refinishing bright work

[FC 304 wannabe]

so....
whats the deal?
do we polish the front and rear headlight and tail light surrounds?
or chrome them?
thoughts?😞

[mcl1959]

You may get a little bit of shine from any remaining good chrome if you polish it, but you will not restore them in any way. The side trim can be restored by polishing but chrome finishes can only be restored by rechroming.

Ken

[FC 304 wannabe]

hhmmmm...
dissapoinring to hear as ive just been informed by a business that I engaged to restore all of my shiny bits that he has repaired and polished the headlight and tailight surrounds instead of rechroming them...
i fear that they wont be up to standard...

[mcl1959]

Yes I'd be interested to see what he means by "repaired"
As I've said, old chrome can be made to shine by cleaning it, but dull chrome can't be brought back and pitted chrome cannot be restored by polishing it.
Headlight rims, taillight rims, boot badges etc are all made of diecast alloy and are difficult to restore because of the bubbling and pitting which occurs in the chrome finish.

Ken