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Chrome fittings

Posted: March 16th, 2021, 4:26 pm
by PossiblyPaul
One of the 'to dos' since effectively losing six months of maintenance time is sorting out the various chromed fittings on my 2827; this is the sort of thing which has happened (over the years, doubtless) to various fittings, including throttle controls:
IMG_0650[27950].jpg

That's the soap dish from the forward cabin; chrome on aluminium, or steel, has flaked and separated. I'm going to take my hand-drill with a wire brush to it, and probably paint it or something, but before I do, wonder whether this is a common thing, commonly resolved. Throttle controls are notoriously pricey.

Here's the Question: is it possible - and worth the time and expense - to try to repair and polish up these items, or just dump them and buy new? If there's a quick, relatively easy way of fixing the issue, I'd rather not spend my pension on expensive replacements. It's whisky money, after all.

Re: Chrome fittings

Posted: March 16th, 2021, 5:45 pm
by waybomb
I don't think you'll "fix" that no matter what you do. EBay is your friend. Items such as soap dishes do not need to be listed as marine. I bet you can find one on ebay for less than 10 bucks. Stainless or plastic will last a very long time.

Re: Chrome fittings

Posted: March 17th, 2021, 9:10 am
by g36
I think that one may be done for. I like to keep original stuff but sometimes just got to replace with new. :-D

Re: Chrome fittings

Posted: March 17th, 2021, 9:21 am
by PossiblyPaul
Yes, think you're both right. Oh, well. No Lagavulin for a week or so...

Re: Chrome fittings

Posted: March 17th, 2021, 9:24 am
by waybomb
An Islay person!
Love the smoke.. My cabinet has Lagavulin, Laphroaig, and a few different Ardbegs.

Re: Chrome fittings

Posted: March 17th, 2021, 11:15 am
by Midnightsun
I have to agree with the others, I call that dead meat. Possible with a gentle glass bead blaster and a good coat of epoxy paint, it could be salvaged however it would be a rather mat finish as the corrosion blemishes will definitely come through the paint.

Re: Chrome fittings

Posted: March 17th, 2021, 12:30 pm
by Phrancus
I have something like plastic or aluminium strainers in the sink. Completely worn with such barnacles on it. No way I'm ever going to find replacements for those.

So I'll probably clean and sand them back into shape and spray them with some waterproof paint.

Re: Chrome fittings

Posted: March 17th, 2021, 7:04 pm
by bud37
Sometimes ya just gotta let em go.... :-D

I will say though there are some older deck fittings like the water /fuel/pumpout that were chromed heavy brass.....they come up real nice after you sand the chrome off then polish the brass.....really adds a nice touch.

Re: Chrome fittings

Posted: March 17th, 2021, 7:11 pm
by PossiblyPaul
bud37 wrote:Source of the post Sometimes ya just gotta let em go.... :-D

... some older deck fittings like the water /fuel/pumpout that were chromed heavy brass.....they come up real nice after you sand the chrome off then polish the brass.....really adds a nice touch.


Have to agree there. I inherited some old instruments in my last boat (a Fisher25) which revealed beautiful brass after a bit of work. If only my throttles on the Carver were brass under the flakey chrome...
waybomb wrote:Source of the post An Islay person!
Love the smoke.. My cabinet has Lagavulin, Laphroaig, and a few different Ardbegs.

Good man. Luckily, my bottle of Laphroaig on board remains untouched and shall remain so until launched again. Not the case with the one in front of me here at my desk, though.

Re: Chrome fittings

Posted: March 17th, 2021, 8:17 pm
by Viper
Ya if you blast that thing it'll only reveal a bunch of deep crevasses. It can be repaired and re-chromed as it's done all the time for antique cars, boats, bikes, etc. but it's a costly venture and only worth it if you have deep pockets and truly want to bring her back to her original looks in every detail. There is a place for that but I wouldn't be doing it for a boat of that vintage as I don't think it'd hold it's value or appreciate much to recover costs. It'd be different if it were a collector's type vessel of the early 1900's though. There are some Muskoka style gentlemen's racers up here that would just blow you away with the amount of detail and restoration that was put into them. Huge bucks, but you can't have a multi million dollar cottage on Lake Muskoka and have a cookie cutter boat on your dock without at least one of these too. It's all about bragging rights ya know ;-)