Motorcycle Repair: Restoration...Plating a Muffler, honda cl360, twin pipes

Question
Deron,

I'm restoring a '75 Honda CL360. The twin pipes and guards are chromed but the mufflers are black. My problem is that the upper muffler on this model is welded to the pipe while the lower can be separated. Can I plate the muffler and the pipe together or will the plating process damage the muffler? Thanks...!  Mike

Answer
the problem that you will encounter is that the chroming shop may not want to do your exhaust, due to the fact that your pipe has carbon residue on the inside and it contaminates the chromium...if they dont have any issues, then I would have them plate the whole thing as a unit...

nothing will stick to the inside of the muffler because it is not clean, at least nothing of any consequence.