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I would suggest you recoat any of the chrome where you removed the old peeling clear. The chrome is so poor it and the underlying metal will start to deteriorate then all your hard work will be for naught.

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Exactly which model years were affected with the "Korean" chrome?

John

The article came out in Dec 51 so I believe it was the entire 52 production. Not sure when it stopped but might have stretched into 53. Also possible if there were 52 pieces done in war chrome in stock and 53s still used the same item it might have been installed even if the official restriction was over.

Here is the rest of the article with exactly which pieces were involved.

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If your chrome is good don't buff it too hard, the war chrome is only one thin layer and you'll see copper plating show through. Any chrome I had with yellowed old clear coating was resealed with rattle can clear after I cleaned it. Mostly my interior dashboard and steering wheel parts, the outside chrome was pretty bad and down to copper in many places.

I can confirm that the Korean chrome extended into the parts manufactured in 1952 for the upcoming 1953 model year. The grille on my car came from a '53 Clipper and it was covered in yellowed lacquer. I remove it all. Currently coated in a heavy coat of car wax. Very presentable. One of my parking light housings had the copper bleeding through and had to be replaced.

I recall, as a young lad helping out in my father's dealership, the nasty job my brother and I were given of removing yellowed and peeling clear coating on Korean War chromed grilles. We used a jelled paint remover, as I recall. We had to be very careful not to get the stuff on the painted surfaces.

(o[]o)

8-29-16

Following everyone's advice I completed polishing the chrome trunk emblem the best I could and then sprayed 2 light coats of clear coat. It looked decent but a little misty. Then I added the medium wet coat as per the directions and to my horror it changed to a gray color! I hoped it would clear as it dried so I tried putting a coat on the red plastic emblem as well. Checked a 1/2 hour later and it was still gray!

Grabbed the paint thinner and took the clear coat off the plastic emblem but left it on the chrome.

After returning from work today I checked and 3/4 of it is fairly clear. I will let it sit another day and see what happens. I wonder if wet sanding with some ultra fine sandpaper would help clear it up?

On a positive note my wife and I took the car out on Sunday. Drove over 15 miles with most of it at a consistent 40mph (per the gps). Once I sort out the over drive I will feel more comfortable opening it up.

The car rattles so much I'm almost thinking of taking the old door seals off the other car and gluing them on until I can afford new ones!

Good Morning...Just a comment. When I have had the need for a clear coat...I have found that Marine Varnish is just about the highest quality that I can find. Use high gloss and I think that you will be happy. If you can't find any, try the 'wooden boat store' on line. Ernie, caretaker of the 1949 288 'Miss Prudence'.

bump....

Yesterday was the last car "show" at the local A&W. On the way home for work I talked myself into driving the car there even though it is far from showroom condition. Of course on my last leg home...it starts to rain! That ended that milestone. I guess there's always next year...