Keith's not lieing about lye

69rangerman · Post by **69rangerman** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 11:26 am

I bought 3 bottles of granular lye from true value a few weeks ago. Last night I was bored so I took off a small pc of tailgate trim, put a cup of water and 2 table spoons of lye in a butter tub, stirred with a screwdriver and dipped the end of the trim in. WHOA! Fizz,bubble,heat,leave trim in tub run outside get fresh air. Definately have a fan blowing, gloves, eye protection, and lots of water for rinsing.

Took the pc out of the tub and 1 inch looked like it came from the factory. Totally clean and bright.

After that I used a plain paint brush and brushed the whole pc, washed it off in water, rubbed it 3 times with "No. 7" white compound and a rag and it's as bright as I want it. Could easily achieve chrome look with finer polish.
Minus running around and setting fan up whole process took maybe 15 minutes.

I'm planning on cutting a pc of white pvc pipe in half, blocking off the ends putting about an inch of lye solution in the bottom and laying a whole 8 foot section of side moulding in.

Thanks Keith for the tutorial on bright trim. Anytime you can save time and money = a good time. I'll post before and after photos if anybodies interested.

Tom

kknip · Post by **kknip** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 5:14 pm

I would like to check it out.Post away!!!

69rangerman · Post by **69rangerman** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 9:53 pm

Can we post photos now? Don't want to sabotage anything Keith's doing to restore the web site.

kknip · Post by **kknip** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 3:20 am

I think you can still post a picture in a reply.

shanmeg1 · Post by **shanmeg1** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 4:05 am

Yeah Keith had a great tip there. I'm still trying to figure the mix to get my grill right on my 72. The smaller pieces turned out like you said "factory new". Don't know how toxic the smoke is though. John

69rangerman · Post by **69rangerman** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 3:14 pm

I did the other side of the tailgate last night. Used some "Simichrome" super fine polish and the 2 end pieces are absolutely gleaming.

From a time stand point 2 applications of No. 7 medium, and 3 apps. of simichrome get it just right for my tastes. Also found out that the blue shop paper towels work great for applying and wiping down.

I got just a hint of the fumes and had to get away. Much worse than ammonia - suspect it could cause some real damage. I'll be doing it outside from now on.(for the record I have been trying it an open garage with a fan blowing).

I'll post a pic of the tailgate (already have the pieces back on) for contrast.

69rangerman · Post by **69rangerman** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 9:19 am

Is there a way to attach a picture? I've got a decent one but didn't see any browser boxes for attaching.

Thanks

69rangerman · Post by **69rangerman** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:01 pm

Thanks to 71 Longbed for hooking me up with photobucket. Here's the URL for the tailgate trim pic.

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k90/6 ... 26x470.jpg

71 LONG BED · Post by **71 LONG BED** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:12 pm

Wow, that is a big differance! Looks great! I noticed the blue dots also.

michaelbrainard · Post by **michaelbrainard** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:55 pm

very significant difference! I can't wait to try! I have a grill I need to tend to....

Leadfoot · Post by **Leadfoot** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 2:07 pm

that neat, but I have bin playing with the idea of color anidizing a grill, I got all the equiptment/ chemicals/tanks/electricals. But I don't want to mess up a nice grill. and I can't deside on a color.

Big D's 69 · Post by **Big D's 69** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 3:02 pm

Man that made a huge difference. We used some stuff one time like that on the 79 we done. It was more expensive and a small bottle but worked. I think the lye works great. Thanks for the pic. Only thing is now the anodized finish taken off they will have to be polished but hey they looked good so who cares.

michaelbrainard · Post by **michaelbrainard** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 8:16 pm

I can't find any freaking LYE! NO WHERE! The stores around here don't carry it! I think people were using it as a ingredient in METH...WTF?!

69rangerman · Post by **69rangerman** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 11:50 pm

Believe it or not when I bought mine from true value they just had 3. I took them all not knowing how much I needed.

When I got to the counter I got the 3rd degree from the clerk. When I told them what I was using if for they got all frosty eyed and said that a month ago a lady came in and bought 15 bottles and that they gave her info to the police for tracking. It was METH.

shanmeg1 · Post by **shanmeg1** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 3:52 am

I bought mine on ebay. It is hard to find the druggy's make it difficult for us.