1957 rear fender trim

[57CaddyBiarritz]

Does anyone know if the rear fender trim is supposed to be chrome or polished stainless?  For some reason I think it's stainless but the bumper that it slides under is chrome... Thanks.

[Jon S]

Polished stainless

[57eldoking]

I believe they were just polished stainless from the factory. One option today would be to have them polished and then flash chromed which will make the finishes as close as possible.

[Ralph Messina CLC 4937]

Jon is correct that it's stainless, however it's flash chromed so that the color matches the rear bumper. Flash chrome - somethimes called hard chrome -  is different than the triple plate used on regular steel. The process that does not have the nickel- coppper base.

HTH,
Ralph

[Jon S]

I could never figure out why they would place stainless steel next to a chrome bumper.  Probably had to do with corrosion from road salt, etc, but they used mainly sand back in the 1950's.  However, correct finish is polished stainless steel.

[57CaddyBiarritz]

Thanks, you guys are good.  So do I need to remove the flash chrome first and then polish or can I polish the stainless as is (trying to make a show winner here)?

[Quentin Hall]

I don't believe those pieces where flash chromed originally. That is why they have a different sheen than the chrome bumpers. Take them to your Plater or polisher first as a precaution. Perhaps ask to De chrome . That'll only take a minute to decide if it has flash chrome or not and is a quick process to carry out.  The rest is polishing. I've always loved polished stainless better than chrome.
Every time I've seen stainless flash chromed during restoration , I've seen later issues with it peeling or cracking.

[Ralph Messina CLC 4937]

John,

Quentin makes a good point about having a plater determine if there’s any chrome on the surface. Sometimes these piece have been worked over in the past.

If you just have a dull surface, you can buff it up on a sewn wheel and fine white rouge.

If you have noticeable scratches in the surface you’ll need a courser rouge and a sisal wheel. This combination will burn through the flash chrome in order to remove the scratch. You then have to use the fine wheel and rouge to polish the area. Even though the surface will have a mirror shine, the area may have a slight gray or brownish cast to it where the base stainless was exposed. Depending on size area and location you may or may not have to have the part flash chromed.  If you do have the item plated, be certain that it’s single plated with chrome only. My experience with triple plate on stainless has not been good. There’s a lot of flaking problems.

The color issue with polished stainless is a function of the stainless alloy. I did  trim restoration for a ’61 Corvette and all the pieces had the same “color” after stripping the chrome and polishing. The pieces I did for both my ’66 Cadillacs had colors ranging from brownish to grayish These parts were adjacent to one another or triple plated pot metal pieces and were obviously different in sun light. I had to have all the stainless pieces flash chromed for uniformity.

If you have dents or wrinkles, you may want to consider having the metal finishing done professionally. It requires a fairly sophisticated level of skill and experience to achieve a show level finish. Stainless does not respond to hammers and files like body panel sheet steel. It work hardens and is prone to crack. To repair a crack will require about a half inch high pile of money.

HTH,
Ralph

[Quentin Hall]

There is one more thing to consider. There are different grades of stainless. High grade stainless is non magnetic. Lesser grades are. Also flash chrome is magnetic. This should help pre determining.
If your 57 Eldo is like every other one I have seen , then the leading Lower edge will be curb damaged or gravel rash pitted. This area will require a professional's skill to make perfect.

[David King (kz78hy)]

The parts when new were flash chromed.  The master parts list indicates Chr. for those parts.

David

[Quentin Hall]

I'm not so certain that all stainless was flash chromed. I have plenty of unplated trim. My 59 Eldo windshield trim was for sure. But many other bits not.
The parts manual might use the term "chrome" generically. I still believe the rear quarter pieces on the 57 was polished stainless. That's why they look like stainless and not chrome.

[57CaddyBiarritz]

Thanks for all the great feedback.  Note I did put a magnet on the trim and it stuck so I assume that means it's flash chromed?  Will muriatic acid remove this or is that too risky?

[Quentin Hall]

Take it to the chrome shop. I would not use muriatic acid. Get it removed electrolytically.

[Roger Zimmermann]

The rear fender trim from my '57 Brougham was polished during the restoration. The flash crome process is unknown in Switzerland; there is definitively a different color between the chromed rear bumper and the fender trim. Therefore, I'm almost sure that all those large stainless pieces where flash chromed initially, just for the look.

[Jon S]

I seriously doubt they were flash chromed.  If you look at any 1957/1958 Sales Brochure you can see a very distinct difference between the back bumper (deeper) and the stainless rear trim (lighter).  This is why I made the comment above "I could never figure out why they would place stainless steel next to a chrome bumper.  Probably had to do with corrosion from road salt, etc, but they used mainly sand back in the 1950's.  However, correct finish is polished stainless steel."

I remember commenting to my dad in 1957 how dumb the Eldorado looked with the two different colored silvers when I saw them new in the showroom.

[Quentin Hall]

Let us know what your Plater/ polisher says. I've got some repairs to do on one of my Biarritz quarters and will be interested to hear the verdict. I'm still in the "not flash chromed" camp on these pieces.