Any ideas how to restore chrome?

russki

Hi Lads!

Is there anything on the martket to restore chrome? Rust touched my bike's chrome here and there especialy exhaust pipes .
Maybe we have have a garage who does that type of job? How much would it cost?

russki

I think I may have just found the answer: Autosol.
A good man next door mentioned it to me today and I looked it up on the Internet. Among the results is this Total Motocycle review -> http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/reviews/AutosolReview.htm

Will try to find a tube of the thing and give it a go. Promise to post few pictures 'before' and 'after'.

Still if anyone has a good reliable contacts for re-chroming, a few pints is on me

The Doktor

Personally I think Autosol is a bit rough for chrome.
How bad is the rust? You might try and use a less abrasive polish first.

Steffano2002

Well on Mythbusters they did it with loads of different products and you know what had the best results? Coca-Cola! Give it a go I say. Cheap and all you need after that is proper elbow grease!

subway

does rust on chrome not just lift off?
unless the chrome is scratched/removed and the rust on the metal underneath then a good polish with any bike cleaner should lift it off fairly quick.

russki

The Doktor wrote:

Personally I think Autosol is a bit rough for chrome.
How bad is the rust? You might try and use a less abrasive polish first.

I was trying to lift it off with the paste the man, who sold me the bike, gave me. Can't remember the name of it. The tube is home, will post the name in the evening. It did a good job on the spots where rust was not that bad as on the pisture 'exhaust.jpg' below.

While we are on it. I bought an engine decreaser '3in1' and was wodering if it cleans up engines nicely? (see the pictures)

bushy...

The chrome itself doesn't rust afaik , but it is porous ( there's usually nickel and copper layers put on first) so i presume whats starting to happen is the nickel is breaking down and letting water touch the steel below.

The Doktor

That chrome looks pretty bad. What I would do, for the chrome, get a Scotchbrite scrubby pad (the ones you use for cleanin pots!!) the least rough one you can find like this http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/!ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Q9KzYt3d9KP0I8yizeIN_QxsdAvyHBUBABrnmo-

Clean the rust off with the pad and soapy water.
If I was you Id do a job on the aluminium too

Oryx

Weve used autosol (also called autochrome) for years. Never found it abrasive. Works brilliantly on light rust, but wont do much for heavy rust marking.

Torq

Steffano2002 wrote:

Well on Mythbusters they did it with loads of different products and you know what had the best results? Coca-Cola! Give it a go I say. Cheap and all you need after that is proper elbow grease!

Hi Guys,
One of the main ingredients of coca cola is phosphoric acid which also happens to be the base of many de rusting solutions. It reacts with the rust(ferrous oxide) and converts it to ferric oxide. Rust on chrome is due to water getting through tiny holes in the plating and reacting with the base metal. The only real way of restoring chrome is to have the item stripped and replated, everything else is just getting rid of the symptoms while ignoring the problem.
Keep well,
Torq

Oryx

Torq wrote:

Hi Guys,
One of the main ingredients of coca cola is phosphoric acid which also happens to be the base of many de rusting solutions. It reacts with the rust(ferrous oxide) and converts it to ferric oxide. Rust on chrome is due to water getting through tiny holes in the plating and reacting with the base metal. The only real way of restoring chrome is to have the item stripped and replated, everything else is just getting rid of the symptoms while ignoring the problem.
Keep well,
Torq

Agreed, but do you know of any chromers in this country? If you do find one here or in UK, its v expensive. I think slightly pitted original chrome is much better (and cheaper) than really crappy rechroming.

The Doktor

One good way to keep the rust away is to use Autoglym Super Resin Polish after you have cleaned off the rust.
Ive always been particular about the chrome on a bike and would still not use autosol on it, it is abrasive. fair enough about using it on the rusted areas, but I would never use it on the rest of the good chrome.
I`ve only ever once got parts rechromed, and that was panels on the tank of an AS1. I got it done in Ireland, and it was only £40. And have to say it was a top class job. Never seen any rust ever come through.
Autosol is however the best thing to start polishing aluminium. Followed by Autoglym metal polish, which is slightly less abrasive.

russki

The Doktor wrote:

I got it done in Ireland, and it was only £40. And have to say it was a top class job. Never seen any rust ever come through.

Maybe it's just about time to share the name of the company who did the top class job for you? ;-)

The Doktor wrote:

get a Scotchbrite scrubby pad (the ones you use for cleanin pots!!) the least rough one you can find like this http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/!ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Q9KzYt3d9KP0I8yizeIN_QxsdAvyHBUBABrnmo-

So, which one from the list? I guess the least abrasive one, which is Scotch-Brite™ No Scratch Scourer
(first one one the page). Correct?

The Doktor wrote:

If I was you Id do a job on the aluminium too

That was the second question ;-). The trick is that some parts seem to be covered with some sort of coating (like a foil). My worry, if I start polishing it, I disturb and lift-off the coating, which I don't want to do. So, I thought a degreaser would help me: spray over, wait and power-wash it. Am I right?

The Doktor

The guy who did my chrome just worked out of a big garage at his house, Cant remember is name, or dont have a phone number. I got his name from a flyer in a bike shop a few years ago... sorry cant help u...lol

As for a scourer, just get the lightest one u can find in a supermarket.

Now, ur aluminium is more than likely covered with a laquer. The laquer starts to peel, and chip, and then looks crap. If you really want make it look good you need remove the laquer and then polish the aluminium.
1. put on nitromorse on the part you want to clean up, using a small paint brush. Careful not to get it on anything else, as its quite corosive!!
2. Rub off after a few mins with steel wool, and repeat until all laquer is gone.
3. Polish aluminium with a rag and Autosol, using only a pea size amount at a time(using a small bit at a time gets better results)
4. Buff off Autosol with a clean rag.
5. Polish again with Autoglym metal polish and buff off...
6. Give a light polish with Autoglym Super resin polish. And then buff with a clean soft cloth.
Doing this you can get a mirror finish on ur aluminium. But its a lot of work!!

One thing to make an engine look really fresh is to repaint the cylinders, as it only takes a few mins.
Just give it a rub of a wire brush, and then paint it with high temp paint that u can get in any motor factors.