I was fortunate to find some NOS chrome seat recliners for my 69E. They have some shallow fine scratches from storage over the years. Can anyone suggest the best way to polish those out? Thanks.
I was fortunate to find some NOS chrome seat recliners for my 69E. They have some shallow fine scratches from storage over the years. Can anyone suggest the best way to polish those out? Thanks.
69 911E fully restored
73 914-6 GT Tribute w/ PMO twin plug 2.7 motor
73 911 RSR Tribute with Rothsport 3.5 motor
84 911 Safari build & 88 911 Carmine Red
90 964 C2 w/993TT motor & 91 964 C2 bone stock 31k miles
The pessimistic answer is you can't. Chrome is like a clear coat over the bright nickel plate. But even a very "rich" (thick) decorative chrome plating is only .02 mils, with most considerably less than this (e.g., .005 mils). If you can see scratches, they are probably through the chrome and into the nickel. This is why when someone has a chromed piece for sale ..."with a few scratches which should polish out"...they are mistaken. But, assuming the scratch is not through the nickel, your efforts to polish the chrome (while removing more of the chrome -- that is why the rag gets black) will polish the nickel under the scratch temporarily and it will look improved. Then you can apply Gibbs oil to the piece to delay further dulling of the exposed nickel. So, yes you can probably improve the appearance of the piece, in the short run, by "polishing" it and applying something other than wax to delay, but not remove, the subsequent reappearance of the scratches.
EDIT: I want to add the terrible practice of using fine steel wool (e.g., 0000) to "restore" chrome (check out some of the U tube presentations on this "remedy"). It is a great way to remove the chrome entirely and buff the naked nickel. Or, if we really do the job, we get down to where we see a yellowish tinge which is the copper beginning to show through the adumbraded nickel.
Last edited by Jim Morris; 04-23-2021 at 03:50 PM.
Thanks. Very helpful and discouraging at the same time.
69 911E fully restored
73 914-6 GT Tribute w/ PMO twin plug 2.7 motor
73 911 RSR Tribute with Rothsport 3.5 motor
84 911 Safari build & 88 911 Carmine Red
90 964 C2 w/993TT motor & 91 964 C2 bone stock 31k miles
I used the old standby coke and foil method to remove oxidation from my barn find 911’s comfort seat chrome recliners then followed it up with White Diamond metal polish. While they don’t look perfect like they would have when new they look 100x better than before.
Would you care to elaborate on the "old standby coke and foil method"? Thanks.
Chris
Removing surface "corrosion" and removing scratches are two different things. The coke and foil method is explained often in the same web pages that advocate the steel wool treatment. If the chrome has what appears to be "green" contamination (because yes, chrome can and will oxidize), the properties of coke can help to dissolve this crud. Still, the surface of the chrome is compromised, and a polish (e.g., White diamond as advocated above by a well meaning contributor) will make what is left of the plating look better temporarly.
Some imperfections to a chrome finish are not a lost cause and can be made to appear much better through the use of appropriate cleaning materials. For light staining I suggest NEVR-DULL, which is a cotton-like wadding impregnated with a rather sharp smelling solution. It is very soft and does little damage to the surface (all abrasive cleaning agents will do some damage, albeit on a microscopic level). For heavier marking I'll switch to QUICK-GLO, a gray colored, water soluble paste applied with a soft cloth and rubbed until the surface feels smooth under the moving cloth. I'm attaching two pictures of QUICK-GLO results. The first shows rust removal on American iron, the second shows a rather abused GUIDE mirror that had first been attacked with NEVR-DULL which did a fair job but still left many very small rough marks. Although somewhat difficult to photograph, this second image shows the mirror's rear side after half was polished with QUICK-GLO which removed all of the marks left behind by NEVR-DULL. This is a totally unsolicited personal testimonial to the effectiveness of QUICK-GLO as I have always found it to be an absolutely amazing product.
Hi,
I would also to suggest Never Dull for the chrome parts. I use it for the chrome wheels of my beetle. They are not in great shape and some bad areas, even with soem minor rust. After polishing with Never Dull I use some “old” Liquid Glass for the protection of the polished surface. It stays nice and shiny and the rust is stopped for quite a while….
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