Hello,

 

                If you’ve already decided what method you are using on the brass hopefully you’ve spoken with a conservator or your local/state/etc. museum organisation as polishing is typically destructive and repeated polishing can lead to issues especially if the fixture is plated or polishing materials buildup. I can see however why an automobile museum would be polishing items and many places do.

 

                For protecting the surrounding paint it’s hard to say without seeing the item you are polishing and the surrounding material but a sheet of Mylar, now Melinex I think, with a cutout of the attached base would work well. If there is a small space between the fitting and the paint you could take a few pieces of Mylar and slide them under somewhat like a camera shutter. It’s hard to say without seeing it but hopefully that helps.

 

 

 

Hello,

We are currently polishing some brass on a car (following The Henry Ford’s recommendations for brass cleaning), and normally we remove brass pieces from the car so that we do not damage the paint.  We have some fittings, however, which simply cannot be removed.  Does anybody have recommendations on how we can protect the paint?

 

The paint on the car is, I should note, not original.  The car was restored in the 1970s, and while I’m not terribly concerned because of its originality or anything, I am concerned because the paint job is not good.  There are areas where the paint is just bubbling up or cracking (seems to be common in 1970s restorations that we’ve seen—whether the paint then just wasn’t as good or the cars weren’t properly prepped, or a combination of the two).  We essentially don’t want to make the paint worse than it already is.

 

Thanks,

 

 

Kendra Cook

Curator

Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles

85 South Walnut Street

Boyertown, PA 19512

(610)367-2090

www.boyertownmuseum.org

 

 

 

 

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