This tip may have been offered in the past but it might save somebody's chrome. I learned this on a site about bicycle restoration. If you have surface rust on your chrome don't worry, go to the grocery store and get a couple of those cheapy COPPER pot scrubbers. The copper won't scratch the chrome like even the finest steel wool. It's amazing how durable old chrome is. I've got a before and after pic. The after pic is before any kind of polishing. Save the steel wool for something else. Dan
Wow that is quite a difference and quite impressive with the minimal or no scratching involved...thanks for the tip! Greg
That was the copper scrubber and water, it wasn't even clean water. I'm sure some chrome polish now would make it better.
my girfriend is a pro at that, thats what shes been doing with all her triumph parts. I told her jsut to get hte rust off and ill strip and paint em, but most parts after she was done looked good chrome!!! old chrome is good stuff!
[ QUOTE ] my girfriend is a pro at that, thats what shes been doing with all her triumph parts. I told her jsut to get hte rust off and ill strip and paint em, but most parts after she was done looked good chrome!!! old chrome is good stuff! [/ QUOTE ] Dude, she sounds like the perfect woman. If you decide to break up with her, please send her my way. Some of my BSA chrome is rusty as hell.
Thanks for the tip Dan. I hadn't thought of that and was still using fine steel wool. Did you use any kind of polish or compound with the copper? Or just dry? Oops, sorry I didn't read close enough the first time.
[ QUOTE ] great tip! - thanks for wearing pants when you took the "after" picture. [/ QUOTE ] gotta love that eBay pic
Great tip, thanks. For what it's worth, a couple of weeks ago I tried the "aluminum foil dipped in Coke" trick on my bumpers on my ford, and it worked amazingly well. My bumpers weren't rusty, they just had those "white cracks" look to them, that older chrome sometimes gets. Anyhow, it cleared them up a good bit, and made the bumpers really bright.
MOJO- I heard the same trick but a different recipe!Ketchup????Hell I aint tried either -I couldnt say if its a good deal or not!
Yeah ketchup has a high acidity due to the tomatoes. My question is-will it take off those weird 'chrome zits'?You know- the bumpness smaller chrome pieces get?
Amazing! I was still using the OOO steel wool. Do you put anything on it to seal it in any way, like wax or polish?
Thanks for reminding me, I used to do that a long time ago when I was still messing with bicycles. Don't use steel wool though, the steel inbeds itself in the chrome and rusts after a while.
Hey Fidget, once you're happy with the rust awayness, I'm sure some polish and wax would be a good idea. I think if you keep the chrome clean and out of standing water, it probably won't re-rust for awhile. There's no telling how long that hubcap had rusted- it was in an old shed up on a shelf.
Try Taco Bell mild sauce. Probably the same theory as ketchup. If you go back this board long time favorite rust remover is mol***as! JR
Copper wire WILL remove the chrome! Chrome is normally 30 millionths of an inch thick. You can wipe it off with the right chemicals and abrasive wool whether steel or br*** or copper are absolute no-no's. If they weren't chrome shops and museums would use it. Leave it for the wife and her pots and pans. You'll soon tell if you've gone through it. I around 24 hours you'll start getting a goldish color. Rust like that you can wipe off with a good quality polish.
In the past, I have used an old Military polish called Br***o. It shined an old 41 Pontiac pitted grille to an acceptable luster. Well, acceptable to a 16 yr old.
Hey Polisher thanks for weighing in on this BUT I think we're talking about apples and oranges here. I'm talking about giving that swap meet item a second look instead of p***ing over it cuz it's too rusty. Sprucing up a part you have or making one "good enough for now" until you can afford a new one or a rechrome. Take another look at that hubcap... before- it's junk, after- it's usable. A lot of the cars we are building are unpainted, have unfinished body work, primer over ground welds, kinda rough around the edges and built on strict budgets. An inexpensive tip for rusty old chrome isn't out of place in my opinion. Keep in mind I'm not talking about museum cars or chrome shop freshness. I think the old factory chrome was thicker than what we get now. Is that wrong? Dan
Polisher, I have a really delicate operation that I hesitate to start without your opinion: I have two '32 Ford dash panels, engine turned chrome, that I think will save with the right treatment. Overall finish and engine turning seem good, with a very light amount of rust blooming through. If I can kill the rust without abrasion, I believe I will have good original dashes. What should I use, specifically? If chemical, does it need to be neutralized or anything? What should I put on the finished parts to prevent the rust from coming back? Bruce
I tried the copper scrubbies and it left some scratches, try using bronze wool from the boating/marine supply, it's finer and seemed to leave things smoother. A couple of goodcoats of wax will keep the rust at bay for a while, but you are exposing the little pits to the elements again without the benefit of plating.
Br***o is disgusting, read the label, not suitable for aluminum, (it eats zinc !) and re-oxidises anything it cleans. That is why the military guys that use it have to repolish their br***es every day. What's wrong with that?!
The old hex chrome (still available from a lot of shops, but not mine unfortunately) was a lot tougher than modern chrome. If rusting on chrome is yellow or light brown, it can be removed easily with no damage to the chrome underneath using light abrasives or electrolysis. If it's black, it's damaged, basically. Good rule of thumb to follow when scanning for used parts.
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