Talking Trim. Identifying Chrome VS Polished Stainless

[Moparfiend]

Do you guys have a way to determine a Chrome piece of trim vs a polished Stainless? Are there general part delineations of what was typically used where?

Asking because the polishing methods are very different.

Thanks
MF

 

[dadsbee]

They all go through the buffer wheel here..

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Stainless generally a stamped metal part...
Chrome, generally a cast metal part...
There are exceptions but not often...
After working with both you should develop the ability to visually distinguish them...

 

[Moparfiend]

They all go through the buffer wheel here..

Wayne,
My attempt to buff my door handle took off the chrome in about 40 seconds. It was probably my compound. I think I need buffing wheels dedicated for each compound as cleaning the wheels is problematic.

What compounds do you use? Are you spinning ~3100rpm?

 

[Moparfiend]

Stainless generally a stamped metal part...
Chrome, generally a cast metal part...
There are exceptions but not often...
After working with both you should develop the ability to visually distinguish them...

My drip rail is stamped or extruded but has a polished lip and I assume its stainless but heck I don’t know.

 

[dadsbee]

I have no idea what compound you used. But I have never cleaned my wheel or really worried about what I use with the goal to clean **** up. I did work and work a bit much and got past the chrome on my original hood scoop bezels, but they still looked good.

 

[sam dupont]

and not all chromes are the same; some scratch easily. I wash with a soft brush to remove the dirt, then go over it lightly with a cotton cloth and a car wax, just coating it, not polishing yet. The idea is to remove the rest of the dirt with the wax. I like Meguiar's Carnauba. With 0000 steel wool, I polish a little spot and hold it to the light so see if I'm getting scratches. Some platings will stand up to steel wool, some won't, but wax soaked steel wool speeds things up. On expensive pieces, I use elbow grease with a cotton cloth to make a good finish safely. I'm self taught, so there may be other methods. I haven't polished with power and polishing rouge.

 

[R413]

Your drip rail is stainless. Feel how heavy it is, and how rigid it is. Aluminum is not like that.

I do chrome by hand, no buffer.

 

[ornaryal]

Up here I use auto sol to polish; al, chrome and ss after a good cleaning , and then a good wax to protect it dont forget chrome is a coating , not a solid metal stamping like stainless , years ago I used jewellers rough , to make the movie camera guys from california happy. I could bring up al to almost as shiney as polished stainless. my arm is starting to ake remembering .

 

[Jerry Hall]

One trick to polishing with a buffer is not to introduce heat into the part. Also use the correct compound for the material you are polishing.

 

[dadsbee]

You can make bare aluminum look like anodized coating. It just takes work...

 

[Moparfiend]

One trick to polishing with a buffer is not to introduce heat into the part. Also use the correct compound for the material you are polishing.

Yes heat is bad. At 3100rpm and an aggressive compound chrome can be damaged rather quickly. Cotton wheels seem to hold old compounds so I think I need to buy some more wheels dedicated to different compounds.

 

[Moparfiend]

You can make bare aluminum look like anodized coating. It just takes work...
View attachment 1605999View attachment 1606001

Nice work !!

 

[5.7 hemi]

When you polish aluminum, you’ll know when it’s done cause it’ll look like you can dive into it, (looks wet). Stainless is the same way, but you can apply more pressure to the part to hurry things along. I always finish with the green compound and soft buffing wheel.