Scuffed Chrome
Scuffed Chrome
I recently replaced the stock seat on my Street Glide...the new seat is shorter and the chrome centre piece on the tank is showing noticeable rub marks from the old seat...anyway to get rid of these? 
Club Member
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 5,323
Likes: 37
From: NJ
I used metal polish to try to remove a scuff on a new heat shield and wound up scratching it even more with the polish....go easy....
I'm thinking that's really scratched and no buffing is going to restore scratched chrome.
I'm thinking that's really scratched and no buffing is going to restore scratched chrome.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 2,938
Likes: 30
From: North Florida
You can polish chrome the same way you polish any metal surface. Whenever you polish anything you are removing the top layer so that everything is perfectly flat.
Problem is chrome is very thin.
There are different types of polish; rubbing compound is very coarse, then you have polish like DuPont #7 then you get to the finer polishes like a glazing compound that painters use. It is also sold in parts stores as a scratch and swirl remover.
Think of polish as a ultra ultra fine sand paper in different grits.
When you polish with steel wool it leaves a haze because the surface is not smooth yet, same with rubbing compound.
When you get to a polish then you will start seeing a good reflection.
Chrome polish is a polish.
Don’t confuse some polishes that you just wipe on, like the one year polish, this is a synthetic finish that fills in the scratches.
You need to determine how deep your scratches are, start with the mild then move up until you see the scratches go away then go back to a less abrasive to polish it out.
A wax has no abrasion in it unless it is a cleaner wax, this works real good but you don’t see many real cleaner waxes anymore.
And most waxes are not true wax.
Problem is chrome is very thin.
There are different types of polish; rubbing compound is very coarse, then you have polish like DuPont #7 then you get to the finer polishes like a glazing compound that painters use. It is also sold in parts stores as a scratch and swirl remover.
Think of polish as a ultra ultra fine sand paper in different grits.
When you polish with steel wool it leaves a haze because the surface is not smooth yet, same with rubbing compound.
When you get to a polish then you will start seeing a good reflection.
Chrome polish is a polish.
Don’t confuse some polishes that you just wipe on, like the one year polish, this is a synthetic finish that fills in the scratches.
You need to determine how deep your scratches are, start with the mild then move up until you see the scratches go away then go back to a less abrasive to polish it out.
A wax has no abrasion in it unless it is a cleaner wax, this works real good but you don’t see many real cleaner waxes anymore.
And most waxes are not true wax.
Last edited by Harleycruiser; Dec 2, 2012 at 08:24 AM.
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