Best way to clean up old chrome (dull and rust)

I see lots of ways to get rid of the rust but what can i do for pitting on pot metal, is there any thing i can do besides send t off or get new pieces (which is not in the budget)??????

 

The only thing you can do for the pitting on your pot metal is sand off all the plating (copper/nickel/chrome) and then sand out the pits. Then buff up the raw die-cast base metal to a very bright shine. Clear it or polish it every week. Other than that, it needs new plating. The pitting occurs underneath the plating and the oxides created take up much more volume than the good metal it replaced; so it pushes up the plating, destroying it completely one pit at a time.

If you use a chemical to remove the rust on chromed steel parts, such as naval jelly, make sure you keep them waxed heavily, because there is small spots of bare steel where the rust made its way through the plating. Actually, keeping your parts waxed is good always.

The actual chrome layer is very thin, and can be polished through, especially with a powered buffing wheel. On old chrome, 0000 steel wool will not scratch it any deeper than what is already there. For perspective, abrasive polishes are usually made with metallic oxides, which are much harder than any steel wool, the difference being the polish abrasives are finer.

On new chrome, ANYTHING abrasive will "ruin" its new chrome shine with fine lines. All abrasives work by removing the material they are being rubbed against. Metal polish on a rag is a really, really fine version of a 36 grit grinding wheel.

Most any abrasive polish will be fine for rejuvinating old chrome, but the biggest difference is simply cleaning the parts really well. I find that an abrasive polish over old chrome has the biggest improvement when there is greenish oxides on the surface coming from the copper layer underneath.

 

Check your local Harley Davidson dealer for a product called Quater, (pronounced "water"). It's a cotton fiber material a lot like Never Dull, but works better, IMO. It's the best I've seen.

 

Thanks for all the info!Now I know how to finish getting the paint off of my bumpers

 

Stay away from anything that will scratch your chrome. There is a reason they make polish just for chrome. Don't even use mag or aluminum polish. Some of those products state on the container not to use it on chrome.

 

Get ready for some work and tired arms. I spent about 2 hours on one of those bumper guards, lol. What ever got into someone to paint over chrome is beyond me.

 

Naval Jelly worked for me. I had a set of chrome knock off wheels with surface rust. There is no way in the world to polish all the peices with out dis-assembly. It won't take out pits. Nothing will short of rechroming, but it will remove the rust stains without scratching the good chrome.

I'd put it on and leave it on for an hour or two then polish it off with a rag. It's an acid type chemical so letting it sit seemed to help. I used a short stiff bristle artist oil painting brush to reach between the spokes to get to the hub and the back spokes.

After the rust stains were gone, I polished them with good ole chrome polish. They came out a lot better than I expected...not show but presentable for a driver.

I use paint stripper from the paint store to get paint off of chrome. Again let it sit so that the chemicals can work instead of you arms.

 

I use Simichrome and old cotton socks. Use a very small dap on the socks at a time. A small tube last a looong time. You can get Simichrome at Carquest, right on the counter next to the checkout. My brother-in-law bought new trim strips for his '56 Chevy because he said the original ones were shot. I did a small strip of his original ones with the Simichrome and socks while he was telling me how I was wasting my time. By the time he quit arguing with me I was finished and it look better than his new ones he bought. You guessed it he put the original ones back on after using the Simichrome. The more you buff, the better it gets. Just buff with an old sock and wear it on your hand like a mitten. It leaves a slight film on it too. Water will bead right up.

I have tried Wenol with little sucess. That is the stuff that is always demonstrated at swapmeets. Don't waste your money.

BTW I have used Simichrome since '71 so I guess that is getting into "traditional" territory.

Antique furniture cats use it to clean up their hardware too.

 

Coka-cola, aluminum foil, elbow grease. I used it to clean up the pipes on my Harley, workes great.

 

Yeah, Doc Hudson (er, uh, WATSON) got it right: RUST-EZE !!!!

Seriously, don't anybody jump SquawBlow's case for flying off the handle. His heart's in the right place. I've SEEN the price for rechroming lately! If you've GOT decent chrome, you sure don't wanna LOSE it, just make it shine best ya can, right?

THANKS, guys, for the tips on brass wool (& brush), the crumpled-foil trick, and the various polishes.

The elbow grease is a given, eh???

 

Ive been tryin that new "power cone" that Foose hocks on tv,Im using chrome polish with it and its workin great on the grill of my 56...............

 

Truuuuuust me I know how you feel who ever had my car before me was a complete idiot and spray painted almost every piece of chrome on my '52 Caddy ( and you know that is alot of chrome). So now i have to get all that Damn paint off.

