Polishing up aluminum trim pieces

[TheSilverBuick]

My car has aluminum "chrome" trim pieces and the anodizing has faded/worn off and I would like to see about shining the pieces up. Anyone have a decent method for aluminum trim? My pieces aren't in the greatest of shape so I'm not looking for a show room finish, but something to clean them up and work in the direction of shiny. Thanks.

[TC]

Try this stuff......

http://www.maasinc.com/products_metalpolish.aspx

[squirrel]

anodized parts are a bitch....you have to get all the anodizing off, and sand with progressively finer sandpaper till you get them really smooth, then polish.

You might be better off just cleaning them.

[Loren]

As usual, Jim knows...

Yeah, try just running some fine steel wool over them first. The ano is a bitch. It means there's this hard oxidized surface where all your dullness is, for lack of a better way to put it, which you have to get through before you can get into the soft aluminum and do any good (using aluminum-specific polish, not a do-everything type).

Grinding it off is tough, as soon as you break through the ano then the material cuts much easier, which makes it hard to get a smooth even finish. You've heard you can clean it off with oven cleaner...you can, but you can also ruin your part 'cause again as soon as it gets through the ano it starts eating away material much faster. I once sprayed some trim parts then left them for awhile, wherever the cleaner was thicker, like in little orange-peel patterns from the spray head, the part got a pock in it and they were pretty-much shot for any repairing after that. Good move, self...

A plating shop should be able to strip them in an even fasion, then a jar of Mother's and some rubbing will fix everything. The relatively-pure aluminum (not a lot of alloying elements) will stay shiny for a long time if it's kept clean, and in five years you can give them another rubbing if you want.

[squirrel]

I need to ask Dan what he found to use on his old Silver Streak travel trailer. He told me he found something that works good, but I forgot what it was. The trailer has an anodized aluminum skin. You could search for info on Avion and later Airstream trailers too, they have the same finish, and there are a lot of old retired guys spending a lot of time getting them to look nice.

[JOES66FURY]

When I've seen it done by the car rags, they used steel wool or a red 3m pad....I had a lot of luck with some polish and 000 steel wool...but that anodized crap is a mofo...they can be replated but I am sure that aint cheap.

[squirrel]

Dan suggests using mild abrasive stuff to clean it, such as fine steel wool or scotch brite type stuff. You want something that's strong enough to take off the caked on dirt and stuff, but not strong enough to take off the anodizing.

Be sure to add plenty of elbow grease.

[TheSilverBuick]

The chrome shop said they can strip the anodizing and then polish the aluminum, but aluminum doesn't hold a polish as well. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with the stuff, but want to try something to put a little shine to them.

[milner351]

This was the stuff that started the monochrome paint fad I think - if it aint glass - paint it - easier/cheaper than rechroming or polishing.

[squirrel]

Some guys get it stripped and chromed. I imagine it's pretty delicate after all that....

[DanStokes]

John - did you ever find a green wheel? They work great on stuff like this. I can repost the pics if it would be helpful. I got mine at Industrial Tool and Supply in Redford MI but I'm sure other industrial tool supply places would have them.

Dan

[anotheridiot]

I own an anodizing and powdercoat shop. Yeah, anodizing can be a bitch when its on right, but when its on right its not the cause of the oxidization. Anodizing is an oxide that keeps the aluminum from oxidizing, but after probably 30 years on some trim there isnt much left for a coating that is a mere .0002 thick. Anodizing again is not expensive. its a bitch because its not metal on metal plating where parts can be wired and the wire stays conductive getting zinc or copper or chrome or whatever plated back on. Anodizing is non conductive, so you have to keep a contact point thru the process and three or four foot trim pieces in an agitated solution are gonna move and break contact, so you will probably be paying to have it done a few times when they give you a price. Anodizing gets stripped with caustic soda, so even stripping is not an issue, its getting it all off before the real expense of polishing happens to reanodize them again, or keep the natural and a mothers on them. Easiest way of buying sodium hydroxide to strip them yourselves is checking the label on drano because you are probably seeing areas that are still anodized and areas that are not and they will not polish the same.

[Loren]

Nice to know, thanks.

I thought those old trailers were all Alclad, bare polished(?).

[TheSilverBuick]

I own an anodizing and powdercoat shop. Yeah, anodizing can be a bitch when its on right, but when its on right its not the cause of the oxidization. Anodizing is an oxide that keeps the aluminum from oxidizing, but after probably 30 years on some trim there isnt much left for a coating that is a mere .0002 thick. Anodizing again is not expensive. its a bitch because its not metal on metal plating where parts can be wired and the wire stays conductive getting zinc or copper or chrome or whatever plated back on. Anodizing is non conductive, so you have to keep a contact point thru the process and three or four foot trim pieces in an agitated solution are gonna move and break contact, so you will probably be paying to have it done a few times when they give you a price. Anodizing gets stripped with caustic soda, so even stripping is not an issue, its getting it all off before the real expense of polishing happens to reanodize them again, or keep the natural and a mothers on them. Easiest way of buying sodium hydroxide to strip them yourselves is checking the label on drano because you are probably seeing areas that are still anodized and areas that are not and they will not polish the same.

As someone neck deep in experience with this stuff, what would you recommend I do for a simple daily driver car? Here is a picture, you can see that they are simply dull, or is that how they came

[DanStokes]

If you have a local vendor it might be cheap and easy to have them powder coated. They have a pretty good dull silver now and it's tough as nails.

Dan