How to Restore a Radiator Cover?

[BLB27]

How can I "restore" the radiator cover on my 1927 coupe?

[DanTreace]

The original nickel plate is in overall good shape. The tiny bumps and bruises are just character of age.

Would just lovely hand polish this shell and replace the fabric welting. My go - to liquid metal polish found useful on nickel is Noxon. Others will chime in on other brands of metal polishes.

[jiminbartow]

Meguiar’s rubbing compound is not only the best rubbing compound there is for bringing paint to a mirror shine but is also the best metal polish I know of. You can gently tap that dent out of your shell from the back with a small hammer. See how Meguiar’s did on my 1926 coupe. It does the same thing with nickel plating. Jim Patrick

[Scott_Conger]

Jim is right, the dent can be taken out, but because you are asking, I would send it to a body shop which is expert at metal finishing. They will have the polished dollies and the proper hammers (properly prepped) and the knowledge as to how to take the dent out. Simply taking a hammer to it when you never have done this work will lead to tears.

Once someone has mastered the technique, there is a remarkable amount of work that can be done that the average body shop simply skims a layer of bondo over. In this case it needs to be done once and done right since there is no working the plated side, and that makes technique more important than ever. If it was a sheet metal panel, this is the kind of dent that can be slapped down with a dinging/slapping spoon and dolly, but doubt that the plating would particularly appreciate that. I replaced every bit of the lower 6" of my runabout and finished the body with no bondo...but that was with the ability to work both sides of the metal (no plating wo worry about).

Make this your first project, or send to the wrong shop and you'll be buying a new shell. Choose wisely and keep your fingers crossed.

[John.Zibell]

If you can't find anyone local, this business did an excellent job on the shell for my 1926. https://gravesplating.com/

[Joe Bell]

I think the plating looks really good yet, use a gentle polishing compound on it, if you get an aggressive compound and it will take the nickel off, I know from experiance on that one, with a buffer! Do it by hand!

[jiminbartow]

Scott is right. If you hammer out the dent yourself, don’t used the cheap, rough body work dollies and hammers. The body working tools must have polished faces if you don’t want the rough tool faces and scratches of the cheap tools to be transferred to the nickeled plating. Some folks use leather as a backing on the face of the piece to prevent the transference of scratches, but if you use leather, you must be most precise in the light blows to the dent from the back. Jim Patrick

[Oldav8tor]

Google "paintless dent removal" - there are guys out there that specialize in removing small dents without damaging the paint or plating. I had a fellow do my Model T. He removed about 20 little dings and a crease in the hood. Poof! They just disappeared!

[Allan]

Treasure that radiator shell. They don't come that good too often these days. Don't rely on being able to buy a new one either. They never made brass ones as far as i know. They made the high steel ones the same as the low ones without the flared sides, so they never fitted anyway.

If the plating is damaged in any repairs, replating will involve much more work and hundreds of dollars in costs. The last one I had done was north of 800 dollars.

Allan from down under.

[TRDxB2]

Since its nickle plated brass like a trumpet .... clean it up and see if there is a Musical Instrument repair shop nearby, that take dents out of metal! I'm sure they would enjoy the oppertunity. And may recommend a plating service. Dent repair shops work on steel and some aluminum - so be cautious.

[Henry K. Lee]

WARNING WARNING WARNING!

I will say this, be careful of bad advice, no disrespect to anyone posting here but do not give any advice unless you know the facts in metal forming. I was the guy always getting stuck with the crap others screwed up, and what a mess. Flat sheet plated brass does not like to be hit with a hammer! We press it back by using a thick raw hide on the shinning side and a hardwood profile block from the non seen side. with a very good controlled hydraulic or manual press. With the right guy it can be repaired and not even mother will know. Read up on it!

I am retired now or I would offer,

Hank

[Scott_Conger]

Hank I always enjoy learning from your posts

are all of the nickle plated shells brass? It never occured to me yesterday that it would be. I guess I've only seen the repros which were steel. If it is in fact brass, then yes, hammers/dollies will simply stretch/wreck it. Glad you weighed in!

[TRDxB2]

Hank I always enjoy learning from your posts

are all of the nickle plated shells brass? It never occured to me yesterday that it would be. I guess I've only seen the repros which were steel. If it is in fact brass, then yes, hammers/dollies will simply stretch/wreck it. Glad you weighed in!

