I have done some searches but can't come up with much on cleaning and restoring the various parts of my 122.

Please share your advice for making the following parts of the car look new and shine. I'm sure many of us amateurs will be grateful:

BAKELITE (how do you spiff up pieces like the dash buttons?)

PLASTIC (how do clean and polish the various plastic pieces like lock knobs and steering wheel cowls?)

DOOR SILLS (what will clean door sills without scratching?)

CHROME BUMPERS (what do you like to use on both sides of bumpers? Can't afford re-chroming yet so need to make them look as good as possible)

TRIM: (What is the best way to shine the trim on the hood and the spears along the side? Can you make the windshield surrounds shine again? Anyone figured a good way to get small dings out?)

RUBBER SEALS: (It seems like I read once that some sort of glycerine potion might help here)

For the stainless you can use a special buffing disc (sisal). Put it on your drilling machine, and use a polish wax to shine them up real good (the wax is real hard and in a block).
http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=897&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=433&iSubCat=434&iProductID=897
Is the type I have used, and I even found the compound to use on their site. It is not the same I have used, but it should work good too.
http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=1078&itemType=PRODUCT&iProductID=1078
For galvanized items you can mix citric acid and water in a plastic bucket and drop them down there for a short period of time, if you want to replate them you can leave them longer, but if not check them after an hour or so.

Good luck in your detailing, Bjorn

Hi there,
For chrome bumpers and really any metal, you can use #0000 steel wool. It will not scratch, believe me. I use it to clean vintage drums. On plastic, a product called Vinylex by Lexol works well. But if it's beyond repair, then it might not work so well. I've used Turtle Wax chrome polish for good results, too. If you want, check out the book "Ultimate Auto Detailing"--it's great. Good luck.
--
Patrick McHugh, Cincinnati, OH, 1993 244 Limited Ed. 'Classic' model (daily driver)

Mequiar's Gold Class Vinyl/Rubber Protectant works really well on seals, knobs, and vinyl upholstery.

#00 steel wool does wonders on door sills and any other shiny metal stuff. It won't hurt aluminum, stainless or chrome. Follow with a non- or minimally-abrasive metal polish on the aluminum and stainless (I like Nev_R_Dull a lot). Use any commercial chrome polish on the chrome.

I've never found anything that really works on stainless that's turned white beyond a certain point. You can clean up a mild case of that with steel wool and polish, but if it's gone too far you end up burnishing the metal, which is not pretty.