restoring chrome

[crystel_angel]

Hi all, just bought my FC a week ago, so im still new to all this. The car is in really good condition so i dont need to do much work as I bought it of the original owner who tried to keep it perfect. One thing though is the chrome parts. The badges etc are all rusted and pitted and half painted, and the chrome bumper etc are all dull and tarnished. First, does anyone know what the best thing to use to polish up the dull chrome?. Second, is there anyway to fix up the pitted chrome without re chroming it?, as i dont have much money and ive heard this costs alot. Also, whats the best way to get the paint out of the grooves in the badges as i cant seem to get it out  ???  

[normd]

Hi Crystel
     Firstly ,  Welcome to the Forum

  If the car is in good condition , no need to rush the re-chroming ,  do it right the first time , some people here have spent years on their cars , but the end result is magnificent .
    What area/state are you in , because guys here have contacts all over the place

   Norm  :)

[Burnsy]

Congrats on your purchase and welcome to the forum, next step is to join your local club ;).  Did you obtain any documentation from the original owner from it's purchase etc?

You can buy tubes of specialised chrome polish from any automotive shop, but it won't help the pitting, unfortunately that is there to stay.  It sounds like your car must have been resprayed.   You can generally carefully scrape paint off of chrome work with a sharp packing or stanley knife if you can't get the badges off the car.  If the badges can be removed or the chrome work is say a bumper that is not near your body paintwork you could use thinners to remove the excess but be sure not to get any on your body work as it will remove the paint you want to keep as well.  Be careful trying to remove badges that have been painted over as they are likely to be stuck to the body by the paint and removing them may casue the paint to tear off the bodywork which could make it look worse.

Good luck, Burnsy

[crystel_angel]

Thanks guys. Yea im not to fussed about rushing it. It's only because my boyfriend is doing the mechanical work and im doing body/ interior work, so i dont hav much else to do. I just wanted advice for when its my turn to work on the car. Im from Sydney and his from Central Coast, so we're getting things from both areas.

[Jodstar]

Hi Crystal, You can try using an industrial steelwool you can get at supercheap or repco (not the type for washing dishes) It will clean the crome spotless without scratching yet keep it away from the paint. Another thing you can do is wipe rust treatment over the bad spots,let it soak in then wipe it away(according to instuctions). It will stall the rust from getting worse and flaking the crome. I have done all this to my FC with great results.(see Jodstars FCstandard wagon in members real  car images)                                    Cheers Jodstar :)

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Once rust and pitting have settled in, anything you do will only be a patch-job until you can get the stuff rechromed. I have repolished dull undamaged chrome and it looks great. I was going to send my interior door handles to the chromers, but a minute or two on the buffing wheel and they look like bought ones. You can get kits from hardware stores to convert a bench grinder to a polisher.

[Sarge]

Well welcome to the forum. As Burnsy advised you, it would pay you to consider joining your state club. Which you’re lucky as the NSW club would have the best club site, most members and also have some great outings from what I have seen posted here. Also the knowledge between these guys is amazing and it's all your’s for the asking. Get yourself and your boyfriend along to a meeting. Write yourself a list of question and pick their brains. Try not to rush your car, as that’s how little things are missed. If it's at all possible could you post a photo or two of your newfound joy for us all to share?
Well from Myself & all the members up here in Queensland welcome to the forum and may all your mile's be happy one's. I don’t think I need say any more about your chrome work, as it would seem that the others have covered it.

Cheers
Sarge