Cody is my Cuda-Challenger forum friend who helped me get my dash frame media blasted and painted. It looks beautiful now and much better than I had expected I’d be able to do. Well, he’s the president of the Automotive Restoration Club and really knows his stuff.
I just finished rebuilding and installing my steering column based on a photo procedure that he put together a number of years ago. I’ll post my process sometime later. Today we’ve got a few videos that Cody has put together about repairing dents and scratches in stainless trim and polishing it to a mirror finish.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
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Great video and very instructional. I would be interested on his advice on pieces still on a vehicle. Some of the other cars, it’s risky to pull the stainless off, as you may damage it or have to ruin clips that may be difficult to replace.
I’ll let him know you had a question. I’m not sure what he’d say but I would think it could be pretty risky with paint near by. I suppose you could tape off and protect any areas that could sustain any potential damage leaving the stainless exposed.
Hello David,
Glad you liked the videos. There’s a couple things you should be aware of if you’re going to try to polish stainless steel trim on the car. First I wouldn’t use any machine or power tools as the chance of heating up the material and damaging the paint is to high. Also the chance of the wheel slipping off the trim and damaging the paint is pretty good.
The only way I know to get a really mirror like finish is to take it off the car. However, you can still do some polishing of the trim on the car. First tape the paint so it’s well protected leaving only the trim exposed. You can use some 4 ought steel wool by hand with some metal polish to get a pretty good shine. Doing this by hand will take a lot of time and can put a pretty good cramp in your hand so pace yourself and take your time.
~Cody
Thanks Cody. I was hoping that you would have some creative way that I could do it with a machine but I understand your points and that it why I have been doing it by hand. Unfortunately, their is an abundance of it on my 53 Olds 98. I have masked and hand worked it with some success but may have to take the risk of trying to remove some of it as well. All I really still need to do is the window trim.
Thanks again,
DRJ