With the help of our trusty local chrome plater we have very sucessfully restored 4 engine cases from one of our restoration projects - a 1972 Honda CB750. These parts had been chrome plated somewhere along the way and sure enough, after several years of heat cycling and inevitable corrosion on the aluminum, the chrome started to lift and peel.

The first step was a trip through the chrome folks' tanks, and the plating process was reversed, removing the plating the same way it had been applied - electrically. The resulting parts looked terrible, (sorry no photos!), but no worries, we have a vapor blaster for that. After three passes with the blaster the parts were nearly 'there' but a little more textured than is normal as a result of the vapor blast process. This is a side effect of the plating and deplating process, but even so, they looked tons better. But not quite perfect.

So we took a quick trip to the buffer, and in an hour or less we had all 4 of these parts looking fantastic. One of the great uses for a vapor blasted finish is as a prep stage for polish or other hand finishing, or even clearcoat. With the oxidization and clearcoat removed, polishing is much faster and easier than usual, and it's much easier to get a consistent finish.

And we would be happy to do this for you if you find yourself in the same predicament. For reference on cost, this would typically be about a 2-3 hour vapor blasting project, net ~$200 or so. The trip to the plater and the additional work roughly doubled that number, but that's still a lot more cost effective than replacing these parts with anything that looks this good.

We would be happy to give you a firm quote if you need our help with something like this - please use the vapor blast order form here: http://www.restocycle.com/#!vapor-blasting-order-form/uvmeb and upload a few photos when you do.