The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Surface Rust Removal - Chrome - Updated with pics!

This last winter, I was forced to drive my 52 during one of our snow storms. The transportation dept. here uses Mag-Chloride, which as you're probably aware is very corrosive.

I had it all over the grill of the truck. Thought I had washed it off pretty well, but now I seem to be having a problem with continually returning surface rust.

I clean it off with metal polish, and it seems to return faster than I can polish.

Anyone had any success with a more permanent chrome surface rust removal technique?

Years ago, I had a bottle of some type of chemical rust remover. I used it on a set of extremely corroded chrome wheels. It took the rust off very well, leaving a nice chrome finish, without harming the surface. Slapped a coat of was on top, and never had another problem.

Sure can't remember the name of the stuff now though.

With my luck, the EPA has probably shut them down anyways.

i don't know but i have the same problem you do on a few odds and ends, but not my grill, i'll watch to see what folks say, cause i will need to know also

I was having this problem last year with aftermarket parts I had on my truck -- buttons on my new door handles and other parts like that kept forming rust. I tried chrome polish after steel wool and the rust would come back after a week or two. It was bugging me big time - as you well know!

One day I was talking to a Harley enthusiast/buddy of mine and I was complaining about these things. He just looked at me and said " GIBBS " ... "What?" I replied ...

Long story made short, I found GIBBS on the web, ordered some, and couldn't believe the results!

I coated those parts with this stuff ... just foamed it on and let it sit ... 2 or 3 times. That was last year -- and I haven't seen a stitch of rust anywhere ever since!!!

This stuff *really* penetrates metal and - get this - it not only repells water and stops rust, but it keeps working and eliminates rust altogether!

Trust me when I tell you -- this stuff is no joke: it really works!

Alan:

Upon reading your post, I promptly ordered a can. I have a few trucks with the aftermarket reproduction chrome parts on them, only to discover they all have the same problem with recurring surface rust. If this stuff is as advertised, I have just become a lifelong customer. Thanks for the heads up.

Tony

Sounds like snake oil to me. Sorry!

I have had real good luck with just plain old white tooth paste. Yes you heard (read) me correctly tooth paste. It is the best chrome polish that I have ever bought.

It ain't snake oil, man. This stuff has been tried by me personally ... and, like I said, *NO* rust has returned after going through Winter rain and snow.

I brought a pair of plyers in the house that had some surface rust on them ... I sprayed some GIBBS on 'em and walked away ... 15 minutes later I came back to wipe them down and the rust was all gone!

Go ahead. Be skeptical ... and keep fighting the rust. Whatever makes you happy, man.

As for me, I don't have to think about it anymore.

Hey, Tony -- you'll really be glad you bought the GIBBS -- wait'll you try it ... you'll be telling everyone about it just like I do.

Alan,

If you swear by it, that's good enough for me.

I've placed an order tonight as well. If it works half as well as you say, I'll have saved a bundle over the cost of replacing/replating my grill.

I'll report back to you and let you know what I experience.

Alan,,,I trust your word!!!! Im ordering some for me and a spare to have on hand for my skeptic friends. If it works for you in Jersey,,I know it'll work just fine here in Calif.
Thanks,Marty

do the chrome parts attract dirt/grime after using gibbs?

Niagara:

You didn't know, snake oil is the best thing for surface rust prevention. Gibbs told me they they sold me your share. I will let you know how it works! Alan, thanks for the tip.

Tony

Gibbs is one of those magical things in a bottle.
Been around for a while and many old car and motorcycle guys know and talk about it.
It can penetrate metal deeper than water does and if you re-apply it every few years, rust has little chance to develop.

Can be used on bare metal and left as is or top coated with primer and paint.
It's great on carb bases, intakes and other bare metal parts anywhere on the car.
The ones who used it, swear by it.
It also helps removing old rusted bolts and nuts and there a million other uses.


