My 1964 F100 has an Aluminum grill and bright work down the side. It is very dull. What is the best way to make it shine?
You'll first need to remove the anodizing. Oven cleaner should do the trick. Then polish it Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using H.A.M.B. mobile app
Yup, the anodizing needs to be removed before you can do any polishing. I have a '66 F-100; I was able to find a local anodizing shop that was willing to strip the grille and trim for me, but as mentioned many people use oven cleaner to do it at home.
Not with the subject but EZ_OFF oven cleaner will remove OneShot stripping paint without hurting car paint. Get a bunch of those little acid brushes and have at it, of course if it's clearcoated your SOL.
Before you strip the anodizing off, try rubbing compound. It's a lot of hand labor (don't use a machine), but I've had pretty good luck bringing back dull anodizing. If you use oven cleaner, you'll basically have to remove the trim and re-buff it, then keep it buffed/waxed. You can have it stripped/repolished/reanodized, but that's as expensive as plating...
I saw in an older issue of Cl***ic Trucks telling about dipping it in Lye and water to remove the anodized coating, before polishing. It told about using the Bed and Plastic and filling the bed with the solution, then dipping. Sounds like a lot of work.
Alum rim cleaner an polish is best,I like Mothers. But look out about some types of oven cleaner if you think u want to use any,some of those can acid ecih alum an that makes it very hard to ever get a shin on it again,just don't.
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