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how to restore new "shine" to aluminum door sill plates? Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [50 messages per page] | View previous thread :: View next thread |
Forward Look Technical Discussions -> Body, Glass, Interior and Trim | Message format |
jerrybev |
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Elite Veteran Posts: 688 Location: Winston Salem, N.C. | hi I hope someone knows a way to restore a fresh shiny appearance to aluminum door sill plates. Mine are dull. thank you jerry whitfield winston salem NC | ||
mikes2nd |
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Expert 5K+ Posts: 5006 | just aluminum polish? I don't think these are anodized or clear coated(obviously 1950's)... I need to do this also and I will trim a couple millimeter to clean the bit of corrosion along the inside edge. Bump out any tiny dents also. | ||
mstrug |
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Expert 5K+ Posts: 6487 Location: Newark, Texas (Fort Worth) | I bet they are anodized. It will have to be stripped off and replated, 'brite dipped' or polished and cleared with a bare metal treatment. | ||
brdtee |
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Veteran Posts: 243 Location: Pieksamaki, Finland, Europe | I'd say just aluminum polish. I've used AutoSol products which are recommended by many. After you get them shine like crazy, it's good to add up few layers of good wax to protect the surface. Polished aluminum tend to dull out easily. | ||
Phatton |
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Veteran Posts: 174 Location: Camptown PA | How bad are they and how nice do you want them to look? If they're not too bad, try the polish route. If you don't like the result, you will need to remove the anodize and sand the scratches out. You will need to use a coarse enough grit sandpaper to remove the scratches, then use grit about 100 grit finer to remove the sandpaper scratches until you get to around 600 grit. From 600 you can jump to 800, then 1000. If you want them to shine more than that, sand at 1500 grit then polish. To protect the Al after you get it where you want it, use a product called Shark Skin - it's almost as good as anodizing. | ||
56D500boy |
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Expert 5K+ Posts: 9855 Location: Lower Mainland BC | Jerry: I asked the same question a while back (sometimes it helps to search the sub-forums with Ctrl F before you basically start another thread on the same topic). That said, here is the thread I started with the answers I got: Any hints for polishing sill plates?: http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=65234&... Left end polished, right end as found: Edited by 56D500boy 2017-10-11 6:35 PM | ||
56D500boy |
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Expert 5K+ Posts: 9855 Location: Lower Mainland BC | Jerry: This is where I quit a few months ago (probably an hour into it) | ||
57plymouth |
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Expert Posts: 3577 Location: Blythewood, SC | I buffed all of mine with a buffing wheel. They looked great for ab 15 years. Now they need to be touched up to be super shiny again. | ||
59 in Calif |
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Elite Veteran Posts: 1102 Location: Hayward, Calif | I just buffed my out too with Blue Magic metal polish cream. They look nice and clean now. Probably wouldn't hurt to put some wax on them as was suggested. Jerry | ||
ttotired |
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Expert 5K+ Posts: 8443 Location: Perth Australia | Light acid like what they use to get dirt staining off paint, then hose off Polishing will remove the anodise. They never were highly polished | ||
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