C1-Polishing Stainless & Chrome

[studiog]

Last night I attempted what I thought was going to be futile exercise polishing a chrome deck latch that had an even & fair amount of rust on it. I was ready to shell out $100+ for each of the 2 of these but decided to give it a go and see what happened. To my amazement it cleaned up extremely nice, so nice my wife asked why I had only bought one new one instead of two. Tonight I will polish the other one, hopefully with the same results. I guess the point is that I learned about proper polishing and rouge here on CAC. This place has great people! This alone has saved me $200.00 bucks. So again I thank John McGraw and Larry Savino as well as others for all the great tips and advice.

PS: I also used a brass brush to get into some of the nooks and crannies the polisher couldn't reach.

Larry here is one of my favorite quotes from you regarding the polishing supplies.... "GARY, GO TO HOME DEPOT, THEY HAVE WHAT YOU NEED" so I did.

 

[Gasman]

Show us the pics. i'm still learning this polish stuff to.

 

[IH2LOSE]

Gary just be pre warned ,its very adictive and you just never know when to stop,Prior to building my winshield I went back at my stainless to luster it up again. I also thank John M every time I use my buffer,My garage has become some what of a community garage lately with freinds and relitives coming and going using the buffer.


My wife unkle (who had a 61 he restored in the eighties) is using it to buff out a 45 year old train set made of stainless,

I think I know how to buff somewhat but each day I get better and better.I now have 3 sets of mecanics gloves in the garage I use,(also from home depot) they are very tight fitting and have leather/vinyl like grips on them.these are great when your really leaning into something these keep your hands from getting burnt.I have a bout a 12" burn up my arm from the windshield molding touching my arm as I was working my way down it.

 

[studiog]

Show us the pics. i'm still learning this polish stuff to.

I should have done a before and after but I was so excited about the polishing I forgot. If you have questions on polishing John McGraw is your man. I spent about an hour polishing a stainless seat surround that mounts to the deck lid... time well spent. I stopped at this point as I didn't want the stainless to look better than the rest of the bright work on the car.

 

[studiog]

Gary just be pre warned ,its very adictive and you just never know when to stop,Prior to building my winshield I went back at my stainless to luster it up again. I also thank John M every time I use my buffer,My garage has become some what of a community garage lately with freinds and relitives coming and going using the buffer.


My wife unkle (who had a 61 he restored in the eighties) is using it to buff out a 45 year old train set made of stainless,

I think I know how to buff somewhat but each day I get better and better.I now have 3 sets of mecanics gloves in the garage I use,(also from home depot) they are very tight fitting and have leather/vinyl like grips on them.these are great when your really leaning into something these keep your hands from getting burnt.I have a bout a 12" burn up my arm from the windshield molding touching my arm as I was working my way down it.

Larry I am also thinking of all the other things I could polish but then I refocus on finishing the car. I have learned to anticipate the amount of heat I am generating with the buffer but every now and then I get burned, but its worh it.

 

[IH2LOSE]

Gary

Just commit to an hour a night or at least one part a night,before you know it youll have all of the bright work complete.

I have a set of coveralls in the garage and if I cant sleep or want to have a smoke I will run out to the garage and clean some parts up,What I have learned about car building is when you look at the giant picture of what has to be done its overwhelming and you dont know how your ever going to finish,

But if you set tiny task's to complete its much more managable.

I live my life with "to do lists" so in the garage behind the buffer is a list of parts needing to be buffed.Once I buff the part I cross it off the list and put it back in the container it belongs in. A couple of benifits here is I am better able to manage my time because instead of wandering around lookiing for things to do I just look at my list,get the part,buff it ,clean it with soapy water,put it away,then cross it off the list as the list gets smaller you see a definate progress on the car knowing you are completeing it.May sound silly but I have managed my entire car this way and it makes my life very easey. I have a freind who just cant grasp this princaple and suggest I put on my list FINSH THE CAR. Any one building a car I highley suggest working with a couple of list's the more detailed they are the easey the work goes.

Just imagine it would be like having a project manager managing your car build having some one to tell you what to do and in what order.I would be lost with out my list,

Inventory your bright work that needs to be buffed,orginize it in the order you need it,and then start checking it off the list as you go.

try it youll like it

Larry

 

[John Mcgraw]

Gary,

About the only downside of polishing items like the decklid top latches, is that while you may polish off the rust, It will come back pretty soon. Once the rust shows, it means that the base steel is exposed to the surface in small spots, and will oxidize fairly fast when moisture in the air is present. You can slow the process down with a good coat of wax, but it will return. The decklid latches were done with a quick and dirty, two process plating. There was no copper, only a thin strike coat of nickel followed by a quick chrome plate. I have about 4 sets of them pulled apart for plating right now, and it is amazing how thin the plate is on these parts. It is just as well that you buffed yours out, since there has not been any supply of these latches for almost 3 months! I have had a set on order for that long, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel yet. That is why I pulled several sets apart last week and decided to send them out for plating. I would not normally mess with plating these things, but I am getting desperate for some. By the time I have them plated and spend $25 each for the repair kit from Paragon, I will have as much in them as new ones, not to mention the time I have in them!
Buffing is indeed a addictive pastime. The more you buff, the better you get, and the more you want to do!

