The bumper on the 28 Chevy that I bought here on the HAMB has some nice finials on each end.The finials are corroded,tarnished and dull so I've tried several things to shine them. One has a scratch and the metal under the corrosion is a shiny yellow. I bought a can of "Brasso" which claims to polish brass,copper,stainless,chrome,aluminum,pewter & bronze ..it did nothing. I very lightly tried a Brillo pad, Turtle wax Chrome & metal cleaner,just plain soap & water,all to no avail.. Any ideas?
Lee Iacocca had a similar problem with the Statue of Liberty. (don't know the extent of the solution, but the Lady was all apart...)
They are probably nickel plated brass, and most of the nickel has corroded away over the years. If you want them shiny, get them replated. I could be wrong
From here it looks to be bronze. We get old urns at work here once in a while that look just like that. we use brasso too, but it takes like way beyond forever to get them ok again. Dont know a better solution. -GothY-
btw it's gonna look funny with something shiny sticking out of all that rust...once you start, you can't stop, and you'll end up restoring the whole car.
Use a scotch brite red pad and twist it evenly around. Then you can use lemon juice or brasso etc to rub a nice finish onto it... then as soon as you touch it, it will turn black again...
Looks to me to be nickel plated steel that has been polished off and the copper is oxidizing. Paint them or replate them in nickel.
You DOG ! I was trying to get those bumpers off of the seller a while ago!!! If I ever get back to FL, will you let me take some good pics/sketches/tracings of them? Congrats, Bill
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