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Flitz on front chrome bumper of 77' to remove rust?

Ancient4X4

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The chrome on my front bumper is starting to get pretty rusty, I'm thinking of trying some Flitz or other type of product on a small area and seeing how it turns out, I have a small tube. I was also considering some steel wool, which used to work great on the back chrome bumper before it became a lost cause. I'm afraid the steel wool might scratch it though. What do you all recommend?
 
I have found that 'fine cut' rubbing compound works real good on heavy rusted chrome parts. Try it on a small area first. I haven't had it scratch anything yet...knock on wood.
 
I'd go with the others that say steel wool as well, I've got 0000 I use on some stuff, it barely even scuffs paint, it feels about like human hair, if not softer. It's useful to have around for other stuff anyways...polish brass, etc.

No fancy compound is going to do anything more than you can with any appropriate abrasive. The rust means the chrome (actually all three plating materials, copper, nickel and chrome IIRC) has been penetrated to the base metal, the only real fix is to have the piece rechromed. All you do with polish is remove the rust stain from the surrounding chrome, and maybe some sort of protectant coating to make the "fix" look better longer. If you took the actual rusted portion down to clean metal and clear coated the spot, you might get some fairly decent protection against recurrence, but that's a lot of work for minimal gain.

It's cheap to buy a used bumper in good shape (if you can find one) or still likely cheaper than having yours rechromed, go buy one of LMC's premium chrome bumpers.

For a quick fix, steel wool will take the rusted stains off the bumper, up close you'll be able to see the "pinholes" where the rust has stated, but it will likely look quite a bit better for awhile.
 
I thank you all very much for your responses. I will try Flitz and some 0000 steel wool at this point for a temporary solution. Somebody suggested 0000 steel wool a month back on another project not related to trucks and I almost mentioned that, but I'm glad to hear it suggested again because now I will definately try it out.

Once upon a time, about ten years ago I used steel wool (alone) on the back bumper, but as dyeager535 suggested, it didn't last long since the corrosion was down to the bare metal.

I would probably rather have the front bumper re-chromed than order a new one from LMC since I always prefer to keep it as close to original as I can as long as it doesn't cost too much more.

I really appreciate all your help, I'll report back the findings when I get to polishing it.

I will also try to post a picture soon so you better know what I'm talking about.

Thanks
 
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