Here are some great tips on removing rust on chrome parts, that I saved from a pro-polisher who specializes on old cars:

NEVER, EVER, no steel wool on chrome !!
It's the kiss of death.
It pushes iron into the pores of the chrome that unites with the iron underneath and leads to splitting, flaking, you name it.
NEVER, EVER use a polish on chrome that contains ammonia.
Ammonia dissolves chrome.
Crumpled up aluminum foil and cola works well if the chrome is broken.
If it is unbroken, use a QUALITY chrome polish.
That doesn't include mothers or turtlewax.
They are rubbish.
Manufactured to generate resales.
Find a polish that doesn't contain ammonia, ammonia bi fluoride or sodium hydroxide and you have a chance of getting something that will protect your chrome, not dissolve it.
I don't like Wenol, Flitz, Mothers, Simichrome, Nev'r Dull.
I do like products that are pH neutral.
I also like Busch, white Diamond is not so bad, Zephyr pro 40, and a couple of others, but you might want to remove waxes with alcohol to stop hazing.
Basically if chrome is pitted (especially with aluminum or pot metal underneath) it's on the way out.
Cola and aluminum foil is the best savior I know for making it look 1/2 way decent, if it's over steel.
On pot metal and aluminum those little green edged pits just keep returning.
If you can get the corrosion off a good waxed polish will help.
If chrome is unbroken it should be washed with soapy water and toweled dry.
You should only use an abrasive polish on chrome (mine included) to remove light surface scratches from road grit.
Heavy scratching where you can see a little gold or yellow is a sign that scratch is through the chrome to the nickel.
Then it's ok to use a pH neutral waxed polish to slow down the nickel yellowing.


I just did the bumpers and grill on my 48 coupe last week (see link). They haven't had a cleaning or polishing in decades and had a dull grey patina that took a while to remove.
Where the chrome was already flaked off or pitted, the aluminum foil covered the rusted areas until it was all shiny, looking like stainless now.
Perfect for a driver, that doesn't have to be show car quality and were the cost of rechroming is not an option.
Apply Gibbs with a brush before the aluminum and rust will stay away for years, especially in the dryer states.

"GIBBS" has come up before on the board. I read all the literature including you can paint over it, Ya right. I bought a can, and you can paint over it! That doesn't make sense painting over oil(?), it has to be snake oil, but it works. I've used it as a penetrant too, I thought Kano was good. Now I wonder if I can get in a gallon can.

Larry

Nope ... not at all.

I'm telling you, this stuff is really something - the first snake oil that delivers everything promised.

It stopped my fan belts from chirping, too.

And another thing -- I have a refrigerator that has a stainless steel door that was a nightmare because every time I touched that thing, I left finger prints ... it was driving me absolutely crazy! I tried everything under the sun to get those fingerprints off and *nothing* would do it! Then I sprayed it with GIBBS *one* time -- and I haven't seen one single mark on that thing yet!

Alan..I do not want to be difficult. But why did you not use the Gibbs product on your aluminum step plates.

You made a post recently about the very poor quality of the aluminum and that you threw it away. Click here Yet this product claims it will work on aluminum.

"GIBBS can be used on any type of metals, including:

• Aluminum
• Brass
• Bronze
• Cast Iron
• Copper
• Magnesium
• Titanium
• Steel; Mild Steel, Stainless Steel and Tool Steel
• Chrome-Moly "

I also read on the Gibb's testimonials about the product and you have the longest testimonial of the few that replied. The optics, in my view, do not look good.

Please clarify!

My bad. Simple as that. I made the mistake of assuming they were stainless steel because of their original looks.

Also, they had some kind of "blacking" applied to the surface to bring out the diamond plate and Chevy logo design ... it smeared when I checked it out -- I thought, honestly, that they put shoe polish on them!

Finally, after they had oxidized, I tried GIBBS to clean them up, but it was too late -- the GIBBS did nothing.

The biggest lesson of all that I have learned in modifying my first stovebolt is to avoid aftermarket products like the plague!

"The biggest lesson of all that i have learned in modifying my first stovebolt is to avoid aftermarket products like the plague!"

AMEN Alan!

Marty

I have a relative who is on the Power Wagon forums. We spoke about Gibbs, and he says it has the same reverence on his forums as I've come across on Stovebolt.

Good enough for me to at least give it a try!

Bill

i have used #0000 steel wool for years with no issues.

