Polished Stainless on Classic Car

[dschribs]

I have a '68 Camaro convertible that has polished stainless trim all around the windshield. All the trim was polished to an awesome shine by a pro at the begining of last Summer but towards the end of the Summer I noticed fine scratches begining to form on the trim peices. I used terry cloth toweling (DOH!!) and Chrome polish to clean them but obviously, either the towels (probably) or the polish was too harsh.

I'm switching over to MF to polish the trim from now on, but I want to know if anyone has any suggestions on:

1. How to remove the scratches other than having them professionally polished again?
- Wondering if a PC with say #80 on a finishing pad might work ? I might buy some scrap pieces on E bay and give those a try first.
- Will something like NXT kind of "fill in" the hairline scratches? I know it has some filling properties...

and

2. What polish I should use to keep them looking nice?

I know that most new cars don't have the real polished stainless trim anymore but I know some of you guys must have run accross this problem on some classics you detailed....

Thanks!!

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Polished Stainless on Classic Car

Originally posted by dschribs
1. How to remove the scratches other than having them professionally polished again?
- Wondering if a PC with say #80 on a finishing pad might work ? I might buy some scrap pieces on E bay and give those a try first.
- Will something like NXT kind of "fill in" the hairline scratches? I know it has some filling properties...

I don't think any of the above would be the proper way to go about removing scratches. The best way to tackle your stainless steel polishing needs is to either have a pro do it, or obtain the products and training that a pro uses. Stainless steel is very hard and you want to approach working on it with the appropriate tools and procedures. Here's a discussion forum on polishing metal that might help.

Metal Polishing Discussion Forum

and

2. What polish I should use to keep them looking nice?

I know that most new cars don't have the real polished stainless trim anymore but I know some of you guys must have run across this problem on some classics you detailed....

Thanks!!

After you have successfully removed the scratches, I would recommend Meguiar's new NXT All Metal Polysh.

Mike