Polishing rust off chrome?

Soldato
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Hi all,

In a bid to keep costs on the Project Sport down at all costs, i went out tonight ot try and revive the back box.

It is a twin square slash cut job off a MK2 GTE so i have been told.

The plan was to get it off, give the body a fresh coat of black paint, and get the tailpipes as shiney as possible.

As you will see below, i started to give it a go, i just used some 1200, 800 and 800 wet & dry, however it became very tiresome and only the bits of rust that were patcky really came off (the bitg patches were stubborn)

Backbox.jpg


Whats the best way i can get the shine back and remove the rust? I understand i may not be able to get them perfect, but i want to try and get as close to rust-free and shiney as possible.

Is there a dremel or something i can go out and buy?

Cheers,

Phil
 
Associate
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Use some lower grade wet and dry sandpaper, something like 240 grit should shift the rust. Then work your way up to 1200 and polish :)
 
Soldato
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-westy- said:
Ah yes, didn't think of that. I didn't think the GTE backboxes were polished chrome?

It's an aftermarket one i think, its only the tailpipes that are chrome, the back box itself is mild steel.
 

Zip

Zip

Soldato
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Sand paper will get it off :)

I used it on some of mums old Chairs when i was extremely bored once :p
Could try the ol' coke method on it though :)
 
Man of Honour
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Nope. It's rust coming through from underneath, chrome plated steel. Basically you can use wire wool to rub the crusty stuff off and then move onto a metal polish like Autosol. Wire wool is softer than chrome so it won't scratch it, likewise neither will a brass wire brush.

It will be pitted afterwards though as the rust is under the chrome so don't expect miracles.
 
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Jonny69 said:
It will be pitted afterwards though as the rust is under the chrome so don't expect miracles.

I Just want to get the thick of it off, at the moment it looks terrible, worse than even a normal pea-shooter would! I just want to get as much of the rust off as possible :)
 
Man of Honour
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The wire wool should clear most of it off. I mormally find there is a pinhole through the chrome and the rust is underneath. It kind of ooozes the brown stuff through the hole and stains the chrome. Most of it will polish off but where the holes are will show up. The polish ought to stop the rusty bits and just give it a clean up every now and then.
 
Man of Honour
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Cueball said:
Cola works wonders for this, honestly!

(I saw it on Mythbusters!)
I did too and it did indeed work! He poured it on, let it soak for a minute or two then wiped it clean. It looked like less work than the polish. I'd still go over with the polish afterwards though as it will seal it with wax.
 
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Cueball said:
Cola works wonders for this, honestly!

(I saw it on Mythbusters!)


wasn't that just for polishing the chrome rather than removing rust though (I saw the same episode of mythbusters and the cola was put against a leading brand of polish).
 
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oweneades said:
wasn't that just for polishing the chrome rather than removing rust though (I saw the same episode of mythbusters and the cola was put against a leading brand of polish).
Yer, I can't imagine the cola actually removing the rust if its in great chunks.

For me it would be wire wool then autosol.
 
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