Does any one know the best way to clean and restore the shine to the stainless faceplates that came on the 70-72 cutlass heater control unit? I tried 000 steel wool but it started taking off the letters! Also, how would i remove this face plate?
Thanks, chris

 

H & H restoration?? sells new face plates. The old ones peel off & the new ones just stick on. I bought some a few years ago & the font was just slightly different, but only the most **** Oldsmobile guys will be able to tell. They might have improved by now?

 

I'm fairly sure the faceplates are aluminum and not stainless....some of them show corrosion/spots on them that's indicative of an aluminum piece.

Also...I suspect the factory plates may have had some sort of clearcoat or finish over the brushed metal surface to prevent the corrosion.

Occasionally you get lucky and find an original faceplate that has just a bit of surface dirt/smudging but that's the VAST EXCEPTION to the norm.

Go with a repro faceplate. Unless you can remove the whole AC/Heat control unit from the dash you'll likely never get the old one off without ruining it. If it's off the car/dash then it typically takes A LOT of soaking of the faceplate area (sitting in a horizontal position) with an adhesive remover like 3M Gen'l Purpose Adhesive Remover. This stuff doesn't work fast....you have to flood the area, let it sit, GENTLY pry up a loose edge, add more remover, etc. There are inevitably some stubborn areas of glue under the faceplate and you can't "force it"...you'll just bend up the faceplate.