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By Andre Okazaki
I've been polishing my own aluminum parts for years and have had success
with all but the most damaged parts with deep gouges or road abrasions.
The whole process takes some time and patience but can save you a lot of
money that you could put into another part of your restoration project.
If the part in question has a clear coat of some sort, the first step is
to remove it. What I have used in the past is paint stripper available
at your local hardware store. Before applying paint remover make sure
you have removed anything attached to the part you are stripping of the
clear finish. Plastic or rubber parts will likely be damaged if not
removed. Follow the manufacturers directions but use a plastic scouring
pad instead of any abrasive material which could scratch and damage the
finish. If the clear coat is intact but dull, cracking or yellowing you
may be able to just use polish once it's been stripped.
Once clean you need to take a close look for deep scratches, nicks or
any marks which will need to be smoothed out before polishing. Small
marks can be removed by using 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper, keeping the
paper and piece wet at all times. If there are any marks that look too
deep, you may need to have that area welded to fill the impression.
When removing marks Make sure not to sand in one small spot. The object
is to remove a small amount of material from the surrounding area so you
are not left with a low spot which will show when you're finished. Do
not sand areas where a gasket or seal is to be fitted.
After all marks are removed, use 600 grit sandpaper and wet sand the
entire part, paying special attention to the areas where you used 400
grit. Using 800 grit then 1000 and finally 1500 wet sand entire part
until finish looks smooth and even with no marks.
When satisfied with your sanding, you are now ready to polish your part
to a mirror finish.
I have tried a couple of different ways, all of which work well. The
part can go to a shop to have the final polish done by a pro which
because of your hard work will literally take a couple of minutes and
cost very little. I use an automotive electric buffer as used to polish
your car after waxing. For this purpose my favorite product is called
Autosol but any good quality metal polish should work well too. This is
not as good as a high speed polishing wheel like the pros use but if you
are restoring on a budget you'll find the results comparable. Any areas
where the buffing wheel cannot reach must be polished by hand or you can
use a special polishing tip for your drill or dremel type tool. The
quality of the finish depends on the wet sanding. The more care and
time spent the better the end result will be.
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