Chrome

[JHertzman@xxxxxxx]

In AD7-295 Norm asks whether anyone else has input on chrome making steel
brittle. I am not a metallurgist, but I have heard for decades that "hydrogen
embrittlement" is a consequence of chrome plating. The "chromed" wires on Alfa
1900 road cars I believe had polished alloy rims and stainless steel spokes on
plated steel hubs; the hubs are pretty meaty compared to the rims, and in any
case I would bet that the true "Corsa" versions of those same cars would have
had painted wheels. 

Alan Lambert (in AD7-292) said "Be careful--use only a chroming outfit that
knows about pacifying." I have heard references to "passivating", perhaps the
same thing; my non-technical desk-dictionary includes some metallurgical
subdefinitions under 'passive'.

Leafing around various books and after crawling around various museums my
impression is that wire wheels on Alfa sporting and competition cars were
invariably painted, with the exception of a very few well-known "restored"
examples seen at places like Monterey. 

Parenthetically, Bugattis often had suspension parts which casual observers
assumed were plated, but they were not, at least in properly maintained
examples; they were unpainted polished steel. Legend has it that the Chairman
of the B.O.C., who used his car regularly on weekends, employed a local youth
to wipe the undercarriage with soft cloths from one Sunday to the next
Saturday, full-time, with no other duties.

Cordially,

John H., who dechromed his Giulietta in 1964, discarding the perfect eyebrows
and perfect grill- sigh-  

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