Stripping/welding chrome plated steel

[JonB]

Hi guys,

I need to modify a chrome plated steel air cleaner base. It's relatively thin material (16-18ga). Is there a way to get the chrome off the thing easily, i.e. chemical stripper vs grinding it off?

I assume welding through chrome is a bad thing. I can imagine the fumes that would be generated would be fairly nasty.

[Tinker]

I had to do a similar project a short time ago. We lost the air cleaner off our sand rail out in the dunes and had to settle for one with a smaller neck and a bit of duct tape ;^)

I ended up cutting off the old neck, rolling a new one out of sheet and welding it onto the air cleaner base. To remove the chrome from the weld area I hit it with a fine (120) flap wheel. The plating came off real easy and the job turned out great after a bit of paint to cover the weld area.

Tinker

[JonB]

Thanks tinker. My project is actually dropping the base a little more so the thing will fit under my hood. I've got a very tall intake/carb setup and the motor needs over 150 sq/in of filter area.

I'll probably start cutting up the base I have tonight.