i just started a new project and wanted to clean up all my chrome/trim before i store them. i want to do all the mouldings around the windshields and on the doors, tailights, headlight bezels, trim rings etc. anyone have a good suggestion on a good hand polish or system for bringing trim back to life? what about using real fine steel wool?, any special towels?, buffing wheels, stuff like that. any help is appreciated. on a side note, i may be looking for a good rechromer that can straighten my bumper and fix some headlight bezels that have a couple dings on them. any good shops you guys have dealt with? shops in california would be preferable because of shipping cost.
The headlight and tail light trim is anodized, so it's not easy to polish, you have to remove the anodizing first. Some articles talk about spraying them with oven cleaner, but I've never tried it.
I really like Nevr-Dull. But with anything, test it in a small spot to see how it works on the metal you are cleaning/polishing. Its really great for removing oxidation. http://www.nevrdull.com/
Your cars trim is an amalgam of stainless and aluminum.The aluminum parts are as followes: Head light trim rings/bezels Lower trim piece at bottom of windshield/cowl Lower trim piece on rear glass/at trunk lid Tail light bezels/surrounds Note... Some had aluminum trim all around rear glass. The rest is stainless. If you want the stainless to clean up without removing it...Comet clenser or soft scrub bathroom cleaner will work wonders.Just dont get it on the paint. As for the aluminum...If the anodize is good use an aluminum polish like "blue magic" or mothers aluminum wheel polish on it.If the anodize is gone/bad, use rubbing compound and follow with a good aluminum polish.The anodize will come off if you use Easy off or any caustic liquid on it and some heavy scrubbing.The problem is caustic solutions are ...well...caustic and will eat your skin too.Be carefull,Good luck.
Would it be better to use a small buffing wheel in a drill with some sort of polishing compound? I have a dull spotted hood lip molding that needs to be polished to a shine once again.
I would not recommend machine polishing the trim components while on the car(unless you are very experienced) Its too easy to catch the trim edge with the buffer and either mangle the trim or rip up your buffing pad/backing pad. Its time to put a little sweat equity into your ride and get those elbows moving my freind and hand polish them.If they are still ugly afterwards it may be time to remove them and machine polish em with the proper rouge and buffing wheels/buffer.Good luck!!!
madmav, im from san mateo thanx for the help guys, i think ll hit up the local auto parts store in the next couple of days
I used to live in union city, either of you planning on the sept car show? as for polishing aluminum and chrome, i like to use mothers gold. i can usually get both shiny with that once the rough parts are removed. i watched a truck driver make dull aluminum fuel tanks and rims look like chrome using that stuff...
I am in Santa Rosa. I used a shop in Sacramento for my bumper. They did a GREAT job. I will look for the name and number. I also have a "spare" rear bumper that I may sell. It is straight and shiny!
ya know, there was supposed to be one the 12th and 13th in the area. i even took monday off. now i cant even find the stupid link >( hopefully someone else still has it......
A friend of mine has a 64 Fairlane. When they painted his car, he cleaned the trim with denture tablets believe it or not. He just put some denture tablets in water and soaked them a little while, then hand polished. I'm working on some aluminum wheels for our maverick right now. I'm using some Aluminum Brightner, followed by Mother's aluminum polish that I got from the guy doing our paint and body work.
If you are near a truck stop w/ a truck wash or any industrial cleaning place you might be able to get them to use some acid wash on your metal parts. After the acid wash, you can pretty much use whatever you want to shine it up. That is how we make our fuel tanks look like chrome! Of course you can always do it the slow way, but acid washing first is so much quicker.
