Technical Polishing Chrome

I would like to polish the chrome headlight housings on my 61 imperial with a 6" wheel and white polishing compound but am worried about going thru the chrome. I have done this on other parts in the past. Polishing cream just isnt working well. Any thoughts?

 

White is fine so it won’t cut too fast...are you sure they are chrome or are they stainless?


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True, I certainly have polished chrome in the way he is talking but it requires a gentle touch and only if it’s bad.


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Try Windex and aluminum foil. Worked great for me.

 

Mark, you need to move the decimal point over to .0005 and that is about maximum for decorative chrome plating, it is a bit thicker when hard chrome plating for wear purposes.

 

My '49/'50 shoebox headlight trim rings were chrome plated stainless steel? Once I went through the chrome I had to sand all the chrome off [could see a color difference] and buff the SS, came out very nice. Got no clue why the plating over the SS..

 

You'll get a zillion back yard answers. Be careful. Here's a professional polishing book to get you started.
https://www.caswellplating.com/buffman.htm
Years ago, there was a fine member on the HAMB, English as I recall, POLISHER -who would share his polishing book with anyone. Not sure where my copy is, but perhaps someone could re-post his work. He died of cancer quite a while ago.

 

Here's the original post-can't believe it was 2005. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/updated-metal-polishing-booklet.40511/ In any case, do a search here for posts by Polisher and you'll get the real truth about polishing chrome.

 

Chroming Stainless,
Might be where "Guilding the Lily"
came from.
Chromers talked of 'color' of finish,
Ni, Chr, Polished Al

 

sounds like I need to stick to a cream or paste

 

I cleaned up old bicycle parts using aluminum foil and Brasso. It leaves very fine line if you don't keep turning the foil. The rust is what is scratching, the Brasso acts as a lubricant. I had pretty good results on pretty rusty wheels. Good chrome looked even better and felt much smoother.

 

Try "Never Dull" and some elbow grease.

 

John, I've had good luck doing this on really grungy motorcycle exhausts. One reason it works well IMO is it 'blends' any pits better, something hand polishing doesn't do. You can also buff out minor scratching sometimes. You do have to be careful about going through the chrome, I'd do some experimenting in a 'less seen' area to see how thin the plating is. The main thing is don't get heavy-handed; 10 minutes of light-pressure buffing is better than 5 minutes of heavy pressure.

 

My dad flipped a lot of 60s and 70s cars in the 80s and as a teen I went through a lot of Dupont No. 7 chrome polish assisting in cleaning them up. It made easy work of all but the worst pitted chrome.
Found this bottle advertised, but don't think it is still Dupont:
https://www.truevalue.com/8-oz-7-chrome-polish

 

Since there seems to be some interest in polishing techniques, if I get some time later in the summer I have a set of aluminum slots to do. I’ll put together a step by step if I remember.

And no, I’m not some backyard guy, I’ve polished thousands of wheels and countless other stuff, including show trucks in the past. I had my own company doing just that.

With the risk of getting off topic, a before and during, the shiny one is half done in that picture, I forgot a completed picture.


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Soak it in a bath of citrus acid.

 

For me it's usually aluminum foil for the rough stuff and then Flitz polish with some elbow grease.

Anyone use steel wool?

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