Chrome restoration tips needed

[breakpoint]

I have a Benjamin 392 air rifle (.177 cal) that I have had for 16 years now that has a large amount of sentimental attachment for me. Not only does it mean a good deal to me personally, but the Benjamin 39 series is a very solid air rifle, to me in my experience with guns it's the best air rifle there is. It has a nice hardwood stock and pump handle, and the barrel is chrome. I have disassembled the entire gun because over the years it sat for about 8 years and the seals and piston are just gone so it won't hold air now. I have a kit on order so I can rebuild it and once again put it to use. I am going to refinish the stock and I want to refurbish the chrome barrel, but I just don't know the best way to do so. I have read multiple ways/opinions on doing so and I'm not sure of the way to go on doing it because of so many ways I have read. It's not rusted at all, it has just lost its sheen over the years. The first few years I had it the thing was used almost daily during the winter months, rain or shine, so its seen weather. What would you guys say would be the best way to restore its nice shine that it had when it was new? Let's hear some of the best solutions on the web, I know I will because this is GTPlanet after all:tup: Here's a picture of it so you can see the condition, it's for sure not in bad shape for its age, but the chrome has just dulled over the years and I would like to get it looking great again I know its not the best image quality, but all I have right now is my cell phone.

 

[Crispy]

Hmm, how much horsepower does it have? Whats the MPG? That looks like something I've seen at banks before, so you must be rich to own one. Which dealerships sell them? I may really want one of these.

Anyway, you have the wrong forum. Heres where you need to post it.

 

[breakpoint]

I posted here because cars in general seemed to be the best place to get advice on it because of the chrome situation, generally people that deal with car restoration/cleaning will have knowledge in what I need to do with the chrome.


Maybe I will get helpful information in the rumble strip section.

 

[slowman]

1. Dremel wire wheel for large patches of rust.
2. #0000 fine steel wool
3. Mother's Mag/Aluminum Polish -or- Blue Magic chrome polish

In that order. You'd be amazed what you can bring back. The fork below is for my 1981 Mongoose. It's a nickel finish but the same principles apply to nickel and chrome. This took about 2 hours.

 

[breakpoint]

Wow, that is a huge difference! I don't have a single bit of rust on the gun barrel so I will be able to skip step 1. I have heard of the blue magic and someone also told me to use one called liquid glass instead of anything else. I will try the blue magic first, it's cheaper. The mag polish I find to be terrible, I tried to use it on an old bumper and had horrible results. With the bumper I could be fairly aggressive, but with this gun I wanted to get some input from someone else because it's an important item for me and I didn't want to do something to ruin the finish. As soon as I do it I will post before and after shots.

Thanks!

 

[x_Jack_x]

1. Dremel wire wheel for large patches of rust.
2. #0000 fine steel wool
3. Mother's Mag/Aluminum Polish -or- Blue Magic chrome polish

In that order. You'd be amazed what you can bring back. The fork below is for my 1981 Mongoose. It's a nickel finish but the same principles apply to nickel and chrome. This took about 2 hours.

Sorry to be off subject.Dont see to many people with ole shcool bikes.Is the goose a circle or oval?Im current restoring a couple bikes. 82 pk ripper, 85 SE racing quad angle. and a 94 gary ellis gt.But NICE job on the forks.Isnated of step #2, I use good ole S.O.S pads.But everything else is pretty much the same.

 

[slowman]

Thanks.

Both my gusset-Geese are circle gussets. The oval gussets are quite rare and aren't "technically" Mongooses. They're Roger DeCoster's which are Mongoose frames (outsourced to Reco, Inc. as most Goose frames were until 1980). The DeCoster frames were Mongoose quality but everything else are Schwinn parts and they were sold in Schwinn dealerships. DeCoster forks are the lightest early Mongoose forks you can find and cleans ones regularly fetch over $200 on eBay.

The rest of my bikes are in my signature if you consider that a good reference to my chrome-saving abilities.

DeCoster's - http://www.vintagemongoose.com/products/decoster.php

x_Jack_x, if you're not on BMXMuseum, toss some pictures of your bikes up there! They're a bit picky about quality pictures and following the submission instructions but it does make for a clean and well organized photo museum.