has anyone had their blower vent cowlings re chromed or polished up. not sure what the coat is on mine, but they're looking a little ragged. the silver is coming off where the hose attaches and the part above the deck is a little pitted. i was going to take them to a metal re-finishing place here in NJ, but it's a shot in the dark since i've never had to do this before. any suggestions welcome.
i looked at just getting new ones. which are cheap at $40 each, but the bottom plates of the new ones are all plastic, which i don't like.
I'm in NJ and would like to do the same thing! I understand, however, that to re-chrome something is very expensive. Probably several hundred to do those two little cowl vents. I never investigated it but would be interested in what you find.
I wonder if anyone has tried painting them, white or chrome paint. Think paint would last for years.
Jim
I used to polish them up. Then the Admiral said, "Why bother?" They are now dull, but still solid. Nothing wrong with plastic if it's thick enough.
Quote from: Stu Jackson on October 18, 2018, 07:06:07 AM
I used to polish them up. Then the Admiral said, "Why bother?" They are now dull, but still solid. Nothing wrong with plastic if it's thick enough.
my aren't just dull though, they have like pock marks, which is pretty unsightly. i'll try to post a picture
Quote from: Roc on October 18, 2018, 05:02:30 AM
I'm in NJ and would like to do the same thing! I understand, however, that to re-chrome something is very expensive. Probably several hundred to do those two little cowl vents. I never investigated it but would be interested in what you find.
yeah, that's what i'm afraid of. there's a place in asbury park that looks like they have walk-in's on saturday's. i was going to stop and check it out. if it's going to cost more then $100, it's probably not worth it. at which point i'll try to fix it myself either through polish or paint. worst case if it looks terrible i'll replace them
mdid : Sometime cadmium plating or galvanizing might be cheaper than chrome.
A thought
My cowl vents we're looking really shabby for years so I finally took them off and took them to a chrome shop that specializes in mostly hotrod and Harley chrome. They did the set for $80 and it was totally worth it, they look brand new now. The only issue I have is that I was unable to re-attach the hose to the underside of the cowl vent, I simply cannot reach the underside of the cowl vent where the hose attaches. Any suggestions?
I have a 93 M1.5
QuoteI simply cannot reach the underside of the cowl vent where the hose attaches. Any suggestions?
Can you feed the hose through the hole, attach it outside the boat, then put the vent on with the hose already attached.
Jim
Thats what I was hoping but that was a no go. The flex hose with clamp is bigger that the hole, there is very little clearance when putting the cowl back in the hole.
Dave
QuoteThe flex hose with clamp is bigger that the hole
Can you use a little tape, good duct tape or electircal tape. Or try to borrow a Clamptite tool. I bought one at a boat show a few years ago and find a use for it a couple of times a year. FWIW not to replace hose clamps. Should be fine for blower hose.
https://clamptitetools.com/
Jim
Go to your local sign shop and see if the have a piece of chrome wrap or or some silver vinyl that you can
buy and cover them with that.
mdid: Did you go to the place in Asbury Park? Wondering what the fee is....
Quote from: Roc on November 05, 2018, 05:27:55 AM
mdid: Did you go to the place in Asbury Park? Wondering what the fee is....
No, sorry, i haven't been yet. Things got in the way.
Just an update, i finally made it up to the chrome place and dropped off my parts. i elected to just have them strip the chrome/nickel off and not have them rechromed. the pitting is a little more then i expected, but a quick push through the buffer wheel seems like they'll clean up good. here's pics just after the stripping. the fuel vent has about 5mins of polishing done
last followup. the polishing seems to have gone semi-well. i'm no pro, so there's some scratches, but it's polished enough for me. i definitely like the bronze look more then the chrome. so stripping the chrome was a good call (at least for me)
Interesting approach however, I will guess they will oxidize and turn green in a few weeks once installed. That is the reason bronze hardware is chrome plated.
I like it!
mine need doing - just the two blower vent cowls.
Did you make a template to put around the installed fittings so that you can polish them (like the Button Polishing brass plates we used in the military (early 60s)
Paul
mdid : Try spraying some clear gloss polyurethane varnish one them. That's what I do to all my brass to keep it from oxidizing and corroding.
A thought
Quote from: Noah on May 25, 2019, 06:47:29 PM
Interesting approach however, I will guess they will oxidize and turn green in a few weeks once installed. That is the reason bronze hardware is chrome plated.
i actually like that green patina look more then the chrome everything look. i also like how i can polish up bronze with a little brasso in 2 mins
Quote from: britinusa on May 26, 2019, 07:44:32 AM
mine need doing - just the two blower vent cowls.
Did you make a template to put around the installed fittings so that you can polish them (like the Button Polishing brass plates we used in the military (early 60s)
i'm presuming you mean, template around the fitting as if it were still installed on the boat. the answer is no. my vents were leaking, so i've pulled them from the boat, cleaned up the holes and will reseal with butyl. since they're off it was no big deal to throw them against a buffing wheel. took maybe two hours for all the parts i have
I believe he is talking about a shield to go around them when you polish them (which you will need to do continually unless coated) to keep polish debris/stains off the gelcoat and deck nonskid. The shields (templates) are removed after polishing. I assume in the case of brass buttons, that keeps the uniform coat's fabric clean.
Same concept as this device. Placed around a button while applying brasso - keeps it off the uniform.