Can I buff Stainless Trim on '66 DeVille?

[Fred Zwicker #23106]

   I have a 1966 Cadillac DeVille Convertible and the stainless trim along top of each door and quarter panel (below the two windows on each side) has some hairline scratches.  Can these scratches be sanded out and buffed?  I thought I read somewhere that this trim was chrome plated. It looks to be stainless, but it could very well be plated.  What is the best way to remove these scratches and polish the surface?

Thanks, Fred

[Porter]

Fred,

Go to it , I polished all of my SS trim on my 66 CDV off the car ( full repaint ) with a cotton buffer wheel and rouge compounds.

Not sure if those were chrome plated ( didn't appear to be ). For my resto I had to remove the glass first to remove that beltline trim.

Just be careful and protect your paint while they are on the car since you won't be removing them , mask the paint if need be, shouldn't stick enough to pull the paint off, use the painter's tape, not as sticky.

Mother's brand chrome polish, Meguairs, etc.

Porter

[Mike Josephic CLC #3877]

It's going to be really tough (nearly impossible) trying to buff those when they are on the car
without damaging the paint using a power buffing wheel.

Tip:  Try this first.  Get a tube of a chrome polish called "Flitz".  It's the best product I've
ever found for polishing stainless, aluminum, or whatever.  It removes fine scratches and leaves a great shine and protection as well..  It's made in Germany but is available here in most good auto stores.  Or visit
their site:  http://www.flitz-polish.com/?leadsource=PS114&s_kwcid=TC|6221|flitz%20metal%20polish||S|b|2568028969&gclid=CICQ05_5_poCFYJM5QodeHEZew

You can do this by hand with a micrifibre cloth or even a terry cloth rag.  Be patient and work
slowly.

You still should mask around the chrome with "painters tape" to protect your paint.  I like the
"blue" type from 3M -- sticks well but not too well -- will not remove the paint.  It comes in three
adhesive levels -- get the "medium" or "low".

Good luck!!

Mike

[Fred Zwicker #23106]

Thanks Mike and Porter,

Since we sell all of the products mentioned at work (TP Tools in Canfield, Ohio), I will see what I can do later today. 

Everyone (including myself) feels that the side trim on my '66 Cadillac is stainless.  However some time ago,  I thought that I read (on this forum) that some Cadillac trim was plated stainless.  I don't want to do any damage. Does anyone know for sure?

Initially I will try with the trim on the car, but will probably end up removing the trim, as there are a couple of very minor dings that need to be worked out.

Fred

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

G'day Fred,

Yes, I too remember the Chromed Stainless items.

It was about "Flash Chrome" or Plating Stainless Steel Trim.

Do a Search on "Flash Chrome" in the "Search" box.

Bruce.

[DinoBob]

It is flash chromed. I had a talk with Ralph Messina about this at last year's Grand National. If you buff it you will be surprised to see the color change. It may become uneven and have a different tint.

[Ralph Messina CLC 4937]

Fred,

The parts are stainless with a flash or hard chrome plate. In the day, metallurgy was beginning to optimize stainless formulations based on the amount of metal shaping needed to fabricate of a particular piece of trim. As  a result, adjacent trim pieces may be different formulation stainless and have a different color when polished. The buffing and polishing removes the surface roughness while the flash chrome makes the reflected color uniform and provides a harder surface to resist wear. I thought I could strip the chrome from my ‘66s stainless trim and just buff it……I had much to learn.  I sanded-buffed-polished the stainless to a mirror shine. When I took the pieces into sun light I could see the different colors. Although all pieces were basically silver, different pieces had gray, blue or brown casts to them that was obvious to casual inspection. I had to flash chrome all  my stainless after polishing. The flash chrome is hard enough to hold up under manual or even light machine buffing. But aggressive scratch removal with gray rouge and a sisal or sewn cotton wheel will smear the plating exposing the stainless substrate color.

Your car is far too nice to get involved removing and restoring the stainless. I would definitely take Mike’s and Porter’s advice and use a high grade polish and bit of elbow grease. The dullness you see is years of dirt and micro scratches that should come out with a little work. I find polishing things very rewarding because you can at least see your results  “right now”.

Mike thanks for the “Flitz “polish suggestion. I have a friend who is freaky about polish and has every brand known to man…..but he never mentioned that one. I will tell him about it just to watch him go neurotic trying to find it.


Ralph

[Jim Govoni CLC 20546]

I asked Ralph before I did mine and followed his advise to the letter. I did each part by hand on the car. The results were stunning. Some parts, like the strip along the nose above the grill are harder than others to get a brilliant shine. I used Maguires Chrome Polish followed by Autosol. Eastwood's sells Autosol, and I think it works and looks great.  Jim

[Porter]

Alright, all the SS trim was flash chromed. I had a few dings on my front fender wheelhouse moldings that needed to get "massaged" and the chrome came right off at the high spots when I polished them up. One footer now.

Just a DIY'er resto with a full repaint, not as if I ever intended to grab a GN trophy - nothing got rechromed on my 66 CDV - only got buffed and polished.

The beltline SS trim had to be the cleanest trim on the car, chrome is the hard stuff. They polished up easily and all the minor scratches are gone.

You've been warned Fred - have to remove the front door panels and  glass if you pull that trim and the little front pieces are a PIA to R&R without paint damage.

I managed to remove the rear trim without removing the glass. Open the can of worms ? Suit yourself buddy.

Porter