Any way or suggestions on polishing Flexi type chassis?
Flexi chassis
Started by
Shooter7mustang
, Feb 11 2020 05:50 PM
13 replies to this topic
#1
Shooter7mustang
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Posted 11 February 2020 - 05:50 PM
Kevin Myhaver
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#2
Pablo
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Posted 11 February 2020 - 06:15 PM
Tumbling.
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Paul Wolcott
#3
Ramcatlarry
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Posted 11 February 2020 - 06:21 PM
Over the years many different plating processes have been used for chassis including chrome and nickel plating as well as the early ones that used a (?) zinc/flat finish that did not age well. The early one is the one you had to grind off in order to solder to the frame. I usually use Scotchbrite and cleanser to go beyond the wire brush work.
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Larry D. Kelley, MA
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#4
Jay Guard
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Posted 11 February 2020 - 06:27 PM
For a chrome or nickel finish that's not too corroded I would recommend just polishing with a good polish like Simichrome. If it's corroded and somewhat pitted tumbling would probably be the right thing.
However if it's got a zinc plating like the Parma Flexi 1's tumbling is a very bad idea. Tumbling will polish it a bit but it will also leave a dull gray zinc coating on your tumbling media which will transmit itself onto anything else you try to tumble/polish after that.
How do I know this? Experience!
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Jay Guard
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#5
Shooter7mustang
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Posted 11 February 2020 - 06:45 PM
Newer JKs
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#6
Rotorranch
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Posted 11 February 2020 - 07:13 PM
Newer JKs
How shiny do you want it?
Tumbler will shine and de-burr the chassis. Buffing wheel on a grinder can result in a mirror surface.
Rotor
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Jeff Chambers
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#7
Pappy
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Posted 11 February 2020 - 08:29 PM
I like the mirror finish, myself. The turn marshals always notice it first when it's on it's top. 
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#8
Shooter7mustang
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Posted 12 February 2020 - 09:26 AM
How shiny do you want it?
Tumbler will shine and de-burr the chassis. Buffing wheel on a grinder can result in a mirror surface.
Rotor
What media ?
Kevin Myhaver
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#9
ThunderThumb
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Posted 12 February 2020 - 09:32 AM
Soak them in Evaporust , harbor frieght and Autozone has it , work good on steel items , use a foil pan for cooking to soak it in , leave it in for a day and its not acid or toxic either
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Earl Anderson
#10
gotboostedvr6
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Posted 12 February 2020 - 09:35 AM
Any metal polish will work
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David Parrotta
#11
Rotorranch
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Posted 12 February 2020 - 09:37 AM
I bought the ceramic triangles media from Buffalo Arms.
Rotor
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Jeff Chambers
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#12
MSwiss
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Posted 12 February 2020 - 09:44 AM
The below is with Buffalo Arms angled cylinder, ceramic media, their yellowish detergent, and a dash of Dawn.
How shiny it appears, is dependent on how I want to angle my camera.
I purposely tried to minimize it, to get a clearer pic.
IMO, the duburring is more important than the shine, and I would be careful of doing anything that might affect on how well your motor is soldered in.
IOW, getting polish in the motor box area.
I prefer a duller on the track, than a shiny car in the pits, with the motor dangling by the lead wires.
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Mike Swiss
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#13
mreibman
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Posted 12 February 2020 - 10:06 AM
After wire brush and sanding, I had great success with certain spray paints (aluminum and gold) - with masking around motor and bearing solder points.
When I tried colors, the results were more "not so much"
With the gold on an original flexi-kar, I was asked by an experienced guy, "Was that like the 25th anniversary model or something?" The gold one is parked at the local raceway. I might have the aluminum one handy at home, and will add pics later on.
Now - why did I spray paint? Because I wanted it to look nicer than the crappy finish, no matter how much I brushed and sanded.
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Mike Reibman
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Alleged amateur racer.
Mostly just play with lots of cars.
Able to maintain slot cars with a single bound.
Faster than a speeding Womp.
More powerful than a 36D.
#14
Dave Crevie
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Posted 12 February 2020 - 12:15 PM
To get a true "mirror" finish, there is no substitute for good old elbow grease. Generally I don't polish slot car chassis, but I have done a few. I use
a Dremel with the 1/2 inch dia. polishing bob, first with red rouge, then green emerald polishing paste. Final polish is done by hand with 1200 grit
diamond paste. After so many years of polishing Chromadie plastic injection molds, I've taken to using this method on steel chassis. I works good
on brass, too, but use a slower RPM with the Dremel.
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