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Bumpers, Valve Cover, Air Box, etc.

Cain

Jedi Trainee
Offline
I'm about to do some car part stripping, painting, blasting, polishing, etc. on my '71 TR6. But, before I start anything I want to confirm what material the following items are (i.e., chrome, stainless steel, aluminum, etc.) assuming they are all stock:

- Air Filter Intake (Aluminum??)
- Bumpers (I believe chrome plated but not sure)
- Valve cover (Aluminum??)
- Wheels (Steel)
- Luggage rack (I think chrome)

Thanks
 
OK, on my car (stock 73 TR6) my valve cover and airbox are both steel. They are painted in a silver color that looks like aluminum. I refinished them some time ago and stripped them to bare metal, along with my wheels. The wheels are steel also. Bumpers and luggage rack (Anco style) are chrome plated steel.

Hope this helps.
 
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/iagree.gif and would add that the timing chain cover is also steel with some funky sound-deadening goop over the cam sprocket.

As a suggestion, if you are going to have the bumpers re-chromed, make sure you see some representative samples of the shops work and let them know what level of quality you expect. A neighbor went with a price about $50 less than another shop and got a lousy job on his truck bumpers. The quality rests with the prep work.
 
Hi,

I know a slightly warm silver called "Argent" was used on many cars' wheels and a variety of underhood parts. It's so common on British sports cars that many powder-coating outfits doing a fair amount auto restoration work now stock a pre-mix of it as a standard color. Perhaps that's the color you are looking for on some of those items.

You might also look at vtr.org for the TR6 vehicle experts (who write the rule books for concours judging) and email them. They can probably tell you exactly what you want to know.
 
Whoops! I just re-read your question and I think you are looking for info about the under-lying material, not the color of the finish. Sorry.
 
To make up for my earlier faux pas, here's a simple test. Use a magnet to decide if something is aluminum or steel. Aluminum won't attract it, steel will.

Chromed parts like bumpers will be steel underneath, first plated with copper, then nickle, then chromium, with polishing steps inbetween. Of course, there are also plastic chrome imitators, but not too many of these on our old cars thankfully.
 
Thanks for the responses, folks.

Actually, I'm in the process of trying to refinish the items I mentioned. Since the airbox, valve cover, and rims are steel, I'll sand blast and repaint. I've got some high heat aluminum paint I'll use on the airbox and valve cover, but I don't know what paint to use on the rims. Any suggestions?

I've started working on the luggage rack. I'm trying to see if I can shine it up without sending it to get rechromed until I can get some more funds. I figured it was chrome, but really couldn't tell due to the brown tint and rust spots. (The bumpers are in much better shape.) Anyway I gave it a good rub down with 000 steel wool and brought some life back to it. After the rub down I tried some chrome polish (cheap Turtle wax stuff) in one area and WD-40 in another to try to remove some deep rust spots the steel wool didn't get. I didn't see much difference with the oil, but the polish did an okay job.

Can anyone suggest their favorite chrome polish/rust remover to use?

Thanks for all your help!!
 
Hi Cain,

There are a number of sources of Argent silver paint, if that's the color you want for the wheels. Try www.eastwoodcompany.com, for one place.

However, if you want a really durable finish I recommend you consider powder coating. Look in your phone book for someone who does it locally, or ask around at any Triumph or LBC club, if you are a member of one.

Powder coating is about 5X as durable as any paint, and is available in a wide variety of colors. It's also available in a variety of finishes, such as wrinkle or veined, and in high temperature versions. Another advantage is that powder coating "flows" to fill small pits from rust or other minor surface flaws. Also, unlike paint, powder coat has no pores to allow moisture to intrude and rust to get started under it, so coated items stay nice much longer.

www.hotcoat.com is a subsidiary of Eastwood Company that sells a home user powder coating kit and can give you some idea of the method and the various colors available. But, wheels are pretty large to try to do with their method, unless you invest a lot in the heat lamps, etc. For beginners, it's better to start with small parts. You probably could get all the parts you mentioned done for about the price of the kit, maybe less if you shop around. Be sure to ask to see samples to judge the quality of work any powder coating shop does, and you might want to ask if they do a lot of auto restoration work and are experienced with it.

