[Gill]

I need to repair chrome mudguard on motorcycle. It has rust pitting and dents(Small and medium).The mudguard to old and I will get them re chromed after the repair.
I have read about dry ice, Heating the affected area and use wooden hammer, fill the bondo/putty/filler in dents.
Which is the better way to remove the dents and salvage the part.

[nomadabhi]

Originally Posted by Gill

I need to repair chrome mudguard on motorcycle. It has rust pitting and dents(Small and medium).The mudguard to old and I will get them re chromed after the repair.
I have read about dry ice, Heating the affected area and use wooden hammer, fill the bondo/putty/filler in dents.
Which is the better way to remove the dents and salvage the part.

AFAIK, Wooden hammer is most commonly used. Then followed by putty, primer, levelling and paint.

I dont think so that you will be able to use chrome on it after this process.
If the dents are too small they are hard to get equalized and with chrome, it may still be visible.

I wanted an original front Mud gaurd for my RD and the one I found had corrosion issue. So got it filled, putty and paint. Using it since last 4 years without any problem.

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by Gill

I need to repair chrome mudguard on motorcycle. It has rust pitting and dents(Small and medium).

Originally Posted by nomadabhi

I wanted an original front Mud gaurd for my RD and the one I found had corrosion issue. So got it filled, putty and paint. Using it since last 4 years without any problem.

Gill & Nomad,
My 2 cents around repairing a chrome mudguard
1) Observe the dents as to how deep they are. if they are an off pit ignore them and you can use copper brazing to fill in the small pits
2) Regarding Rust, suggest you to thoroughly clean the metal with a 0 or 1 sepc sand paper to observe how deep they are. If they are too deep there would be no ray of hope but to cut the part and use another piece to weld it back in place. Would appear as a bandage and would not be a great looker but will do the job if you do not care about the looks.

Probably if you put in a snap would be able to pass my comments even better. Suggest these only if you are working on old stuff or restoring else its not worth the pain/effort/time/money spent on it. Simply go ahead and buy a new one.


Else as Nomad suggested you can go ahead and paint them to the color of your choice

[Gill]

Paint is not an option, It's a restoration. I thought of welding/soldering bronze onto the low areas, sand them later to level with surface.Get it plated.
@Nomad, Why it can't be chromed?

[SunnyBoi]

Anything with bondo/putty/filler cannot be chromed.

[Rennjit]

Consider silver solder (lead alloy) instead of brazing (copper based) to fill up pits. But it might not work for building up holes. Mostly used in radiator repairs, its low melting point makes easy to apply & finish off.
'Bosni' has chrome finish spray cans but haven't seen it applied.

[Gill]

With Silver solder, re chrome is possible?

[Gill]

I have uploaded picture for reference.

[Rennjit]

^ ah, my bad . pl read my prev post as "Consider silver solder (non- lead alloy) instead of..."
Chrome holds to silver solder but pl clarify with your plating shop, mostly they'll prefer copper base. lead ruins job, sorry if i created confusion. it looks like an RD m'gd ?

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by Gill

I have uploaded picture for reference.

Gill,
My hunch is this is a front mudguard from a Yam 350 US Spec. Rusts do not appear to be too deep, would suggest you to run the mudguard through sand paper to remove the surface rust. Once done you can get it tapped by your local tinker as i do not see any cuts or damages. they should even out nicely.
Once done go in for electro plating after you have done a copper base so that the chrome would be a lasting one.
You can see my garage where my 350 has been restored to match the US Spec.
Since i smell something fishy may i take the liberty to ask a question around this thread? Are you trying to rebuild/restore a 350?

[ArizonaJim]

@ Gill
In order to chrome plate your mudguard it cannot have any non-metallic substance like Bondo on it.

Chrome plating is applied from a solution using electricity so everything must be electrically conductive.

The very best chrome plating is done by first electroplating the part with copper. This is then electroplated with nickle and finally with chrome.
Thicker chrome plating is best but if it is applied too thickly it will sometimes chip or flake off. Your plating company should know what is the best thickness.

Some plating companies will apply the chrome plating directly to a steel part without the copper or nickle but if this is done it will not adhere as well. This is the cheapest method but you get what you pay for.

Directly plating with nickle and then applying the finish chrome plating over that is better but nickle also is prone to chipping and if it does it will carry away the chrome with it.

As you noticed, plating with copper is the first step in a good chrome plating so using a copper, brass or bronze braze alloy to fill low areas would be compatible with this plating.
Because copper, brass or bronze braze requires temperatures in the bright red hot temperature range it may be difficult to control distortion caused by the heat.
If you go this route, find someone who is VERY experienced with this sort of work.
A beginner will mess up more than he will fix.

Perhaps your best (and easiest) bet is to check out the motorcycle wrecking/recycling companies and try to buy a mudguard that is in better condition for a low price and then have it replated.

[Gill]

Brass as a filler seems like good option. After it layer of copper. Thanks for input!
Search is on for good electro plater!

[ku69rd]

So Mr Gill, would you wanna divulge more details around which bike you are restoring? Looking forward for more details/pictures.

[BulZire]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Gill,
My hunch is this is a front mudguard from a Yam 350 US Spec. Rusts do not appear to be too deep, would suggest you to run the mudguard through sand paper to remove the surface rust. Once done you can get it tapped by your local tinker as i do not see any cuts or damages. they should even out nicely.
Once done go in for electro plating after you have done a copper base so that the chrome would be a lasting one.
You can see my garage where my 350 has been restored to match the US Spec.
Since i smell something fishy may i take the liberty to ask a question around this thread? Are you trying to rebuild/restore a 350?

Will the sand paper remove the surface rust clearly ? if so is there a way to use it or just the rubbing would do?

I too have rusts here and there in crash guard and sliencer, should need to remove it somehow.

heard of some rust removing powder in hardware stores ? is it true ?, I am not sure though.

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by BulZire

Will the sand paper remove the surface rust clearly ? if so is there a way to use it or just the rubbing would do?

Well mate would advice you to clean it up only if you are looking to re-chrome else there is no need for it. Rust is like a virus which eats into the metal, only possible solution is to atleast contain them by regularly wiping it clean, stay away from water a bit of oil soaking will not do any harm as well.
Regarding the rust removal powder am not quite how well it works. Would await your inputs if you are game to try them.
On the contrary these powders are in business for quite some time and not trust worthy.