Shiny stuff is purdy...

I finally decided it was time to start working on some of the chrome and stainless parts that I took off Big Red in the fall, and went to work with my trusty Nevr Dull. Man that stuff works great! The parking light covers were first, and they went from a tarnished red/brown to mirror shine very quickly. Then I worked on the side trim pieces for the hood cowling (I'm still missing two of those - and need to buy the missing ones at some point soon). I then decided to work on the hood ornament, which is quite pitted. I had read up on removing pitting from chrome, and found that I should start by knocking them down with steel wool. That worked great, and also polished the chrome at the same time. The issue is that the pit marks remain, and I'm guessing that there's no real way to remove them without having the piece re-chromed. Just thinking about that cost makes my bank account shudder... Anyway, remember this video?:

I had it up here on the blog back in August. Since I can't find a local chrome place, I think I'm going to at least contact these guys to get an estimate on having the piece re-done. At least then I'll know how much it would cost. Plus, that's the only real big chrome piece on Big Red. Everything else are very small pieces that I can just clean up.

I should note I also started looking closer at the hubcaps too. They were never chromed, which is great news. They are, however, rusted pretty good. Maybe time to break out that hand grinder I acquired and try to (gently) remove the rust?

The "before" pic.

Pieces I worked on today

Look at that shine!

Visitation Rights

Happy New Year Big Red fans! The family and I just returned from a mini-family reunion down at my folks place. We got to see my parents plus my sister and her family. It was shorter than we would have hoped, but a good visit. Now, if only we get that last piece of luggage that the airline lost...

Anyway, as I have noted, my Father has bought me several tools for Big Red lately, and I got to "visit" them while we were down. Unfortunately, most of the stuff was way too big for carry on luggage (a 70 lb. vice, air compressor, 3-ton floor jack with stands and creeper plus some air tools and an oscillating sander), but I did bring back one or two items. My Dad also reminded me that I promised to polish the chrome and stainless pieces over the winter, and that I hadn't done any of that yet. Sigh, yeah, I need to get on that.

Thinking optimistically, it may one day warm up here (it's -2 with a wind chill of -16 as I type this), but I'm not holding my breath. It surely will get colder before it warms. After looking it up, average lows around these parts remain below zero through mid-February, and we will finally see average highs above freezing by April. In other words, the chrome and stainless has time...

Waiting for a ride north

Is it warm up there yet?

Hey - it's cold outside, come play with us!