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Rick
Samba Member
Joined: December 17, 2003
Posts: 1539
Location: Soquel, California
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 Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2003 10:37 am Post subject: Restoring semi-decent chrome hubcaps |
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| How much polishing can be done on origonal chrome hubcaps? I've done a fair amount of aluminum polishing, but I'm pretty unfamiliar with chrome. In extreme situations can you use compounds and wheels like aluminum or is that strictly out of the question? My caps look ok on the outside, but there is some small rust dots and a lot of dullness. The inside has some definite rust. I'm not sure what to do there. It wouldn't bother me too much that the insides are rusted, except that it will grow and grow. Should I treat the inside with por-15 or would oil or wax slow it down? I doubt I'll find better hubcaps than these since they are origonal 66's so I'd like to work them as much as possible. |
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EverettB 
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Joined: April 11, 2000
Posts: 69807
Location: Phoenix Metro
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3Bugs
Samba Member
Joined: December 27, 2003
Posts: 503
Location: Palmdale California
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| Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2003 12:26 pm Post subject: |
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I used a coarse cut polish (with a wool bonnet) to get some of the shallow scratches out and then finished them with swirl remover (using a black foam bonnet/pad). Both are used to finish automotive paint. This worked real good and did not take any plating off that I noticed but it took a while to get them shiny. If you use the same standard as for paint polishing where as if the scratch cannot be felt with your finger nail you should be OK with the polish I mention. Anything deeper has to be sanded out and your plating may go with it.
As for the POR-15 on the backs. I did mine that way and it had a tendency to chip off where the cap clips on. I decided to cover those chipped areas with a rust converter and then spray epoxy paint. Seems to be less brittle and appears to be holding up better. Oil floats on water so if they get wet you will trap the moisture in causing more rust. Wax may cause the same problems.
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3Bugs
Well, actually a 67 Bug, 72 Super, 61 Ghia and a 2004 Beetle Vert (sorry) |
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johann_24
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Joined: October 26, 2003
Posts: 117
Location: So Cal
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| Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2003 2:05 pm Post subject: |
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EB, does that count as porn?
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When you're in up to your ears, keep your mouth shut.
'63 Classic resto bug |
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EverettB
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Joined: April 11, 2000
Posts: 69807
Location: Phoenix Metro
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gt1953
Samba Member
Joined: May 08, 2002
Posts: 13848
Location: White Mountains Arizona
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| Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2003 7:18 pm Post subject: |
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Say could i send you my hubcaps and have em worked on? 
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Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.
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({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold}) |
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static
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Joined: March 22, 2002
Posts: 1831
Location: The High Desert
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| Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2003 9:03 pm Post subject: |
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| I, for one, am very thankful that johann_24 was wearing clothing when he took that photograph. |
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johann_24
Samba Member
Joined: October 26, 2003
Posts: 117
Location: So Cal
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| Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2003 9:05 pm Post subject: |
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It's not me, Static, it's EB (rhyme not intended). Nice try though 
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When you're in up to your ears, keep your mouth shut.
'63 Classic resto bug |
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FL_VERT
Samba Member
Joined: July 16, 2003
Posts: 173
Location: Tampa Bay
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| Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2004 11:29 pm Post subject: |
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| Brasso Rules.............. |
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mcdonaldneal
Samba Member
Joined: June 13, 2013
Posts: 2648
Location: Gullane, Scotland
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 10:38 am Post subject: Re: restoring semi-decent chrome hubcaps |
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First of all, can I get some sort of prize for resurrecting a thread that has been dead so long I had to unwrap the bandages first?  
It's not a very exciting topic, but here in Scotland's damp climate, even the best condition hubcaps tend to be rusted on the inside. 
The repros are either poorer quality or, as the stainless steel ones, a slightly different shape with a deeper edge.... Easily spotted by the aficionado!
I've had some success cleaning up ones in even quite poor condition, so I thought I would post some pics so that anyone contemplating the same can be encouraged.
My technique has boiled down to: sandpaper, wire brush, dremel, metal prep and POR 15 or other rust treatment paint on the insides, and aluminium kitchen foil, cola drink and Autosol on the outside.
I'm sure the thread will stand up to everyone suggesting their own hints and tips. My guess is that we all have a lot more experience of this since 2003/4! 
Here are the 'before' pics to get us started!...
