Terrible Chrome

T

Togorashi

New member
I know this has been discussed before, but searching didn't pull up anything. Maybe I don't understand how to best search this forum. Anyway.



So I have a 1981 300TD. Old Benz's have TONS of chrome trim. All of mine looks terrible. I know I will never get it looking great, but I would at least like to remove the dull oxidation and staining. Rechroming everything would be cost-prohibitive.



I've tried p21s soap, some old turtle brand chrome polish, 00 steel wool. Couldn't even put a dent in it. Any suggestions?



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Clean Dean is the old Benz expert, but in the meantime, if that's aluminum, and I'll agree that's what it looks like, it's possibly anodized. If so, there isn't going to be much you can do for it, other than metal polish thru the anodize down to the bare aluminum...after which you will have to keep after it all the time with polish/seal to keep it looking bright.



Of course, if it was bare alumimum to begin with, you're good to go.
 
Anodizing leaves a dull finish, it's more than likely clear coated with a lacquer or clear powder coated. Only real solution to the damage caused by the harsh polishes and steel wool is to polish through the remaining coating. If it's stubborn try wetsanding.
 
I think where Jim is going is that probably means there is no finish on the aluminum or you are already through it. So you should try polishing more or use something more agressive. Perhaps mask surrounding areas and try some machine polishing (felt wheel on a drill, etc.).
 
Togorashi said:
Yes it did. Is that good or bad?
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not good or bad, just a test that shows that it is not chrome or anodized/cleared

if it turns black it can be polished



Setec Astronomy said:
I think where Jim is going is that probably means there is no finish on the aluminum or you are already through it. So you should try polishing more or use something more agressive. Perhaps mask surrounding areas and try some machine polishing (felt wheel on a drill, etc.).
Click to expand...



yep

go to walmart or an autoparts store

and grab some painters tape and mothers power metal polish and mini power ball

(and a drill if you don't have one)



just start on a small out of sight peice of trim as a test spot

to make sure every thing works
 
Worked on it some today.



I bought 3 new metal polishes and a mini-powerball.



Mother's Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish is a renowned metal polish, legendary in detailing and car collecting circles. The polish is safe on aluminum & mag



Mother's Powermetal Mothers PowerMetal Aluminum Polish



Nevr-dull Wadding Polish Nevr-Dull Wadding Polish



The two mother's products worked almost identically, but the paste polish worked a little better. I think it is more abrasive. The Nevr-dull didn't do anything, although it might work fine on slightly dirty metal.



The mini-powerball didn't help at all, although it's a nice tool. I'm sure I'll use it for lots of things.



I tried using the mother's with 0000 steel wool and I could tell it was working, but very slowly. So, I grabbed some 600 and 1000 grit and wetsanded the trim. Then I applied the mothers with the steel wool, and finally buffed it out with the mini-powerball. Here are the results. It's not perfect, but I think I'm on the right track. There are definate sanding lines from the 600, so I think I'll just use the 1000 from now on.



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I changed up my procedure a little bit. I spread around the Mother's polish with 800 grit and then went over it with 0000 steel wool. I think it worked better. Not as many scratches. Here is a 50/50. The sun is going down, so it's a little dark.



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If it's aluminum, keep steel wool away! This is important. Splinters of steel from the wool will imbed themselves in the aluminum, and cause nasty corrosion. Best to use bronze wool or 3M Scotchbrite pads. Even a copper scouring pad is a better choice than steel wool.



Another product I've had good success with is Bomb's Away (non abrasive) metal polish. Very little effort to use. Very popular in the motorcycle community for cleaning cast aluminum wheels.



Good luck!
 
Arved said:
If it's aluminum, keep steel wool away! This is important. Splinters of steel from the wool will imbed themselves in the aluminum, and cause nasty corrosion. Best to use bronze wool or 3M Scotchbrite pads. Even a copper scouring pad is a better choice than steel wool.



Another product I've had good success with is Bomb's Away (non abrasive) metal polish. Very little effort to use. Very popular in the motorcycle community for cleaning cast aluminum wheels.



Good luck!
Click to expand...



Interesting. I guess I'll ditch the steel wool for the rest of the trim. I've got a large assortment of 3m pads. I'll try that out.
 
I have had that problem with the upper trim on the old W116 models and the W107 hartops. This is not a polished aluminum or chrome, but I believe it is some type of stainless steel. You will notice that the chrome on the bumper covers and grill are most likely in much better condition. If it were aluminum you would know right away by the black residue, and chrome plating would not withstand this amount of abrasive polishing without severe marring and or the removal of the plating. A few years back I did a lot of work on my friends 78 450 SEL. We spent hours on the top trim and improved it greatly, but not to perfection.



Its a real PITA !!! I think you are going after it the right way with diminishing abrasives, but I am sure you are aware that its going to take an enourmous amount of time to correct. If you have the time and the access to a buffing wheel, you may want to try removing some of the trim and buffing it on the wheel. I have a 3/4 HP Baldor wheel in my garage, but never seem to have the time to take on projects like this.



This might be a option:



Eastwood Co. - Eastwood 6in Buff Shop Kit with 1/3HP EW Motor



BTW... I have no affiliation with Baldor or Eastwood.
 
Hmm...now that you say that Dean, that sure looks like it could be stainless, with the milky kind of surface corrosion sitting outside for 30 years will give it.
 
Thanks for the info Dean. I'm estimating that it will take about 3 hours to do all of the trim. It's not a breeze, but I'm doing it in pieces over a few days. I picked up some felt buffing wheels today that attach to my angle grinder. That should make it go a little bit quicker. Get the big stuff off with the wet-sanding and steel wool, then hit it with the buffer.





I think the black that I was seeing before was just coming off the rubber trim. Now that I have it taped up, I'm not seeing any black. That would seem to support the stainless steel idea.
 
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