Copper Kitchen Panel Restoration

[rbowen]

I am restoring the interior of my 66 caravel and need some thoughts on the copper panels around the stove. I need to clean them up, but they appear to have a coating on them. Previous attempts by others through the years have left scratch etc, so I was wondering the best method for restoring these panels around the sink and stove. Any suggestions?

[GMFL]

First I’m not sure the copper back splash in factory original. If you are going for a brite work type polished copper finish that is going to require lots of work and maintenance to keep.
Flitz metal polish or Bar Keepers friend will work, but if the copper has a clean coat then that will need to de removed first.
Good luck. The polished copper will look awesome but I’m not sure it’s worth the work.

[kidjedi]

Agreed that that's not a factory finish (rather, someone "upgraded"). Copper is a beautiful finish. I use it a lot, but it's a major pain in the keester. When you see beautiful copper pots hanging in a French kitchen, you know that someone is putting a lot of time and effort into keeping them bright and shiny. Same would need to be true of bright and shiny backsplashes and trim. Without a plasticote (which makes them less shiny), they will quickly tarnish and stain. Keeping them shiny is a lot of work. So you will need to either work a lot, coat them with something, or learn to love a weathered patina! ;-)