Making an old radiator grill look good

Tinker said:
So drink Jack Daniels while soaking it in coke? :D


I don't drink hard liquor. So what do I know. ;)
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I don't drink hard stuff either. Beer is plenty good enough. I do know that the Coke part of cleaning crusty stuff works. In my hands on experience all of the suggestions for cleaning that 32 grill are viable. Interested in the results and the method(s) used. There are many different ways to achieve the same result.
 
qmdv said:
So the the vertical bars are plated?? What with?
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No, they aren't. Not originally at least. As these guys have been saying, the outer edge is stainless and the bars are painted light gray. If yours are plated they didn't come from the factory like that, so we have no idea "what with".
 
As B-nut says, the bars were painted a light shade of grey, French or dove has been debated. Dave has the M numbers. After market grille surrounds are typically with stainless bars. Also there were plain steel replacement bars made back in the day, although they were slightly thicker metal and do not look as fine as the original. Good news is yours are straight. . If you want original look, clean up the bars and paint them. Take a look at some correct grille shells and you may find that the painted bars look far more elegant than plated/stainless.

My opinion
 
I am almost done with a 32 High Boy. 90% complete so I figure about 75% left to go. I have been collecting stuff for over 40 years and the radiator shell and grill came with the first purchase of key parts in 1976. Did they even make a repro grill back then. I know the shell is orig as it has the holes in it for the lights and a small hole on the left for the horn. The hole for the radiator fill was already filled.

The 32 Ford frame was also in that first purchase. It had holes in the side rails. I was told that it had a channeled PU on the frame when the previous owner bought the car in late 60's. As per the frame number, the car was originally a pickup. I filled the holes in the frame and have mounted a Brookville roadster on top of the frame.

An old picture. My avatar was taken 50 years earlier
FpXXjCyl.jpg
 
tomcarman said:
I've done this a number of times and it works. Try soaking it overnight in Coca-Cola, the original coke. Find a shallow containor it will fit in and go get about $20 worth of 2 liter bottles and fill it up, let it set overnight and rinse with water. Then polish as desired. I don't think Nev-r-dull works well on anything but bare metal but a good auto or chrome polish coupled with good old fashioned elbow grease should produce deisred results.
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The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid which is also the active ingredient in many rust removers and metal prep. Great for removing rust and oxidation but probably not so great for your stomach.
 
Eagle43 said:
The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid which is also the active ingredient in many rust removers and metal prep. Great for removing rust and oxidation but probably not so great for your stomach.
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Since I have a 1/2 gallon phosphoric acid, I may just play a little with that.
 
Try Mister Clean magic eraser the heavy duty one. I heard that its like 5000 grit. I use it on my white walls with Simple Green. Might do less damage than steel wool.
 
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