polishing chrome on these cars

[Pjackb]

I love this thread.

I'm waiting for some axle parts and in the mean time felt like taking a stab at refinishing my tail lights.

After reading, I'm seeing a few different concoctions that are having some good results. I'm disassembling the lights currently, have two sheets of 1/16" rubber on its way for the gaskets, and I'm going to be working on the chrome in the meantime. I have a decent amount of pitting, and bumps throughout, and was wondering what the more tried and true plan of attack is with this.

I was thinking about soaking the rings in vinegar over night, then going at it with the diet coke and tin foil in the morning. Then once theey are looking nice and clean, hit them with some wax.

Does that sound like a good approach?

Here's a couple pics of the worst parts

https://imgur.com/gallery/PMlzlCO

Mike

I’m not sure what your expectations are but this will not buff out , there is way too much pitting and rust , The best you can expect is to stop the rust but it will just turn black and dull .

You could look at wrapping but again it takes a deft touch and even the very experienced wrappers shy away from rounded surfaces .

If you’re not planning to replace (cheaper then re chrome) and just want them to look better I would recommend painting them with a bright silver paint (VW Reflex silver, Miata Sunshine Silver)

[C.Costine]

Mine were not as bad as yours, but had some rust and some dings. I bought new gaskets and had started to clean them up. I was watching on ebay for some decent ones and then a set of four new ones came up at a good price, so I jumped on them and sold the gaskets. I have bought a lot of parts off ebay over five years. Just repeatedly looking for what I wanted and putting in offers.

[The Neck]

I think I wanted to get a realistic expectation of how this COULD turn out and the consensus is to replace the parts. I did have a member reach out about having a set of tail lights that I'm going to be picking up instead or attempting to refinish these. The pics shown are of the two worst ones, I'm not sure the others are nearly as rusted, but I wanted to have a good understanding of the hardest ones.

[The Neck]

Here's a pic of the other lights. There are two that are in pretty rough shape, the other two and all of the rings are like this. I'm gonna run to an auto parts store and see what I can come up with.

https://imgur.com/gallery/jqRbrWC

[Pjackb]

Here's a pic of the other lights. There are two that are in pretty rough shape, the other two and all of the rings are like this. I'm gonna run to an auto parts store and see what I can come up with.

Pick up some P21S it will tone down the pitting and shine it up enough to be usable

[The Neck]

Here's a pic of the other lights. There are two that are in pretty rough shape, the other two and all of the rings are like this. I'm gonna run to an auto parts store and see what I can come up with.

Pick up some P21S it will tone down the pitting and shine it up enough to be usable

Is that the wheel cleaner they have specifically?

[Solex68]

Git yourself some of this and you will be amazed on the outcome. Nothing is going to help the one you photo'd here but if you use it on the ones I sold you. They will look amazing. Soak for 24 hrs, rinse as assess and maybe do another 24 hrs. Don't soak it to long as they will yellow a bit if soaked too long.
..

evaporust.png

[Pjackb]

https://www.p21s.com/portfolio/polishing-soap/

[C.Costine]

Here's a pic of the other lights. There are two that are in pretty rough shape, the other two and all of the rings are like this. I'm gonna run to an auto parts store and see what I can come up with.

Pick up some P21S it will tone down the pitting and shine it up enough to be usable

TheP21S claims appear suspect to me. First they call it unique because it is water based. All polishes that I have ever used appear to be water based. Second, they claim no black on your fingers. Every metal polish that I have ever used cleans oxide from the surface resulting in getting black on my fingers.

[Pjackb]

TheP21S claims appear suspect to me. First they call it unique because it is water based. All polishes that I have ever used appear to be water based. Second, they claim no black on your fingers. Every metal polish that I have ever used cleans oxide from the surface resulting in getting black on my fingers.

I’ve been using it for years it’s far from miraculous but really does a good job
I originally bought it for exhaust tips where it excels but I’ve found countless other use for it

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[The Neck]

Git yourself some of this and you will be amazed on the outcome. Nothing is going to help the one you photo'd here but if you use it on the ones I sold you. They will look amazing. Soak for 24 hrs, rinse as assess and maybe do another 24 hrs. Don't soak it to long as they will yellow a bit if soaked too long.
..

evaporust.png

Perfect! I'll order some now. Thanks again!

[notoptoy]

+1 I am a huge fan and supporter of Evap-o-rust!! GREAT stuff

[Gregs672000]

I always enjoyed trying different such products on the same task to compare how they work. We have a topic here on Products that Work. I always encourage posting reviews.

[The Neck]

I always enjoyed trying different such products on the same task to compare how they work. We have a topic here on Products that Work. I always encourage posting reviews.

This is a pretty good idea, I'm currently browsing Amazon for a couple different options. Since I'm going to be cleaning up all the chrome on the car it's a great time to test a couple products out and go from there since we all have "older chrome" to some extent.

So far I have:

Evaporust - to soak in, I'm not sure what the after care idea is with this yet
Mothers Chrome Polish - obvious polish, maybe after it's been soaked or cleaned
P21s Polishing soap - same as the Mothers

[C.Costine]

I checked a little further into the P21S and found that it is acid based which will of course enable it to chemically dissolve rust as well as various other oxides. It appears to be not recommended for highly polished aluminum because it would dull it somewhat.