Stainless, Polished and Billet.

Intercooled · 09-25-05, 03:27

I orderd some nice chrome exterior accessories for my H2. This company makes some real replacement parts and accessories for the H2. They offer the parts in: stainless chrome plated, stainless polished and biullet chrome plated. I orderd the Billet chrome plated. What exactly os the difference. I assume the polish is for awesome show quality but a pain to keep for a driven car. Billet sounded like it is a solid piece of machined aluminium then chrome plated, which sounds real nice. And then Stainless which sounded nice but it looked like those parts were of the thinner varity maybe stamped out of stainless steel and then chrome plated? The company built up the sound of thier "billet" Parts. What exactly is the term "Billet" mean?

Totoland Mach · 09-25-05, 04:06

A billet part is machined from a solid block of aluminum. Rather than a rough casting (which is tons cheaper), a billet part has a higher integrity. But, billet parts usually have a lot of waste material in their machining process, hence the higher cost. You're paying for aluminum shavings left on the CNC machine, but you're getting a very nice part.

FWIW: for everyday driving, stainless is easier to maintain. Not all stainless is stamped. There are stainless castings which turn out great parts. I used to rep a stainless foundry in Wisconsin that sold stainless castings to the food processing industry as well as aircraft. And remember, it's not Stain Proof...it's Stain Less. Ask any salt water boat owner about that LOL.

Chrome plated aluminum is nice but is pretty fragile in terms of durability. Polished aluminum is a frequent maintenance item (wheels, manifolds, etc) but looks very nice and has depth that chrome plating can't match.

Totoland Mach

Intercooled · 09-25-05, 04:29

Totoland Mach, Thanks for the input. The Billet parts which I orderd should be very nice. I'm excited to see them.
Will billiet triple chrome plated parts rust? Of course I'll care for them properly.

Totoland Mach · 09-26-05, 02:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Intercooled

Will billiet triple chrome plated parts rust? Of course I'll care for them properly.

Nope. The billet part itself is aluminum and is plated on top of that, so no worries on rust. Enjoy the parts, they should be 1st class stuff!

Picus · 09-26-05, 04:15

Question - how do you guys polish your chrome and/or aluminium?

Totoland Mach · 09-26-05, 04:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Picus

Question - how do you guys polish your chrome and/or aluminium?

Chrome: I like, of all things, Turtle Wax Chrome Polish. Or any NON-abrasive product (which could include Quick Detailers to Windex). The key to remember is that chrome plating is very, very thin (few thousandths) and is merely a protection layer for the shiny nickel plating underneath. Scratch the chrome deep enough, you're in the nickel layer. Ever see faucets that have been cleaned relentlessly with Comet or abrasive cleaners? Awful and no bringing them back.

Aluminum: If it is already polished, I use a mild polish such as Mother's Billet Creme or NXT Metal Polysh. There are some other's available that Autopians rave about, but I haven't tried them (yet). For wheels, I use a loose sewn cotton buffing wheel and/or Mother's polishing ball. The polishing ball is too big for the outer rim (I have as cast centers), but works fine for the inner rim.

If you are just starting out with polishing aluminum, the typical method is aggressive to mild. If it is a casting, that means starting with a medium grit polishing wheel and going to fine grits, rouges, polishes, etc.

I just mirror finished a complete cat back exhaust tubing and mufflers for a show car and that alone took 12+ hours. Dirty work to be sure, but it looks very nice.

Hope that helps.

Here's a pic of my polished Team III wheels on the Mach 1.