Polished alum or chrome column?

[MOJO1963GMC]

Fixin to be ordering a new tilt IDIDIT column and I'm torn between the two. Any pros and cons for each?

[protrash64]

My first thought is that you could polish out scratches on the aluminum column, the chrome you're out of luck. Chrome mite match other accessories better depending on your options???

[lakeroadster]

I'd say:

Chrome.... Less maintenance, especially in an interior application. Just put a coat of wax on it and it's good to go. Aluminum wil oxidize and need polished.

Also as Protrash mentioned the aluminum won't look the same as other chrome items.

[MOJO1963GMC]

Thanks guys. Apparently I've already asked this before and didn't realize it. Just excited, I guess. Everythings falling into place. M

[vin63]

Chrome would be less maintenance. For what it's worth...I've installed both polished aluminim and chrome steering columns in the past for customers, and the one thing, particularly with our trucks and the column angle and the seating arrangement, is that at night the polished surface of the steering column reflects the lights from the instruments panel as a glare onto the windshield.

[lakeroadster]

Now that is news we can use. Yet another one of those things that only experience can teach you. Kind of a "heads up display" like used on fighter jets.... except this time it's backwards, distorted and annoying as hell.

A buddy told me when I was building my Model A hot rod not to tint the front window. It's flat and upright and it becomes a mirror if it's tinted. Good advice, I would hate to have to stare at my ugly old mug every time I drive it.

[markeb01]

Back when I had money I was leaning toward a Flaming River stainless column. Nice part about stainless is if it gets scratched, like aluminum it can be polished all the way thru to the other side if needed, but never needs any polishing if it doesn't get damaged.

What deterred me was having previously mounted a chrome vacuum gauge cup on the steering column. It was fine at night, but during the daytime I had to put the stretchy part of a sock over it, or I couldn't see out the windshield. It truly was a heads-up display - a nice picture of the full power of the sun. It was worst about noon when the sun was almost directly overhead. I thought I must be nuts, since my last car was a 46 Ford sedan, and almost everything on the dash was chromed, and it never bothered me a bit. What I hadn't thought about, was that in a 46 Ford sedan the back window is about 8 feet away. In the truck, everything coming in the back window lights up anything reflective on the dash, and when coming down from above, anything shiny on the steering column.

I also found the same problem with curved glass gauges. With a flat glass gauge, you can move around a little and avoid the rear window glare. With a curved glass gauge, there's no getting away from it. If the sun is coming in the back window there will be a small piercing spot on the curved glass that is blinding and moves everywhere you do.

[lakeroadster]

Man, even more news we can use. Thanks for the input Mark. I am in the final stages of buying gauges and had thought about the curved glass gauges. Can that idea, what good are gauges that you can't read becasue of the glare?

At the risk of high jacking this thread, when it comes to gauges, anybody see any down side to chrome ringed gauges vs the silver ringed gauges? From a perspective of glare / reflection issues?

Some examples below:

[markeb01]

The Autometer chrome ringed gauges on the right are the same ones I'm running. Once I got rid of the vacuum gauge on the column, I've never had enough glare trouble to bother me.

[chevytrucknut]

I had a chromed stock column in my black '65 for a short while,till I ripped that sucker out. It drove me nuts. It glared onto the cluster and windsheild so much it was a pain to drive.