VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 Trim care

So most of the trim on my car is chrome and fairly easy to care for but what is the trim below the windows that wraps around the body and how is the best way to care for it? Is it stainless steel?

It is stainless

CMC,

Being stainless, it shouldn't need any care. Just wash it with the rest of the car and wipe it off afterwards.

Charlie

I would guess the moulding are dull form use and old age. They would need to be removed and sent to a stainless steel polisher to get the original luster back. Rmoving and replacing the moulding is a huge job with a chance of deforming them in removal + try to find new fastening clips and strips.

You can buff them out at home with a stainless steel polishing kit (3 or 4 cutting waxes) and a polishing wheel. While they are off of the car you can bump out any small dents as well. All of the usual parts suppliers sell the clips for them.

Hi Chris,

You need to be real fixated to deal with polishing stainless, and yes my wife says I am fixated. I have hundreds of hours polishing and taking the dents/scratches out of my stainless. My first question is was your car painted with the stainless on or off the car? If it was taken off I would go back to the painter/bodyman and see how he dealt with the removing and installing the stainless. As Gene mentions removal of stainless can be fraught with problems because of the type of fasteners used and the what ifs of the previous installer. What if he used bolt fastners and you thought they should be clips? What if the door panels would need to be removed to access a nut? What if you bend a piece, where will you find another? What if you scratch your paint job?

You can try to polish the stainless while installed using a chrome polish or a rubbing compound. This will take off the worst of the stainless dullness. You could even try masking off the area you want to work on and use a buffing wheel on an electric drill.

Once stainless has been removed then go to YOUTUBE for advice on shining it. My best method is to repair the dents first, and wet sand all the scratches out of the trim. I use sand paper as aggressive as 100 grit to as fine as 2000 grit then I buff it on a small bench buffer. Grit used is determined by he depth of the scratch. Always use the finest grit that can remove the scratch effectively (less work).

Removing Belt Line Trim Tips














Good Luck, Mike

P.S. If you have any hand issues (arthritis, carpal tunnel), this job is not for you. Don't assume it will be easy and cheap to find replacement clips or fastners unless you like the challenge of making your own (been there done that).

Removing and polishing a large curved stainless, piece like under your rear window, is a real challenge. Don't even think of removing it until you have polished and reinstalled all your other stainless.

Not sure about your last sentence there, Mike. I would want to make sure I can remove the biggest pieces to polish before starting to polish anything. You don't want to find out that you can't get the bigger pieces off after having the rest polished, or you'll have uneven finishes on the trim work.

It was repainted with it still on the car...it's in really good shape, I was just curious how the best way to care for it was so it stays in great shape. Thanks for all the replies!

I have found that polishing the trim with a product called "Simichrome" works very well. It's not going to take out scratches, but it does a great job of brightening things up. Most of the usual vendors have it.

Another good product for polishing/cleaning trim is run of the mill silver polish found in the supermarket. Relatively inexpensive and effective. I've used Wiemans, and Brasso comes to mind as well.

Good Luck!!!

Hey Mike I got the same setup in my shop mounted on a steel pedestal stand. I also have those bars in other colors with different grits to also do aluminum and other metals and always use the same wheel for whatever metal that you are working on and never mix them up. Also should always wear a mask from the dust coming off those wheels!
Rory
1934 Chevrolet Standard DC Sport Roadster for sale
1933 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1934 Ford 4 Door Sedan under construction
1933 Ford 4 Door Phaeton

If you plan to have your stainless trim sent out to be polished ,you may want to have a back up plan in place just in case a piece is damaged...I had one damaged badly,luckly I had a back up...It didn't take to long to start learning to do most all my work my self....You defiantly care a lot more!!!