>Leigh asked,
>Now that I know how to stick down that unruly vinyl, (thanks everybody!)
>another "better living through chemistry" question has come up.
>
>What should I use to clean up pitted and rusty chrome? I know the best is
>to have it rechromed, but is there any way to make it a little more
>presentable in the meantime? I'm thinking mainly of the chrome gauge
>surrounds on my 1500, but the windshield frame could do with some work,
>too. Would buffing do any good?
I've been putting in a lot of hours trying to get our '73 510 running by
the end of next week and decided since the engine was out I decided that
I'd clean up the engine bay as well as I could. I also removed the the
battery tray and needed to clean up the area below it in the right front
corner of the compartment. There was a lot of rusty residue all over,
the kind you can get in a coolant system when it's not flushed on a
regular basis. Maybe the P/O had a hose burst and blow this junk all over
the compartment.
My wife suggested that I use a bathroom tube and tile cleaner that was
also for rust stains. I used some called ZEP that she said she'd picked
at Home Depot. I sprayed it on let it set for a few minutes and then used
a stiff brush and a sponge/scotchbrite to work the stubborn spots. There
weren't many with this stuff. Use rubber gloves, too.
I also cleaned up the wiper motor and the brake hard lines using the
cleaner and a stiffer scotchbrite pad. You may need to have the gauge
surrounds rechromed after you get them cleaned up, or maybe spraying them
with some sort of clear coat will work.
HTH, Ron
________________
Ronnie Day
rday@cyberramp.net
Dallas/Ft. Worth
'71 510 2-dr (Prepared class autocrosser)
'73 510 2-dr (Street Toy)
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