Looking for recommendation of stainless steel restoration, polishing and repair

moparhoosier · Feb 29, 2020

Anybody here know of someone who does it called Bill Petrow? He has been recommended to me by someone but I have also heard some complaints as of lately. Anybody out there they are really happy with and would highly recommend? LMK

dadsbee · Feb 29, 2020

Buy a few buffing wheels and do it yourself.. would have saved me 5 grand CDN and then realized I could do it myself just as well or better !

Lee Robinson · Feb 29, 2020

dadsbee said:
Buy a few buffing wheels and do it yourself.. would have saved me 5 grand CDN and then realized I could do it myself just as well or better !
View attachment 916964

I bought a book on how to repair stainless steel. You will need a buffer. It is a time consuming process. The key is patience when repairing
stainless. I few basic tools, varying grits of sand paper and a buffer is what you will need. I bought some jeweler's files as well. Even a very
fine file will leave marks that will take a lot of sanding to remove, so use them sparingly.

dadsbee · Feb 29, 2020

You're quoting the wrong guy... lol

440RUSH · Feb 29, 2020

Check out You Tube. There's lots of videos on how to do it.

pearljam724 · Feb 29, 2020

Agree with dadsbee. Polishing stainless steel is no different than polishing aluminum or paint. It’s actually a lot easier because it’s already at a very smooth stand point. Anyone would be insane to pay someone else to do it for them. It’s easy as it gets. Wet very fine sand paper, a drill with a buffing fob and a proper compound. A green polishing compound is the softest and designed for stainless steel. However, if yours is very bad you may want to start with a black compound also designed for steel. Because it’s harder in density. Which I highly doubt yours is at the point needing anything but green. I just sold a 70 year old car that I polished the original stainless trim. Only involved an hour of time and it probably looked better than it did when it rolled out of the factory in 1950. Green is best for a final compound. The more time and effort you put into polishing the better it looks. Stainless steel is easy as it gets. Referring to effort, time and result. If yours is heavily scratched in places you will need to involve more time into wet sanding. If scratches are minimal. You will need to involve more time using a compound vs wet sanding. The wet sanding will remove heavier scratches. The polishing compound will bring out the shine. Both will be needed. Depending on how abundant or heavy scratches are.

CudaChick1968 · Mar 1, 2020

CaswellPlating.com has all the consumables and a great .pdf download called The Buff Book, an introduction to polishing and buffing.
It also has a handy chart to show which compounds and buffs to use (which I printed out, put in a sheet protector and hung up by my buffer years ago).

PRND21 · Mar 1, 2020

To answer your question, I’ve had work done by Bill, Special T’s Unlimited. 847-255-5494 Top notch work, but you pay for it. He has always been at the Indy swap meet, March 7-8. You can see the quality of his work there.

68Moparmaniac · Mar 1, 2020

Dadsbee is giving great advice. It’s not difficult, patience is a virtue. Get comfortable on a bench with some good lighting, adult beverage optional, some music and just put your hands on it. Watch some vids online and develop something that works for you. Eastwood’s has some pretty good stuff to help. Good luck

dadsbee · Mar 1, 2020

.and hang on TIGHT ! Don't have the wheel pointed at anything valuable, etc!!

QuickBpBp · Mar 1, 2020

moparhoosier said:
Anybody here know of someone who does it called Bill Petrow? He has been recommended to me by someone but I have also heard some complaints as of lately. Anybody out there they are really happy with and would highly recommend? LMK

I have seen his work and the finish product looks good. I have not used him but like any other business time is money...If you have some hard to find pieces that are damaged you may not want to tackle those if you will end up ruining them...

moparsaver · Mar 1, 2020

Practice on some Chevy pieces for a couple of hours. You’ll be a pro in no time and save yourself a ton of cash.

1 Wild R/T · Mar 1, 2020

if you do it yourself my suggestion is wear gloves.... A buddy was polishing a piece of trim, caught a edge & had the trim ripped out of his hands... He wound up with tendon damage in three fingers and severe cuts in seven fingers.... He was off work for months...

I've polished allot of trim through the years but since that I've found a local guy who does nicer work than I've ever done by myself & he does it for a very fair price....

dadsbee · Mar 1, 2020

..and sit in a chair for long pieces....

CudaChick1968 · Mar 1, 2020

You'll want gloves not only to avoid injury but because buffer friction works. Parts, especially smaller pieces, can get HOT.

Buffers are amazing tools but deserve much respect. Carelessness, inattention or interruptions can create a very dangerous atmosphere not only for the operator but for anything nearby.

"Oooooh, lemme try that!" one of Billy's buddies said when he saw my then new buffer. Billy handed him a little bracket along with [clueless newbie] basic instructions. Ben touched the metal to the sisal wheel ... and zooooommmmm it ripped that sucker out of his hands and teleported it forty feet out the shop door after bouncing off the ceiling.

pearljam724 · Mar 1, 2020

You don’t need a bunch of elaborate tools. Besides a high speed adjustable drill, some wet sanding paper between 1800 - 2500 grit and green polishing compound. This is all you need. $3.99 at Harbor Freight. It’s not rocket science. It’s the easiest thing to do imaginable.

moparhoosier · Mar 1, 2020

thanks for all the info from everyone. I love the comment about practicing on chevy parts!
Brian

pearljam724 · Mar 1, 2020

moparhoosier said:
thanks for all the info from everyone. I love the comment about practicing on chevy parts!
Brian

The parts don’t have to be removed. 70 year old stainless trim. Had paint overspray on many pieces to boot. 1-2 hours invested at the most. Minimal effort.

Sixpactogo · Mar 2, 2020

Getting back to Bill Petrow......I have used him for aluminum trim years ago on my 65 Sport Fury. Mostly because he is one of a few that does re-anodizing. I do my own stainless as well so not sure about that. I thought his specialty was aluminum.

bad88ttop · Mar 4, 2020

Bruce Dell in Hubbard, Ohio does most of my polishing. He's backed up a few months but does absolutely beautiful work. I highly recommend him. For contact info Google him or Dell Metal Polishing Hubbard, Ohio.

Looking for recommendation of stainless steel restoration, polishing and repair

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