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mcdonaldneal
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Joined: June 13, 2013
Posts: 2648
Location: Gullane, Scotland
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mcdonaldneal
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Joined: June 13, 2013
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Location: Gullane, Scotland
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mcdonaldneal
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Joined: June 13, 2013
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Location: Gullane, Scotland
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raygreenwood
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Joined: November 24, 2008
Posts: 21512
Location: Oklahoma City
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| Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 10:41 am Post subject: Re: restoring semi-decent chrome hubcaps |
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A far far easier way to prep that rust....and get rid of 100% of it....is to treat it with muriatic acid (swimming pool acid). It dissolves the rust to bare metal in minutes....even in the small pits.Then rinse....then treat with baking soda and water for a minute to neutralize any leftover acid.
Let it sit for a night....it will flash rust right away...which is what the active ingredient in most rust converter paints will convert to primer.
Nice work though! Ray |
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mcdonaldneal
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Joined: June 13, 2013
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Location: Gullane, Scotland
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wcfvw69
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Joined: June 10, 2004
Posts: 13389
Location: Arizona
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| Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 11:17 am Post subject: Re: restoring semi-decent chrome hubcaps |
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I've always lived in the dry South West USA so too see hub caps THAT rusted is something else!!
I was on the same page as Ray. Some kind of acid (being VERY careful to not to spill it on the good side) to eat that rust away. The other option is to tape up and cover the front side and throw them in a media cabinet to remove the rust. Then, epoxy primer them and call it good.
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raygreenwood
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Joined: November 24, 2008
Posts: 21512
Location: Oklahoma City
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| Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 4:13 pm Post subject: Re: restoring semi-decent chrome hubcaps |
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The commercial name for it us hydrochloric acid.
Let me warn you explicitly. .....
work outdoors with it.
Put a fan to the side and behind you blowing across the work away from you.
Keep a 5lb box of baking soda close by for spills plus a garden hose turned on with a hand sprayer.
Mix up a bucket of 1 gallon water with 1 lb baking soda for neutralizing and for emergencies.
You MUST/SHOULD wear a reapirator with acid/VOC cartridges.....most tool stores can sell you one for about $30 that will serve you for years. You can get away without one IF you are careful and have cross vemtilation so you dont breathe the smoke and vapor that comes off the acid.
Wear splash proof goggles. Nitrile gloves are fine.
NEVER add water to the acid. You can pour acid into some water if you want to dilute it. About 70/30 acid to water is good for working slow.
Easiest, safest way is to pour about 2-3 ounces at a time into a ceramic or glass dish and use a cheap china bristle brush with the bristles cut down to about 3/4" long.
Dip the brush and work into the rust. It will fizz up as it eats rust. When it quits fizzing add more.
It wont hurt the chrome unless it has pinholes through the plating or you leave it on for long periods. On rust like that hubcap I use acid straight.
When you get all the rust dissolved......pour the spent acid into a plastic container snd then dip the hubcap into the bucket of baking soda and water. It will fizz hard.
Then rinse. When you arr done....take the plastic container of spent acid and the ceramic bowl....and drop them into the bucket of baking soda and water. They will fizz violently for a while. Then take the hose and dilute that gallon of water with 5-10 gallons of fresh water and run it down the drain or gutter its safe at that point. Ray |
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mcdonaldneal
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Joined: June 13, 2013
Posts: 2648
Location: Gullane, Scotland
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mcdonaldneal
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Joined: June 13, 2013
Posts: 2648
Location: Gullane, Scotland
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| Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2016 10:44 am Post subject: Re: restoring semi-decent chrome hubcaps |
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I put the second coat of rust treatment paint on the inside and left it a while to start drying.
So, to the shiny side.
This hubcap is probably the worst one I've tried to clean up. You've seen how horrendously rusty it was on the inside. I expect some of that rust will have travelled through to the front side of the chrome. I'm not expecting a perfect result here, but maybe to show that even a very bad hubcap can be cleaned up to have as a spare.
The front is not only pitted with rust, but scratched and dented in parts.
I needed a can of Coke.
I don't know whether diet or regular is best, but the regular had phosphoric acid further up the ingredients list, so I bought that.
A folded up piece of aluminium kitchen foil creates a paste with the Coke and cleans up most of the rust.
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1978 marino yellow Bay Dormobile camper
1969 signal orange Karmann Ghia convertible
1976 martini olive Bay Dormobile camper
Stop dead photo links! Post photos to The Samba Gallery! |
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mcdonaldneal
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