Making Your Chassis Shine

There are many different ways and techniques to do this.  I will describe how I do things, this doesn't mean that my way is right, or that someones else way is wrong.  Everyone has to use a method that works for them.  This process will work for chassis or other small metal parts such a motors.

Step 1 -  If your part is free of paint/goop you can skip this step and move on to Step 2.  

Sometimes you will find a chassis that has paint, marker, goo, or some other kind of undesireable gunk on it.    If possible I usually try to clean these areas with a small amount of paint remover applied with a Q-tip, or maybe some lacquer thinner on a Q-Tip or rag.  Or sometimes a soaking in rubbing alcohol will work, rubbing alcohol is plastic safe and will not hurt the wheel bearings.  If a chassis is heavily covered it may have to be soaked in paint remover/lacquer thinner to get it clean.  If your chassis has to be soaked that means all axles will have to be removed, I try to avoid this at all costs, I hate removing axles - they bend easily and when you put them back in it can be a challenge to get them level so that all 4 wheels make ground contact.  Bearing type axles are lacquer resistant, so putting these in lacquer thinner is OK.

If a chassis has to be soaked to get it clean, but you don't want to remove the axles, you can try Easy Off Oven Cleaner in the blue spray can.  This stuff is plastic safe so the axles don't need to be removed.  Easy Off will remove most kinds of goop or paint, but is not always successful.  You have to be careful because it will darken metal if left too long.  If the metal darkens, or even blackens, thats not a big disaster, but its not great either.  I really would not recommend using the oven cleaner on metal parts,  its not a great idea, but I do use it on occasion.

Step 2 - Now you want to clean the metal.   You want a mildly acidic cleaner for this.  Some people use lemon juice, vinegar, muriatic acid reduced with water, and there are other things.  I currently use Zep Shower, Tub, & Tile Cleaner from Home Depot or CLR, either is equally effective.  Pour some into a plastic container, never use a metal container.   I submerge the chassis for about 1-2 minutes, it will fizz some, thats OK.  After a 1-2 minute soak remove the chassis, rinse with water, and dry.  Usually it will come out looking sort dull light grey.  It should now have a clean look to it.  I then pour the cleaner back into the bottle, a bottle will last much longer if you do this.

Step 3 - Polishing of chassis to achieve a shiny look.  Use rubber gloves for this.  Take a reasonable size piece of  #0000 steel wool and soak it with some brasso.  Use that to very thoroughly & aggressively scrub the entire chassis.  Once the chassis has been well scrubbed - wash, rinse, & dry.  Next very thoroughly and aggressively polish the chassis using a soft cloth and some metal polish( I use Wenol).  Chassis or parts with  small groves, or corners require polishing with a brush of some kind and some metal polish.  After poliishing buff to a shine with a soft clean cloth.  Wash, rinse, & dry.  Once the chassis is well polished be careful not to touch it with your bare hands - skin oils are damaging to polished or bare metal.  

Step 4 - IF you do not have a vibe polisher you may skip this step.  At this point I drop my chassis in the vibe polisher for 24-48 hours.  If you plan on doing very much restoration work, a vibe is a must have tool.   Vibe polishing will remove all the ultra fine scratches left from hand polishing and give the car body a smooth, bright finish.  Once the car & chassis are removed from the polisher they should be thoroughly but gently cleaned & dried.  It is not absolutely necessary but I suggest that to brighten the chassis even more you can do a quick gentle polish & buff with some Wenol on a very soft cloth.

**At this point I give all my chassis a new coating of bright zinc plating, thats what the chassis were originally plated with.  You can purchase a Zinc Plating Kit from Caswell Industries, if you think this may interest you please e-mail me to discuss things first, that way you can make an informed decision before you decide whether or not to invest in a plating kit.  Most restorers don't go this far.  Zinc plating requires a moderate monetary investment and has a big learning curve.  Zinc plating is the only way to truly make your chassis look factory fresh.

Step 5 - After  the chassis is highly polished (or newly zinc plated in my case) you want preserve that shine.  If the chassis is left exposed to the air it will darken quickly.   Take some masking tape and tape up the wheels bearings (or backing plates depending on the type of axle you have).  I then spray my chassis with 3 part automotive urethane ultra clear.  But that is very expensive stuff,  lacquer clear in a spray can will do a decent job, but it does not seal the metal as good as a urethane clear.  Some NAPA Automotive stores carry a generic 2 part automotive urethane, in quart & gallon sizes, still not cheap, but better than lacquer.  I have been advised that you can purchase small quantities of HoK urethane on-line from a hobby/model shop called Black-Gold, I have not used their site myself.  After  your chassis is clear coated let it dry overnight and the next day it should be ready for use.  Clear coating acts as a sealer protecting the metal from air impurites and protects the finish from skin oils when handling.

NOTE: Even if your chassis is very highly polished and clear coated it may still re-darken overtime.  The brighter it is polished and the higher the quality of clear coat that you put on it the less likely it is to re-darken.