# Overcoming dull Schwinn chrome



## sworley (Oct 10, 2020)

Hi all, 

So far I’ve had pretty good luck reviving Schwinn chrome with my methods but this 54 Phantom is eluding me. I’m tempted to use like a drill, soft brush head and aluminum polish. Good idea or no?


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## Mymando (Oct 12, 2020)

Cloth buff wheel and a cutting compound. It worked on some Schwinn rims but don’t know if you can ever get them back to a mirror finish?


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## 1motime (Oct 12, 2020)

Sometimes it does not come back.  I had a Green Phantom.  54 also.  The chrome had the same dull look.  Fenders, rims, etc.  No surface rust.  Just dull.  
Maybe there were plating issues at the factory during that time?


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## sworley (Oct 12, 2020)

@1motime Wacky! Maybe!
@Mymando Thanks for the suggestion. Been in the Schwinn game since '03 and this one has me stumped.


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## bloo (Oct 12, 2020)

I too have seen dull chrome like that. If Simmichrome and a bunch of rubbing won't do it, I suspect there is not enough chrome left to polish.


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## Mymando (Oct 12, 2020)

Yea the S 2 rims were blasted with shell media I’m guessing they were rusted don’t know anyway the metal came back to a point? They look like stainless steel. So they look pretty good for what I started with?


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## 1motime (Oct 12, 2020)

If they have even look all over than maybe it as good as it gets.  No rust is good!


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## bikecrazy (Oct 12, 2020)

Mothers mag and aluminum polish.


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## 1motime (Oct 12, 2020)

bikecrazy said:


> Mothers mag and aluminum polish.



Good stuff.  But if plating is dull it will only clean.  Nothing will bring dull chrome back to it's original shine


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## bikecrazy (Oct 12, 2020)

Doesn’t hurt to give it a shot


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## 1motime (Oct 12, 2020)

It's only money.  At  least there will be some cleaner/ polish on the shelf


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## Frank and Pam Skid Kings (Oct 12, 2020)

Schwinn chrome usually has an amazing comeback rate. Just a guess, but bike plating from 1950 to around midyear 1953 probably were subpar due to the Korean war. Seen handlebars  and rims with funky "chrome-like" plating that wasn't. Being a 54 could have been a victim of war process before things got back to normal.


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## cbustapeck (Oct 13, 2020)

Mymando said:


> Cloth buff wheel and a cutting compound. It worked on some Schwinn rims but don’t know if you can ever get them back to a mirror finish?



I second this. You can get them to a polished finish with enough time - heck, you can get raw steel to a near-nickel finish with a good bit of time - just be careful to not burn through the plating. If you use a polishing wheel on an angle grinder, this can happen really fast, and I do not recommend without experience. 

Note that with a bench polishing wheel, burning through the plating on something like that won’t happen easily, but you should get a feel for just how much that takes, first. I recommend the underside of handlebars, where there is usually a good bit of rust and if you screw up it won’t show. 

Some other parts, like the base of a Delta Silveray, it is easy to burn through the plating. Guess how I know?

Short version: Bench polishing  wheel is great, angle grinder is fast but dangerous; test first.


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