"ALL" is an elusive word. Some reconditioned may have been chromed, as noted the old Forum posts. Steel is usually chromed.

[ModelTWoods]

Hank I always enjoy learning from your posts

are all of the nickle plated shells brass? It never occured to me yesterday that it would be. I guess I've only seen the repros which were steel. If it is in fact brass, then yes, hammers/dollies will simply stretch/wreck it. Glad you weighed in!

Scott, Every nickle plated 26-27 radiator shell that I've ever had and that is a few (have 3 at present), was brass with nickle plating. It is my understanding that Ford changed to brass material for economy reasons, to take a step out of the plating process. If he had stayed with steel (as he did on the black painted shells) he would have had to plate the steel shell with copper and then, nickle. By going to brass base material, I think he could just plate nickle over brass, but I could be wrong. Also, all 26-27 shells, steel or brass, that I have had, had round holes for the lacing and not the earlier rectangular holes.

[John Codman]

Since its nickle plated brass like a trumpet .... clean it up and see if there is a Musical Instrument repair shop nearby, that take dents out of metal! I'm sure they would enjoy the oppertunity. And may recommend a plating service. Dent repair shops work on steel and some aluminum - so be cautious.

I was going to say pretty much the same thing. It's not steel or aluminum; modern auto body shops have little or no experience working on brass. A musical instrument shop does.

[BLB27]

I should have included these two photos in my original post.

[DanTreace]

Bruce

Your first post was to 'restore' with quotes. Took that as you may have wanted to do it yourself to a limited quality.

Now if you want 'show car', then locate a high-quality plating shop that specializes in auto parts. They know the stuff.

The cost won't be low, as repairs are needed on yours. A friend used a source near Ocala and had good results, the shell needed some repairs at the corners, and was very satisfied, was in 2019, $480, quite a deal. I have used SpaceCoast platers near Daytona FL, and they did great finish work and nickel plate on two steering cluster cases and two case caps.

Sent photos via email and they quoted the approx cost in advance. You may be able to do the same with another auto plating shop, sending those close ups of the splits and the few dents. That will help quote. But be prepared to pay for this quality plating, $500- to $1000.

https://www.spacecoast-plating.com/

[Rich Eagle]

If I were going to take those dents out I would make hardwood (Maple is my favorite) forms to fit both inside and outside and C-clamp them together (tight). Or with a press. That is less shock that hammering.
I do appreciate those who enjoy the charm of it as it is. Maybe it's on the wrong car.
Rich

[Allan]

That dent/scratch on the right hand side will not simply press out. In my experience, it will require careful pecking out from behind to get it in shape. Then it may require silver solder to fill the scratch. Block sanding with fine grade wet rubbing paper will get it back to flat, showing any low spots as you go. Then it would require re-plating. If you don''t want it fully restored, just stay with the suggestion to press out the dents, polish it up and live with the flaws. You are indeed fortunate to have a shell in such great shape. Most have suffered badly with ill fitting hoods, so much so that much of the section in which the lacing is threaded has been worn through at the shoulder.

By the way, our Canadian sourced sourced cars I have never found a brass shell with round lacing holes. All mine have had the square slots.

Allan from down under.

[BLB27]

I decided to not remove any dents or other blemishes. I sensed that was what a number of the responders would have done.

I used Jim Patrick's recommended Meguiar's polish to hand clean the outside surfaces and Turtle Wax heavy duty rubbing compound for the interior surfaces, followed by the Meguiar's polish.

I liked the results as shown in the attached photos. Sorry, several had to be rotated to get them attached.


























pa

[BLB27]

I want to clarify my second sentence. It should have been: I sensed that was what a number of the responders thought also; that is, leave them.

[jiminbartow]

I still think you can take the majority of that deep dent out so it is not so prominent. I would place it front side down on a smooth piece of wood and from behind, using a broad, rounded piece of wood, gently rub the dent out by applying pressure to the high point of the dent. As the dent is smoothed out, the high point will spread out. Continue working th expanded high point until there is no high point. Do this by applying pressure with your hand. No hammer. Brass is very soft and unforgiving. Stop if you get uncomfortable and continue at another time when have built up your confidence. No hurry. Jim Patrick