 

I like 0000 steel wool and JB80 its a product like Wd40 from Justice Brothers. Spray the chrome and then start polishing with the wool. It never scratched my chrome. I just did some bicycle fenders last night, they turned out awsome

 

i got some stuff i use called colonel brassy, white creamy stuff with a mild grit in it. cleans just about anything metal, especially chrome, without scratching, and does a damn nice job too. been using it for a few years, great results.

 

worked for me also

 

Okay, guys, here it comes out of left field! Great thread, but I want to ask about the BACK of chromed pieces, especially bumpers. I don't know about YOU, but the previous owner of my '55 DeSoto didn't take the bumpers OFF the car and keep the chrome on the out-of-sight parts polished & free of salt! SO, the chrome was GONE, replaced by rust.

Here's the question: Could a guy put chromed parts into a bath of water and molasses (like they do for engine parts) and let this brew dissolve away all that rust, down to clean metal? Equally important, would the molasses treatment HURT the chrome that's still good?????

I ask because there's a current thread about the mollasses bath technique, and it just got me thinking!

 

Thanks for the support Squablow! Your technique works great on rusty chrome. Might I also suggest that you use the Wizards Metal Polish or Metal Renew as a second step to polish out any of the fine scratches left behind.



Then follow it up with the Wizards Power Seal to protect against future corrosion.


You can apply our products by hand with a little elbow grease or check out our Metal Buffs that chuck up in your drill.


All of our products can be found on our site at www.WizardsProducts.com or call us at 800-356-7223. We can also help you find a dealer that carries Wizards Products in your area.

 

steel wool on chrome

Not in my garage!

just because our cars are old school..we dont have to resort to old school ways to fuck em up!..

today there are so many products out there at our disposal to use for this type of issue , I wouldnt dream of grinding steel wool across anything polished or plated.

ive used a product called Blue max..love it..works great and doesnt scratch, works good on aluminum too

 

I have used that on the grill of my 50 a few weeks ago. It was impressive...

 

Hmm, seen several million-dollar cars get chrome polished with 0000 steel wool with no problems at all. If you get visible scratches in your chrome from a quality 0000 steel wool pad, it's because you're dragging dirt and rust across it.

I'm sure someone hawking products is gonna disagree, and that's fine. I'm sure a dedicated metal polish also works well. I also know good steel wool will polish chrome without scratching it.

And a brillo / scuffing pad will scratch the ever-living-crap outta chrome, don't use them.

 

Here's a before and after on a non-Hamb-friendly wheel using Wizards Metal Polish.

 

the power ball chip foose advertises? buy one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Terd,
I may have to borrow that!

 

I would never use steel wool on chrome. Way to abrasive. No matter how fine the wool is, its still leaving scratches.

So that being said I will give you an alternative. I know this sounds crazy, but I have tried it and it works. Take some aluminum foil, and kinda wad it up. Then use tomato ketchup. The foil is softer than the chrome so it won't scratch it, and the ketchup is slightly acidic, so it will help cut away whatever is on there, as well as acting as a lube.

 

I beg to differ with the advice on using aluminium foil (yep, that's how we spell it in kiwiland ). I rubbed some crumpled foil and chrome cleaner on my Model A grill and it scratched the hell out of it. So now I've got a grill shell that's got rust pitting AND scratches.

 

Is this available over the counter or do you need a prescription ?

 

I once cleaned up a '51 Chevy dash grille with some polish and a cheap wire brush in a drill. I don't know how I didn't scratch it to hell or go through the chrome, but it looked good after.

Which, if you have a part that has actual pits and rust and you just want to make what chrome is left shiny again, your best bet is probably a brass wire brush in a drill - a buffing cloth is just going to catch on the pits and rip up.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I've been working on the grill and got most of it shined up pretty nice. The bottom corners have some heavy pitting and I'm still working on those. The headlight bezels cleaned up really well. I've still got to get to the bumper after the grill. I've been sidelined rewiring the entire truck for the time being. And it's giving me a headache, lol.

 

i'm glad someone brought up aluminum foil because i had a question about it.

i know some here have stated, in very strong terms, not to use metal against metal, but i've used just crumpled up tin foil and water to remove pitting and surface rust from chrome and it seemed to work great.

If, however, this is not a good idea then i would like to hear why and will probably refrain from future use.

 

QUIK-GLO metal polish is THE BEST IN THE WORLD!

If you can find it. Was stocked by bicycle shops for years. I gaurantee there is nothing better