De-Chroming with Muriatic Acid

I needed some flat steel to transition from the 1″ wheel archs on the Lotus 7 chassis to the 3/4″ tubes behind the seat back bulkhead.  I thought “washers would work great” only, you really shouldn’t weld chrome.

An hour immersed in Muriatic Acid, and now they are de-chromed.

I wonder if the acid might be a bad thing when welding….