Lemondrop 1962: Hubcaps

Mine look similar. Problem with mine and maybe yours is the chrome  is mostly gone. Try some 00 steel wool. You'll be amazed.

After you remove all of the rust, they will have rust pits into the steel.

They need to be chemically stripped in acid ( done only at a chrome shop), and re-plated at a cost of $200 to $300 for the pair.

Option #2, is to powder coat them in bright silver, cost about $100.

Alas, the overnight vinegar bath did nothing.  Nonetheless, I scrubbed the hubcaps in the vinegar bath using steel wool #00 (SusieQ).  The result is below.

There were some rust spots that wouldn't come out, no matter how hard I scrubbed.  Are these rust pits (John Palmer)?

I'm leaning towards re-chroming.  I read in a previous post that the average cost of chroming decreases with the number of items to be chromed (mobiltek).  If so, what other items on a '62 Shasta Airflyte can be re-chromed?  Light fixtures?  Handle and grip on the door?  Handle and face plate on the stove?

Also, the hubcaps have a few dents near the edge.  I suspect these should be pounded out before re-chroming.  Can I pound these out myself, or is this a job for the pros?

BigBill is correct AGAIN! LOL

If you have any remote thoughts of having the caps re-chromed, DO NOT "pound out the dents"! As Bill said removing dents from thin metal "is an art" that was perfected by the person learning the art destroying tons of parts during the learning process.

They will first remove all the original chrome and existing rust by using an acid dip, to get to the bare steel. Then they will "metal finish" the caps to make them completely smooth. They will use copper plating, and sanding to smooth small dings. If you ever have a chance to look at the back side of an old car bumper that was re-chromed, you will see hundreds of hammer marks that were made to stretch and smooth the metal. It will look like crap on the back, and be completely smooth on the front. Please leave this step up to the pros, it will save them time if you don't mess the caps up before they start.

BigBill and John Palmer are correct. If you want chrome you MUST have chrome applied. By a qualified shop. When we brought Talluah Belle her shiny bits were rusty and nasty. Here are some photos of the 'after' coming home from replating.

Baby moons, Shasta Badge, Bargman Trail Lite and chevron drawer pulls/


Shasta badge installed


(Apologize for the terrible pic quality) Bargman L66 handle mech after installation.
The plating was expensive (it cost more than some people pay for their trailers!) but we went 'all in' on this restoration and rusty, pitted rattlecan silver would negate the hard work we put into making her shine.
This topic has been discussed on this forum before, but I can heartily recommend The Chrome Man in Baton Rouge Louisiana, and I can also say DO NOT give business to Speed and Sport in Houston. Many shops will NOT plate pot metal, and Speed and Sport truly screws the customer because of this. I'll explain offline if anyone is interested.

It's like anything else, "buy once, cry once". We could have settled on a lower quality solution but with the hundreds of hours of labor, the thousands of $$$ we spent to make it look 'right', it would have been a constant aggravating reminder that it just was not all it could be. Who wants that?