 

[IH2LOSE]

John I got my deck lid latches from paragon about 2 months ago,when was the last time you checked with them? the only thing I am still waiting on is a horn button.I called them once a week to ask if they had a set for me instead of waiting for them to call me.

 

[John Mcgraw]

Larry,

I call all the vendors about every week or so just to be safe. I have a set on order from CC and Paragon both, and the first set here wins! I too have had a horn button on back order for at least 2 months. CC is the supplier to all the other vendors on the latches, so I am sure that when they get them from the guy that makes them, everybody will have them! If they dont arrive before Saturday, the point will be moot, as I will have taken mine to the plating shop by then and will cancel my orders. There is going to be such a huge pent-up demand for these latches when they get them, that I am sure that they will be out of them in short order.

 

[I_R_DA_ONE]

after buffing them out ,,,spray all the pieces with clear laquer and they will hold thier luster longer and won't rust as fast

 

[studiog]

Gary

Just commit to an hour a night or at least one part a night,before you know it youll have all of the bright work complete.

I have a set of coveralls in the garage and if I cant sleep or want to have a smoke I will run out to the garage and clean some parts up,What I have learned about car building is when you look at the giant picture of what has to be done its overwhelming and you dont know how your ever going to finish,

But if you set tiny task's to complete its much more managable.

I live my life with "to do lists" so in the garage behind the buffer is a list of parts needing to be buffed.Once I buff the part I cross it off the list and put it back in the container it belongs in. A couple of benifits here is I am better able to manage my time because instead of wandering around lookiing for things to do I just look at my list,get the part,buff it ,clean it with soapy water,put it away,then cross it off the list as the list gets smaller you see a definate progress on the car knowing you are completeing it.May sound silly but I have managed my entire car this way and it makes my life very easey. I have a freind who just cant grasp this princaple and suggest I put on my list FINSH THE CAR. Any one building a car I highley suggest working with a couple of list's the more detailed they are the easey the work goes.

Just imagine it would be like having a project manager managing your car build having some one to tell you what to do and in what order.I would be lost with out my list,

Inventory your bright work that needs to be buffed,orginize it in the order you need it,and then start checking it off the list as you go.

try it youll like it

Larry

Larry, I agree, that has basically been my strategy to make small do-able lists and to work on components and don't think about the whole car at once. I try to follow an ordered sequence. Right after I painted the car I was feeling like I was almost done... a mile stone so to speak. Then I took inventory of all I still had left to do and I felt I still had a long way to go. Then I started thinking in components again and it has helped to keep me organized and motivated. Doing things in order keeps the project moving and the wallet budgeted. I hate to have 10 things half way done and then feel a financial pinch trying to bring them all to completion. For me slow and steady is the way to go.

 

[studiog]

Gary,

About the only downside of polishing items like the decklid top latches, is that while you may polish off the rust, It will come back pretty soon. Once the rust shows, it means that the base steel is exposed to the surface in small spots, and will oxidize fairly fast when moisture in the air is present. You can slow the process down with a good coat of wax, but it will return. The decklid latches were done with a quick and dirty, two process plating. There was no copper, only a thin strike coat of nickel followed by a quick chrome plate. I have about 4 sets of them pulled apart for plating right now, and it is amazing how thin the plate is on these parts. It is just as well that you buffed yours out, since there has not been any supply of these latches for almost 3 months! I have had a set on order for that long, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel yet. That is why I pulled several sets apart last week and decided to send them out for plating. I would not normally mess with plating these things, but I am getting desperate for some. By the time I have them plated and spend $25 each for the repair kit from Paragon, I will have as much in them as new ones, not to mention the time I have in them!
Buffing is indeed a addictive pastime. The more you buff, the better you get, and the more you want to do!

John I was thinking that the rust would return at some point and I was thinking I would have to keep the wax to them or do what I R DA 1 was saying about spraying with lacquer but then I would have to get all the wax off and I don't know how long the lacquer lasts either or how it affects the look of the parts.

 

[1KULC7]

Wouldn't putting a VERY VERY light coat of machine (sewing maching) oil delay indefinitely the rust returning?? Hey in Viet Nam on board our boat we used this on chrome (yeah we had some chrome) and bright brass to stop the brass from tranishing and Chrome from pitting....just a thought.

 

[JohnZ]

May sound silly but I have managed my entire car this way and it makes my life very easey. I have a freind who just cant grasp this princaple and suggest I put on my list FINSH THE CAR. Any one building a car I highley suggest working with a couple of list's the more detailed they are the easey the work goes.

Just imagine it would be like having a project manager managing your car build having some one to tell you what to do and in what order.I would be lost with out my list. Larry

Larry, you hit the nail on the head! Breaking the project down into manageable small tasks and laying them out as "to-do" lists is THE secret to staying organized and on track, and maintains your motivation to keep going, as each task crossed off the list brings another measure of satsifaction and real, measurable progress toward the overall goal.

Some folks can't comprehend this, and those are the guys who end up selling their project "in boxes" simply because they became overwhelmed by the magnitude and complexity of the task in front of them without knowing how to organize it. It's Project Management, pure and simple, at the individual level.