Sandblasting is an ideal preparation for powder coating. Most any metal that conducts electricity and can withstand baking at 400 degrees F for less than an hour can be powder coated (aluminum, steel, etc.)

I don't think powder coat is the best fix for chrome, even though there are coatings designed to look pretty similar. IMHO, it just doesn't look right.

I recommend trying to avoid using steel wool, if at all possible, as it tends to promote rust later on. Inevitably there are minute particles left behind and they rust amazingly quickly! Especially don't use it on aluminum, where some of those particles are likely to become embedded and later make an ugly spot, even if you clear coat the piece for a natural aluminum look. With that said, the rare exception is bad rust pitting on chrome, where only real steel wool seems to knock down the little rust bubbles (I've even used an Xacto knife on really bad ones!) Use that 000 as gently as possible to avoid scratches and be sure to follow up with other polishes to try to remove as much of the steel wool as possible.

As an alternative, 3M makes an artificial steel wool that works pretty well and comes in different grades. It is less likely to scratch but not quite as quick smoothing things. With this, there is no concern about promoting surface rust later on.

For chrome I use several different polishes, always by hand. No power polishers of any type. They tend to discolor chrome, in my experience.

Simichrome is one polish. Others can be found at auto parts stores. If one doesn't work, another might. Try a paste chrome wheel polish, Mother's is a good brand. Aluminum/mag pastes work well too, such as Eagle brand. I also use No. 7 car polish, which is a pure polish with no wax, and No. 7 brand chrome polish. This last one is pretty strong stuff.

There are are also "wadding" polishes, which work on certain stains and can be helpful. I use this sort of product on chrome motorcycle exhaust pipes alot. Tear off a hunk and rub the piece down really well, then let it dry and buff off the residue.

For stubborn stuff other than rust, you might try a "white rouge" paste. It's also made in a stick for power buffing, but again I recommend not using power buffing tools on chrome, except in the most desparate cases.

Sometimes one polish will work on some stains, but not touch other stains. Try a different product and see if that works.

When there are small pits with rust (actually caused by pores in the chrome finish that have allowed moisture under and rust to erupt, because the chrome has not been regularly protected) you can use a rust "converter" from a hardware store that changes the rust to a grey/black substance which is more stable. But, the pits usually still show. Some folks then rub the piece with aluminum foil (yeah, the kitchen stuff), so that minute amounts fill the pits and help hide them. It won't be a "concours" finish, but is a whole lot cheaper than having chrome redone (quite pricey, when done right!)

Finally, use a good paste wax or chrome protective product to seal the surface and help keep the rust from returning as long as possible. My definite favorite is Mother's Chrome Polish and Protector. It's a very fine polish, so isn't a big help with serious rust problems or stains, but it really puts a nice sealing finish on chrome and just seems to give it a great depth. Just rub it on, let it dry and buff it off by hand. Use it regularly for the best protection. It also smells pretty good!
 
[ QUOTE ]
As an alternative, 3M makes an artificial steel wool that works pretty well and comes in different grades. It is less likely to scratch but not quite as quick smoothing things. With this, there is no concern about promoting surface rust later on.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you might be refering to scotch-brite pads? It's a synthetic polymer type material that is similar to steel wool in texture and abrasiveness, but it's non metallic (the 3M brand of it is green colored). I use it all the time on the chrome parts on my car and my motorcycle. You can get it just about anywhere, even the grocery store I think, in the aisle with the sponges and cleaners (it's good for cleaning teflon coated pots and pans). I've been using the Mothers wheel polish for awhile now and I think it works very well. I've used it on chrome, aluminum, and even brass with excellent results.
 
Alan,

I had heard not to use steel wool for the reasons you mentioned, but mine has the rust bumps so I figured it couldn't look any worse than that. I'll try your exacto knife technique because I haven't been able to remove the bumps.
 
[ QUOTE ]
(the 3M brand of it is green colored).

[/ QUOTE ]
3M Scotch-Brite is color coated by the abrasiveness. On an ascending scale, it's grey, white, red, green, and brown.
Jeff
 
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