Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Plus Four, Supersport & Plus Six (CX & CXV Generation Vehicles) Hexagon wheel spinners

I intend to fit a freshly powder coated black set of wire wheels on my plus four but regret that my spinners would look tatty as chrome is not perfect. Unfortunately It is not possible to re chrome these locally. However I wonder whether anyone has ever removed the chrome to get them in brass finish. How is it possible to remove chrome without inflicting damage. Thanks

Apparently immersion in concentrated hydrochloric acid is the recommended method for removal of chrome from brass, bronze, copper and nickel. Once you are back to brass some machine polishing will likely be needed. It will then require lacquering to lock in the shine. I used Incralac a navy approved finish for long lasting effect on a narrowboat I owned.

A few owners on here have posted cars with brass centre nuts / spinners, they look rather nice...the daft thing is MMC actually charge more for brass than chrome

thank you for your reply. Is hydrochloride acid the same as toilet cleaner. I presume they would need to be submerged and if you have done this May I ask how long does it take for the chrome to strip off the spinners.

If you have a local chroming co they may strip it for free, because in effect they get your chrome (the expensive bit) for free left behind in the tank

Hi, brass ones are not that expensive Probably easier to just buy new ones .

I think Holden's do them they added quite a bit of Morgan kit when they were dealers.

Concentrated Hydrochloric acid is also brick acid that is cheaply available from your local builders merchant by the gallon. Got to be worth a try but wear rubber gloves or great pain could come your way!
Hydrochloric acid will also eat brass so I suggest a 50/50 mix with water to start with and remove from the solution as soon as the chrome has been removed. You can always add more acid if the chrome doesn't dissolve at first.
Remember ACID TO WATER = ALL'S WELL. WATER TO ACID = WELL AWAY! Using warm water should speed up the reaction time but keep an eye on any brass being removed along with the chrome.
Personally I like the look of the brass spinners, especially with black spoked wheels.

Quite a few people have replaced theirs with knock on spinners, so there should be a lot knocking about.Quite some while ago, Williams had second hand ones available or you could try a wanted advert on this TM site.

I understand hydrochloric acid will only dissolve the zinc from brass not the copper. It's a relatively slow process and only involves the surface, hence considered a safe(ish) way to remove chrome. I would protect the internal threaded parts though. With timely removal from acid, a good rinse with soap and water and a machine polish you should have shiny brass finish. I would be tempted to use dedicated as on image link below. Frosts also sell Incralac.