I had surface rust on my grill and i used tin foil and it works awsome no scatches just results. I saw it on myth busters so i thought i would try it, its not a bust.

which side of the tin foil..shiny or dull

I've used 000 and 0000 steel wool to get surface rust off, and that works very well. Coat with a good chrome polish and buff out afterwards, and you're in good shape.

Never used the Gibbs, but that sounds good, too.

Hey Alan, maybe a tech tip for the 'bolt page would be in order??? That way the info would be saved & available for all to benefit from.

OK Alan! Taking your word for it. Ordered some today myself. Hate the rust "sprinkles" showing up in newly rechromed stuff. We'll see how it works and report!

Would someone be so kind as to explain the Coke and aluminum foil? I haven't heard of this one.

OnTheRoadAgain, I would tend to agree wit all that you posted. Chrome plating is only a few millions of an inch thick and any abrasive, like cleaners and especially steel wool of any grade, is just gonna strip it right down to the nickle. That is if there is any nickle under it at all!
The aluminum thing is something that we were using 50years ago when I worked at a Chevy dealership. The porters used it to fill in the pits when thay cleaned up the used cars.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Aluminum foil, that sounds like a lost art. I have got to learn more 'bout that. I use ammonia solutions to clean bathroom mirrors at work, and yup, the chrome edging looks terrible after just a couple of years. No more shine and a lot of blck areas!

if i use gibbs on my cab rust will it disolve wishing

I hope you can get your hands on some, Trev!

It *will* stop it from going further, 32fire2 ... and, as much as is possible, it will even reverse it some.

Well I got to admit, I have been reading about this Gibbs miracle juice for the past few months with my usual skepticism, but ya got me convinced buddy! Alan,.you rank up there as one of the more knowledgeable contributors and the reports or your experience on your web site are a testimonial to your determination. They have helped me immeasurably in getting up to speed after a long, long absence.
So what am I out if it's not all that it's cracked up to be, just a few bucks and another jug on my shelf of obscurity.
I feel the same way bout Kroil which I have used for decades and it has always lived up to it's claims.
Thanks
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

So I guess it was after you tried the product that you ended up building this guys web site?

Just curious, because when a guy who designed a website starts preaching about that websites product being the greatest thing since sliced bread, and writes a lengthy customer review on that site, I get just a bit suspicious.

Unless the 'Alan Horvath' that is credited as that sites webmaster as well as the designer isn't you, and it's just a strange coincidence you both share the same name.

If it is you, i'd think at the very least, in the interest of full disclosure, you'd have mentioned that in your first post on this subject.

I never tried alumnum foil with coke but i tried with soap and water,trust me it works you will never find out until you try it

Hey, Denny -- You'll see ... this is one product that will *not* sit on your shelf unused!

Hey, Fumblin46 -- I found GIBBS on the web and ordered a can via telephone ... and wound up talking for a while (Jerry is a very talkative guy). He was complaining about his web site guy and I jumped on the opportunity (that's how I pay my bills).

I've built many, many web sites, Bro' ... but I don't promote them, I just build 'em. I get *nothing* from promoting GIBBS ... other than the satisfaction of turning my friends on to something they won't forget me for. I'll leave it at that.

Well sounds like enough folks bought the stuff here that we'll start hearing if it lives up to the claims pretty soon.

I ordered some Gibbs and used it briefly yesterday. I applied it with a paper towel,it says to use a cotton towel and it did clean up my aluminum valve covers nicely. I used it on some rusty chrome parts and wasn't real impressed. Does it need to be sprayed on and left to soak a little? Maybe I'm applying it wrong.
Joe

From what i've read, you spray it on.. let it soak a week or more, then come back and sand it down to bare metal with a DA sander.

Then like magic, the rust is gone!

If there is still rust left after hours of sanding, then it's not Gibbs Brands fault.. you must have not let it soak long enough.

how big of a container does it come in?

Mikes 63-K10, Gibbs

Hey, Joe -- You do have to let it sit. Depending on how much rust there is ... I had some surface rust on a pair of plyers and it disappeared in 10 minutes -- before I got to wipe it down!

Check out the TIPS & HOW-TO\'s - Here

PS - Everyone who's bought some has saved some money ... his prices are all about to go up because he made an error in judgement and is losing money. This stuff requires very special shipping because it is considered "hazardous material" -- it can't be shipped via regular mail.