Polishing aluminum WHAT AM I DOING WRONG!

[FLG]

 

Ok guys, if youve seen my other thread i bought a nice buffing kit from eastwood to polish my radiator and valve covers.

Started with the radiator, wet sanded all the way up to 2000 so i didnt need to bust my a$$ with the colored stuff 

Used the white, and than the blue.

Came out to a nice sheen, so its got this coating on it from the polish, if i use a cloth to wipe it off i just scratch it 

Using microfiber just leaves scratches in it, buff it again and im stuck with this coating.

How in gods name do i polish this up to a high gloss, than clean it, and than im using eastwoods extreme clear to go on top of it.

[FLG]

After looking at it more im thinking its still lightly scratched because i didnt use a gritty enough polish. None the less, how in gods name do i clean it for prepping when if i touch the damn thing it gets scratched!

Im going to wait until friday when i can really sit down and take my time here.

But any help would be appreciated.

[greenpigs]

Try something like Taurine-sic. I work at a machine shop & we have a polish department so I will ask what they use.

[FLG]

I have no idea what that is, besides the taurine they put in red bull 

Any help would be apprechiated. I now see why people get paid the big bucks for this!

Seen this stuff called simichrome people are using to finish up the aluminum??

[greenpigs]

I dunno...torine... I need to check the can. One of the guys said they use a white compound and SUPER soft wheel to remove the blue haze off the parts. Now they do not do aluminum parts but it should be similar. Using the correct compound and in PROGRESSIVE STEPS is essential to a good finish.

[bill440rt]

Frank, you are finding that polished aluminum scratches REAL easy!!
You can also try denatured alcohol to remove the residue. Use the softest cotton rag you can find, or microfiber. You can try going over them with a Simichrome hand polish, that stuff works well also. But, nothing like a buffing wheel.
Before I cleared mine, I handled them with latex gloves not even to get fingerprints on them. They scratch super-easy.

Good luck, &  be patient. 

[twodko]

Frank,

Sorry you're having some difficulties. What greenpigs & Bill440rt said was dead on. First you must use the polish compound sticks in the order recommended and only those for aluminum. Not preaching here, I learned the hard way too. Use soft buffing wheels like Eastwood's 8" spiral sewn buffs. While it may seem backwards, polish in the direction the buff's rotation...........I know.....it seems you'd be able to polish faster were you to work against the rotation of the buffing wheel but that's not the case. Buffing against the rotation will leave black residue streaks on the work piece which is also indicative of using a bit too much compound. I wore nitrile gloves and did the final wipe down with tee shirt rags. You're not doing anything wrong bro its just the learning curve. Keep us posted.

[FLG]

Thanks guys.


This is the most frustrating thing I've done 

I'm going to work on it Friday (maybe start tonight) first I'm going to sand everything from 400 and work up to 2000 which should cover most of the scratches.

Ill than work with the compounds.

[John_Kunkel]

Plating shops dunk the polished parts in a tank filled with a soapy solution and scrub with soft brushes, then into a clear water rinse tank.

[twodko]

Frank,

Here are a couple more shots to give you some encouragement. A lot of my trim had some dents and dings so I repaired these things using simple stuff like small pieces of hardwood in different shapes to access those tight spots. You'll need a light mallet to gently pound out dings and such but use a light hand and check the results after every tap. If you have a piece of leather use it as your work mat for working out dings and dents never on a bare table top or bench, a clean tee shirt folded a couple times works too but leather is king. The Mrs. and I took 3 or 4 months to clean, repair and polish all the trim on our 69. 1000 grit wet/dry using lots of water is as far as I had to go  before the buffing process.
Nitrile gloves are the way to go for the final wash and dry so to speak but wear leather gloves when you're at the buffing machine........heat will be generated! One last tidbit, when you polish your SS trim use only enough buffing pressure to see progress but don't let the piece get too hot or worse, turn blue. If this happens with SS the piece is ruined.

[FLG]

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys!

Right now the valve covers are sitting in the bathtub because I was a little girl and it was cold in the garage 

Knocked a bit of em down but they still need more work, ill give you guys an update tonight. I should have them sanded and hopefully one of them polished by the late evening.

[Cooter]

I don't wanna rain on anybody's parade here, but a word of caution....

When polishing Grille aluminum trim pieces, while you can sand and polish the hell outta 'em and make 'em look BETTER than new, if you don't have the grille aluminum trim RE-anodized, you will be looking at a white cloudy mess in about 4 months...This is why most Weld Wheels look white after people install 'em and DO NOT polish them on a regualr basis...

Clearcoat no matter the name, will eventually turn "yellow" from the heat under the hood....(Cleared an intake once and never again)..

[FLG]

Thanks Cooter,

Well see how the eastwoods extreme clear holds up.




Went with another attempt tonight. I seriously just dont have the patience for this, maybe its because im using this hand drill with this little bonnets that and a bench wheel would work out better.

I'll keep trying, but i really just want to pay someone to do this (though that might be way to expensive). I get one area nice and i figure ok lets just do this one square spot and see how it looks...starts going well and than the end result is always the same...looks GREAT from an angle..look at it dead on and its just filled with scratches.

[greenpigs]

Went with another attempt tonight. I seriously just dont have the patience for this, maybe its because im using this hand drill with this little bonnets that and a bench wheel would work out better

Get the bench wheel & try again. If you still have trouble you could have them powder coated.

[resq302]

Frank,

You are more than welcome to come over and use my bench buffer if you want.  Youve seen how my stuff turns out.

[FLG]

Thanks Brian, you could probably show me a few things as well. When's good for ya? Give me a ring.

[FLG]

Ok well I've taken a break from the vave covers and have been trying to polish the upper tank of my radiator. Looks nice, but again I'm stuck with these scratches that only seem to get worse the more I try to clean them up.

Brian,

I need your help LOL!

[resq302]

Frank, call me tomorrow.  Im at work tonight.  I have to get some work done for my sis in law next week but I am working nights this weekend also so I might have some time on Sat if you want to stop by.

[twodko]

Frank,

How's the trim polishing going? Did you try using Brian's bench motor? I got faith in ya man! Keep us in the loop.

Tom

[FLG]

I'm gonna swing by brians in the next week or two..ill keep ya updated 

[FLG]

Well the better half took a lot of work out of the equation, she just got me new ones  







BTW ill be going to Brians when he has time to work on the radiator and maybe he can give me some tips on the trim so i can do that myself

[Cooter]

Yep, and I give those new covers about 6 months and they will look like the ones you are trying to polish out..Polished aluminum isn't the way to go on engine parts....The metal is so soft, by the time you get it polished, you wipe it with a rag and scratch the hell outta it...Good luck, as I'da went with a different set up on my covers...

[twodko]

What Cooter said. Would clear powder coating be the way to go here?

[FLG]

Bob440rt used eastwoods extreme clear on everything, you can't even see its on there. I plan on doing the same.

[resq302]

Frank, one thing to ask Eastwoods when using the extreme clear with exposure to high heat is would it turn a yellowish color from the heat?  Ive seen clears do that before when exposed to high temps.

BTW- really nice covers there.  Be sure to thank the lil girl.