Polishing plastic chrome?

rockford33

rockford33

New member
Well, my summer car has some trim along the bottom of the tail lights that looks like chrome, but it really feels more like plastic (unless it is a really thin, light chrome). They definitely need to be cleaned up some. Any thoughts? I have tried SSR2.5 and PP with no luck. My next step is to take them off (3 screws) and try and clean them up on the bench grinder with a soft buffing wheel. I think I have some rouge that states it is for plastic.

Thanks,
Neil
 
Plastic chrome may not be something you can restore.
Since the parts are easy to remove, maybe they could be replaced with new.

Charles
 
Why wouldn't plastic chrome be repairable?

My past Mini Cooper had plastic chrome inserts and was easy to polish with any regular chrome polish or Klasse AIO..

This is the only example I could find. I know it was plastic, because when I got rear ended the whole chrome piece cracked and began peeling displaying the plastic underneath.

Picture004.jpg
 
Thanks for the replies guys. Unfortunately, like about 1/2 of the items for this car, the parts are no longer made by Dodge. And it is not an old enough (or popular enough) Dodge that has a lot of aftermarket support like the 60's muscle cars. I might poke around the internet and see if I can find the parts again, but I think I have looked before with no luck, hence why I am trying to restore them. I was lucky enough to find a fellow owner who was parting out his car and picked up a spare set that are a little nicer than mine, but still not "new" looking. I guess I can give it a try and if I mess one up, at least I have a spare. I'll post before and after pics if it works.

Thanks,
Neil
 
joyriide1113 said:
Why wouldn't plastic chrome be repairable?

My past Mini Cooper had plastic chrome inserts and was easy to polish with any regular chrome polish or Klasse AIO.
Click to expand...
As long as the plastic chrome is in good shape, it can be kept up with regular waxing. Once it starts to deteriorate, the chrome tends to delaminate from the plastic. It will sometimes discolor as well. Polishing doesn't usually seem to do much for it. If Rockford has already used SSR2.5 and PP, he has probably made all the improvement he can with polishing.

Charles
 
If you can't find replacement parts what about painting the ones that you have a flat color like black? I did that with a grill on a truck looked allot better..I sanded it down and primed and painted it flat black just and idea is all
 
If the car wasn't rare (1 of 1400), that would be an option. I am trying to preserve the originality of the car as much as possible. Although with parts, etc. becoming increasingly rare, it is getting hard to do. Thanks for the suggestion though. Have you gotten the bimmer lowered yet? I think I remember you talking about it after getting your wheels.

-Neil
 
That plastic chrome is really aluminum that is vaporized and deposited on the plastic in a vacuum. Once the aluminum begins to deteriorate, all is lost. To slow deterioration polishing, as others have stated, is the best course. There are places that will re-plate the piece, if it is not too large. Those places advertise in Hemmings Motor News.

http://www.hemmings.com/

Terry
 
Thanks for the tip Terry. The original piece on the passenger side looks like it is spider webbing. The used replacement pieces I got from a guy just look dirty. I think I will try polishing the bad original to get an idea of how it works before attempting to clean the nicer pieces. I'll also take a look in Hemmings and see if there is anywhere local. The pieces are only about 7 inches long. Just a small trim piece under the tail light.

-Neil
 
Sorry, it is a 1991 Dodge Spirit R/T. I'll try Year One, but I think they mostly specialize in old muscle cars?

Just looked. They do up to 1974 for Chrysler, or 01-06 PT Cruiser.

Thanks,
Neil
 
That aluminum coating is real thin, so any abrasive will remove it.

The last time I looked for a place to re-plate plastic, there was a place in Michigan doing it -- but reproduction pieces became available for my application and I didn't need to re-plate the originals. That was 5-10 years ago though.

I just looked through the first 150 postings in the Services section without success. It might be easier to pick up a paper copy of Hemmings.
Terry
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top