To chrome plate, you'll have to remove it, have the anodizing stripped, polish it, zinc/copper/nickle/chrome plate it (in that order). Expensive, good luck.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

This is a common problem and can be found in other old threads. The green stuff seemed to be the favored solution.

I've looked at PNP for some better than mine - found it and also learned that you have to remove the window channel sealing material to get it off. I could not do that without ruining the rubber based channel. Replacement is $$$.

I'm considering blacking out all of that trim and the painted area between the chrome trim below the windows up to the roof line trim. That's what the new cars have and the older Volvo's. Right now I'm "testing" the look using a black tape to cover all that area.

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Charles
1983 300D, bought new, 215k+ miles, donated to Purple Hearts veterans charity but I have parts for sale: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-benz-cars-sale/296386-fs-1-owner-83-mb-300d-turbo-rebuild-parts.html

Thanks Lelouch. I now it's not actually chorme. I just used the wrong term. I've tried several different methods to remove some of the oxidization.

1.) 3 different extremely fine grades of steel wool for about an hour and a half. = no measurable success

2.) Neverdull & chrome/metal polish = No measurable success

3.) Wet Sanding it with super fine grits by hand = barely any improvement

As it is an anodized aluminum the two most suggested "fixes", I shall try.

First, I'll do Wgilmore's idea, the felt wheel (Carefully) with tripoli and see how that works out. If that doesn't work it may be painting the trim. That would be a shame though. The polished chrome look of the car is very well balanced and looks sharp when it's all shiny.

CR from Texas, post us some pics of your "test" black out if you can. I think everyone would be interested to see it.

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1987 MB 190E 2.3 16V- Name Pending
1982 MB 300SD -Old Blue
1965 Ford Mustang - Laura

Wanted to add an edit, regarding the felt wheel using tripoli. Be sure to use "Soft" felt wheel otherwise you can cut through the aluminum base. Believe me , I made the mistake of using the hard felt and cut about 1/8" into the trim on an SD before I knew that I had the wrong felt. With the soft felt you will have lots of control. Also, this is a jewelers term "felt" , in reality it is wool, normally purchased at jewelers supply companies local or online.
Anyway, with the soft felt you will have to work a bit longer but you don't risk cutting into the trim.
Another thing I did to see if I could save more time was to use some of the powdered polishing compounds used in faceting stones and cabing.
First I started with silicon carbide sand paper at 1000 to 1200 grit.
Then I used aluminum oxide 1500 mesh and finished with 3000 mesh - a bit too shiny - looked more like polished chrome. This was very fast !
This process using the dry oxides is extremely fast and focuses on removing and creating a "Bilby" layer that first removes the oxide and then polishes by basically the same concept.
I didn't want to get get into all this detail but this is really the best process , no muss no fuss, very clean and quick. Basically no cleaning , just hose it off.
For simplicity though, the tripoli is obviously the way to go, messy, a bit slower and some clean up.
Good luck.

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1986 300SDL 201K Daily Driver
1984 300D In Progress
1989 240GL 196K Swedish Brick
1984 300SD -- Sold 289K
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You might try to get a junkyard piece to experiment on.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

I used cheap oven cleaner, then Flitz polish.

Like new.

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91 350SD
14 F150 Eco
19 Fusion Hybrid
11 GT500

Cheap oven cleaner, a strong acid. You could try Naval Jelly if you want an acid that won't run or drip on your paint.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Yes listening to Zero is a good thing, I have ways to make you obay!

Anyway I already tried to buff it out on a wheel with jewellers rouge. It worked pretty well, but the test spot on the junk piece I used didn't hold up to well. If you kept it in a garage and waxed it every few weeks it might hold.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I have tried SemiChrome. Normally it polishes almost anything; did not work very well on the trim.

On "Trucks" from the powerblock on spike, on I think the episode where they launched 'DAS BRONCO" they had a tec tip where they were polishing the alluminum bed rails from inside an old wood lined bed checy truck and they use some normal off the wall household substance and then finished up with a polish wheel and some flitz. Cannot remember the other chemical but should refresh some memories or insight some research from the show.

You're talking about polishing naked aluminum wolf, the trim is not aluminum, it is an alloy, and it is not naked, it is anodized. Unfortunately "apples to oranges".

Kerosene is what we use for the final touch on the big 22.5" forged alcoas on our coach BTW.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff