW it had the original,
from
the factory, satin finish slats.
Around that time I was having much correspondence with John Wheatley
in
the UK about that very subject. He sent me a full size copy of the
blueprint for a 100 grill, "Issued for production 3.6.55" The parts
list on the lower left includes:
14B4568 RADIATOR GRILL. (BRASS SATIN CHROME FINISH - B.S. 1224. -
1953.
Ni 5C).
14B4569 RADIATOR GRILL SURROUND. (BRASS CHROMIUM PLATED & POLISHED -
B.S. 1224. - 1953. Ni 5C).
When neither I or Eric Grunden at Absolutely British in Ontario, CA
could find a suitable plater to replicate it, many hours were spent by
hand cleaning up my original. Good luck.
FWIW
Bill Barnett
'53 BN1 #663
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