How to Clean Up Folding Rear Seat Trim?

[andy72]

Any tricks anyone can share on how to best "restore"/"clean up" the nasty old trim around my folding rear seat?

I believe it is actually not chrome but the Ford "bright finish" or something like that.

Fine steel wool does pretty well.  Would be a lot do do by hand.

Some type of wheel to buy for my bench grinder?

If the rust is steel wooled off as best as possible, will it just keep coming back?

Appreciate any thoughts/success stories for ugly old trim...

 

[piper62j]

The pieces do appear to be chrome plated steel.. Seems odd that Ford would do that vs using polished stainless. That said, perhaps someone with a fold down seat will chime in with what the original trim is.. I'm not sure..

The pieces you have should be sent out to be re-chromed. The rust will be removed with acid dip prior to the chroming process.

 

[mach71351c]

I think I would give a S.O.S soap pad a try. Then some chrome polish.

 

[andy72]

Thought I'd share what I came up with. It worked very well.

I had amazing results using EVAPORUST earlier in my project. 

So I used  a piece of 2" PVC to soak the pieces in...

 

[Bill73Ragtop]

Those look great! Nice idea of using the PVC tube to soak the long pieces.

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

Now wax them before reinstalling. It will greatly extend their life before rust starts to return

 

[Fabrice]

Looks like I'm gonna try this Evaporust too. Mine are looking very sad.

Could this product also be effective at solving the rust if a thick layer is applied with a brush on hard to reach area's

or does the metal needs really to be totally submerged into the solution?

Can you remove it easily too?

 

[midlife]

Evaporust works best when items are fully submerged for 12-24 hours; brush-on applications won't work. The part must also be washed and air-dried immediately after use.

 

[andy72]

Looks like I'm gonna try this Evaporust too. Mine are looking very sad.

Could this product also be effective at solving the rust if a thick layer is applied with a brush on hard to reach area's

or does the metal needs really to be totally submerged into the solution?

Can you remove it easily too?

The pieces need to soak overnight.  The longer they soak, the cleaner they get.  The trim was in for 24 hours.  The hinge still had some rust 

visible, so I steel wool everything, which really helps removes what the Evaporust has been eating on.  Then back in the solution another 24 hours.  Evaporust is a water based formula.  Thin as water.  Rinses with water.  It can be used over and over. It "blackens" as you go and eventually looses effectiveness.  

I got really creative with large plastic bin containers as I used the product.  I de-rusted my heater box as I completely rebuilt it.  I would add bricks and rocks into the solution to raise the level of the solution in the plastic bins.  It would allow me to submerge every piece of metal.  My squirrel fan went from rusty to brand new looking.    

The best thing it did for me was de-rust my fuse block.  The fingers that hold the fuses were all rusty until an over-nighter in Evaporust.

Amazing stuff.  Got it at O'reillys auto supply.  

Jeff, thanks for thought on waxing the trim.  Was thinking of that next step, how to protect as best as possible from re-occuring rust.

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

I saw where one fellow used evaporust with a recirculating pump and plastic to create a recycling fountain that ran over a section of a car at a time until it was all done. If you can't submerge it, that might be an approach to try.