4 of the 5 trim rings finally done!

[resq302]

Well after about an average of 10 hours each on the trim rings, I have finally gotten to the point where they are almost ready to be put back onto the rims.  Here are a couple before and after photos of the 1969 specific 14" Magnum 500 trim rings with the brushed inner sections.  I am very pleased considering what I had to start out with as you can see.  The finished product does have some very fine scratches in the polished part but you have to get up extremeley close to see them and at that point your nose would probably leave a mark on the trim ring.  All in all, I am glad that I was able to do them myself as I know what my standards are compared to some outsourced shop.  Also, the fact that most stainless steel resto shops would not touch trim rings is what made me decide to try and do it myself.


Please feel free to leave your opinion as it would be welcomed as to see what kind of reaction I would get from my hard work.

Brian

PS- third picture of the unrestored trim ring is hard to tell but that is the lip area that has had some curb rash.  The lines you see are pretty deep scracthes.

[resq302]

Pictures of same trim ring only restored.

[mikepmcs]

 

How did you get the little dings out??

v/r
MIke

[gtx6970]

Brian,
Looks excellant . considering just how hard these rings are to find is exactly why I feel they should be repoped (but thats another story )

[resq302]

Mike,

All the stuff that I used to restore my trim rings I was able to get from Eastwood.  I purchased a trim hammer and a mini anvil and lightly had to hammer out the dents working it from both sides.  The hard part was trying to get the metal attaching ring off of the backside that was held on by the trim ring edge being rolled over onto the mounting ring with the clips to hold it together and make it one piece.  After I got all of the dents pretty much straightend out, then came the fun part.......sanding.   I honestly think my arms are twice the size as what they used to be because with it being a compound curve, most of it had to be done by hand.  After the experimental trim ring (first one that I did was almost bent in half and had a small area where the metal cracked), I found out that Eastwood had something called an expander wheel.  This wheel is a soft rubber wheel like a buffing wheel but is ventilated to make something that resembles legs on an angle.  When the wheel spins, these legs straighten out from centrifigal force and hold the sanding belt that goes over the wheel in place.  Special care is needed a I found out with the test piece that if the piece gets to hot with the sanding wheel, you can actually start to weld a hole in the trim and make a burn spot.  Luckily, I noticed this and stopped before I got a hole.  That area now on the test trim ring is paper thin and it was a good learning experience with a lot of cursing. 

Once all the dents were basically straightened out and sanded smooth leaving no high or low spots, I then started the buffing process.  The first step of the buffing process was to use the Emery compound which also told me if there were any areas I missed sanding as it seems that there was some type of a coating used on the exposed section of the trim ring.  If there were any areas that showed, I would have to go back and repeat the process of the sanding till it was all removed and smooth.  With the Emery compound step done, I then went to the Stainless compound.  This polished and buffed the trim more giving it more shine and removing small scratches as well.  The final step once all of the previously mentioned stuff was done would be to use the white compound as a final buff to give it the shine and color that the part is supposed to be.

As I mentioned above in my first post, it is very time consuming and I now know why they charge the prices that they do.  This is an art and if you do not have patience, I would not even suggest trying it.  But, the finished product is certainly worth it I feel.

[tan top]

....  awesome job     (resq302) .

[Shakey]

They look great Brian - well done!   

[terrible one]

Now that is some EXCELLENT work! Well done man!

[mopar_madman]

wow looks great

[lookin@my68]

WOW!

Great Job Brian!!

They will look even better when on the car!

[mikepmcs]

Brian,
Thanks for the explanation.  I think they look awesome and your patience truly paid off.  Maybe you should do this and make some $$ on the side, it certainly seems you have the knack for it.

v/r
Mike

[resq302]

Mike,

I did consider that but with a brand new baby, my time is short right now.  Maybe in the future when she grows up but right now it is not an option.  I am having all I can do right now to just get my car back together and ready for its first show coming up in May.

Brian

[plum500]

Awesome

[resq302]

Mike,

Just doing a quick tally on the supplies I had to get in order to restore the trim rings, I think it was about $200 or so, probably a little under.  The advantage was that I had most of the buffing wheels and compounds for the stainless and white compounds and their corresponding buffing wheels so that saved me some money.

Brian

[mikepmcs]

Thanks, i'm gonna check it out.

I did a piece of my trim with a hammer and a piece of metal, got the dings out and now it's at least one solid wavy straight piece, lol.   I'll keep practicing.   

[Silver R/T]

excellent! Nice job

[resq302]

Mike,

The one thing that I can offer advise wise is to try and watch the temperature of the stainless trim.  I found that once it gets hot, it is succeptable to that welding issue that burns the metal.  If you take your time and work a little at a time taking breaks to let the piece cool, and using very little pressure, it should work out fine.  One thing I found that was very helpful was having one hand not in a glove and when my hand got hot from being in cotact with the metal, it was time to take a break.  Shortly after that is when I started to notice is when the stainless would start to burn.

I will say, that if you have no clue as to what you are doing, try a scrap piece that you would not mind destroying like I did.  Otherwise, you can ruin a good piece VERY quickly by either the burning through the metal or having the buffing wheel grab a hold of the part and fling it straight into the ground or worse, into a concrete basement wall  (ask me how I know) .  I can empathise enough how dangerous this work can be as I have had pieces get ripped out of my hand and slice into my skin just like a razor blade was taken to my palm.  I have also had one of the trim rings get caught on the buffing wheel when I was outside in my shed and have it start whipping around with the trim ring attached to the buffing wheel.  That ended up with me getting a bone bruise on the side of my thumb, yet no cut.  Go figure.  Anyway, DISCLAIMER..... USE EXTREME CAUTION WHEN ATTEMPTING THIS WORK.  Afterall, you can still function with 8 fingers right?

Brian

[mikepmcs]

Wait, we all have 8 fingers don't we(i'm a woodworker too).  Just kidding.  I went on the site today to try to figure out what to get.  After the mini anvil and the trim hammer, i got lost.  I did see the polishing compund and stuff and I have a grinder that i can convert to buffing wheels but I guess what i'm asking is ...... Are there any other tools that i need besides the hammer and dolly.   
I couldn't find that little expandable sander deal either.  I ain't that smart though, so cut me some slack please.

thanks so much for the guidance, i really appreciate it!

v/r
Mike

[resq302]

Mike,

Just sent you a PM.  Hopefully I can get that list compiled for you tonight.

Brian

[mikepmcs]

Brian
Thank you, got it.  Please take your time and I really appreciate it.


v/r
Mike

[resq302]

Mike,

I originally got the kit to just polish up some existing stainless steel and other trim parts.  You will not believe the dffference it will make.  I thought some of my trim was shiny before, I was wrong.  Now you can use it as a miror.

One thing to take special note on is the expander wheel.  You can only use it up to a certain RPM.  I took a chance with going over it on my bench grinder set up and it held up but I was also not using it for more than a minute or two.

Brian