While my car is in the shop gettin painted, im cleaning all the chrome and trim and cleaning it up. some of the trim is kind of dull and some of the chrome has a film over the pieces that i can take off with steal wool, but it takes a loooong time.. any tips for getting brilliance in the dull trim and getting the tough film off the chrome
I use the Gojo Orange hand cleaner for the heavy spots, it gets all the grime off really well. From there it's just chrome polish, or 000 steel wool. After that I'll use Magic Cotton Wadding for a real nice shine, used to use it on my brass on my uniform before they came out with the stay-brite stuff.
0000 is best ,000 will scratch some chrome, try 0000 with liquid cleaner wax. For bad film on chrome, acid works well, wire-wheel cleaner is great ,coke-pepsi is OK Polish trim with metal polish,2-3 steps if bad(course, med, fine)or paste followed by a wadding/liquid type
I've got some rust pitting on my Rally wheels that won't come off. The 0000 worked really nice to get the 3 yr . old Katrina gook off yet the rust remains
Like the blue tube WENOL for all the trim that is stainless. Wenol stopped making the blue though, so it's now with the red tube only. Works very, very well with very little elbow grease. Don't know about cleaning your chrome though. Some good suggestions here though. Jim
thanks for the tips guys. so this is what i found out from the above tips, chrome cleaniers really didnt help with the grime, it was 40yrs thick on the tailight housings so i went the acid route, tried vinegar...didnt work tried coke...didnt work used some jasco :beers2: !!!!! did the trick. cut right through the grime and overspray from the last paint job, then used some never dull wadding and my chrome parts are super shiny. the aluminum, on the other hand is more difficult, some of it is really faded and dull. I dont know how to approach these, unless i take some layers off??? any tips??
maybe its stainless steel, im not sure though....how can i tell? it the trim around the windows and the bottom of the car, wheel wells also.
Stainless trim items you have mentioned....need to be removed. You need to use a 1/2 hp buffer on a mounted stand and some white rouge to polish the stainless to a mirror-like shine.
would an old shoe buffer do the same trick? theres one in my garage so... it's a possibility... o No: I could mount it with the vise... hmm... :idea2: maybe I'll try it on some pieces not belonging to my buick...
Yes, the trim is stainless. I start with 1000 grit sandpaper, work my way up to 2000 grit, and finish with a Mothers polishing head on a drill with Mothers metal cleaner....they will look like new. The 1000 grit removes most of the scratches, the 2000 grit smoothis it out and the polish gives it a mirror finish. I have restored some very badly scratched moldings, and you would never know it when I'm done...they look better than new. It does take alot of elbow grease, though.
1000, 1500, 2000. By hand, unfortunately. An electric sander oscillates and leaves swirls. You have to sand the length of the molding, not crosswise, if you get what I mean. For starters, try it with the 2000 grit to get a feel for it. It does take a bit of practice, but you wont do anything that can't be undone. Good Luck.
jasco is a stripper/acid that removes paint and other stuff. Kind of like industrial strength paint remover. almost like a jelly. you can get it at any local hardware store. Really strong stuff, even took off the baked on paint from my headlight moldings. Keep it off your skin, really burns.
Nothing looks worse than dull chrome and trim on new paint. You gotta polish the stainless and rechrome the chrome!
