Quote:
Originally Posted by Torqueofthedevil
...which I haven't seen covered in this forum, so I would be very grateful if anyone could assist. Having viewed a couple of cars, there are several minor blemishes which no doubt apply to any car past its 20th birthday; none of them is significant but sorting them out would make a car look even tidier. In no particular order:
1. Faded black plastic trim (eg wing mirrors or along the roof) - any tips on how to restore a uniform finish, given than the extent of fading varies massively?
2. Pitting to the chrome on the door handles - how to repair, or just how to stop it getting worse
3. Chips to the chrome window surrounds revealing black plastic underneath (rear window in particular). I could just dab some gloss silver paint, which would look better than the exposed black, but is there a better way to do it?
Any help much appreciated! Thanks in advance
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The handles are made of either a polished die cast zinc (aka Zamak or Mazak) or brass alloy which is chrome plated (never stripped one down to find out) but pitting is a common issue depending on the quality (ie initial cost/quality of manufacture) of the base materials - it's a form of electrolytic corrosion. The internal chemical corrosion within the alloy 'erupts' and breaks the thin chrome coating hence the pitting, once the coating integrity is broken moisture gets in and it slowly spreads/deteriorates. Easiest fix is to try and get hold of a more 'perfect' set or refurbish as suggested by spraying, re-chroming is possible but expensive and it's probably going to do the same again in maybe 5-10 years time if your lucky. I think they are still available new but quite expensive.
The stainless steel rear window trim has a black rubber/plastic trim bonded onto each edge and it's that trim that is breaking down/gone brittle. Members have disguised this effect by clever masking and careful spaying with black rubberised or vinyl products (you'll find a thread somewhere on here). I managed to obtain a good used replacement off a member on here or you can still obtain new from Rimmers if you have +£130 spare...