Ok guys, so I have all the windshield trim off the car, and brought it home to buff. Never done this before. I have read up on the way most do it, buffing wheels, compound, etc.. I also saw some saying you could do it with some Mothers Mag polish. So I was playing around with the Mothers and a handheld air polisher, and it really shined the trim up nice to a mirror finish, although you can see a ton of fine scratches on it, not deep ones. The only thing it does not fix, is all the fine scratches on the trim, which brings me to my next question. Is this straight stainless, or is it the flash chrome plated stainless I have read about? I dont know if I should wet sand it first, or fine steel wool it first, or use a real buffer and compound, or what?
Years ago, I bought an arbor from Sears that screwed on the shaft of any electric motor. I bought four buff wheels, I use two for fine, and two for course. I bought a buff kit from Eastwood, it has more stuff in it than I will ever use. The stainless I have buffed goes much slower than aluminum, but looks as good and lasts longer. I wear leather gloves for SS work. Without them, if the part catches, the blood flows freely.
I polished all the stainless on my '56 Fairlane. Had a few dings, dents & gouges but for the most-part was able to repair them too. I think I only had one or two pieces that weren't fixable and I had to replace. I used an el-cheapo Harbor Fright bench grinder/polisher ($30)& some of their just-as-cheap buffing wheel/pads and compound. I also got some better quality polishing rouge from Graingers for finish/final buff. Yeah as Don says, wear gloves - those moldings have teeth! Mine isn't show quality but it certainly turned out better than I expected. After I heard the prices for "professional" polishing I figured I had nothing to lose by trying it myself. Glad I did.
Yeah, I have read some horror stories online about the buffer turning a piece of trim into an arrow at 300 feet per second. Thats why I was using the hand air polisher, not enough torque to hurt myself, but probably not enough to polish out the fine scratches either. I may have to try that $30 HF one, I have been looking at it.
Yes, they can get away from you if you're not careful with the wheel. I nearly ruined one of the drip moldings which, if I had to do again I think I'd install the drip moldings first then do them with a hand held polisher. I didn't try to remove the fine scratches from mine, at 10 feet or more those imperfections are unnoticable. But that's my personal preference and better quality is obtainable if desired. Here's a few 'in-process' shots of when John was doing the moldings and sheet metal:
Thanks Ron, looks great. I am kind of thinking the same thing, not worry about the fine scratches, because you dont notice them much until you stare at it close up. My moldings are actually all NOS ons still in the brown paper that I bought for a great price, so they are almost mint as is and I am just going to give them a little polish. Its just the windshield trim that has the small scratches on it since they have been on the car for 50+ years.
I just did this last week,,it's the trim on the front of the '54 and my first attempt,not perfect but looks a lot better than when I started. HRP Before,, After,, __________________
Make sure you reinforce pieces with wood dowling or similar, using masking tape. Buff between the tape, moving the length of the moulding by removing tape and adding as you go. If the moulding is a 90 degree, use dowling etc. and tape from both directions. If you can feel a scratch with your fingernail, than you will need a metal abrasive to sand the scratch out, then buff with different compounds and buffs. Keep both hands on the piece and concentrate on what you are doing. The speed of the buff is important, as is the diameter of the buff. As mentioned earlier, some buffs are more abasive than others. Some companies sell an expander wheel that takes different grit abasives. Scratches and imperfections can be removed using this tool. It takes a while to get use to the process, but with the right tools, buffing stainless to a bright scratch free mirror finish is possible. The last time I wrapped a stainless moulding around my buffer shaft was after spending 10 hours of buffing, and no reinforcing behind the moulding. Walk away after a few hours.
How careful do I need to be if I polish while the trim while it on the car. Can I use masking tape to protect the paint?
I've polished stainless on three cars, a 54, 48 and 56 TBird. I use rhe Eastwood stuff - wheels, abrasive, and my bench grinder which is on a stand. A bench mounted grinder does not give you the space to work. If you got deep scratches, use 240, them 600 and then 1000 to get themn out , then buff. Buffing will get the sandpaper scratches out. I first use a brown abrasive (I thinkits emery) and a hard buff. This removes the sanding scratches and partially shines. Then I use the stainless abrasive and a medium hard buff which gives it the polish. The third uses a very loose buff and adds a greater dimension to the shine. I like to use the larger (10 inch) buff for the stainless. I double up on the first two buffs to give me increased buffing area and also helps slippage off the buff. It can be a pretty tedious job if you have a lot to do.. Don't rush it and after a couple of hours walk away so you don't get too tired. Don't press the work into the buff too much and don't overheat the piece too much. They do get hot. Gloves are a good idea. Do a little bit at a time, get it to your satisfaction and then do another section. If you have any exposed metal pieces on the machine near the buff, wrap them in duct tape so if the piece slips it wont gouge the piece you are working on.
So I bought a harbor freight cheap buffer and some compound. It was doing pretty good. I then spent $30 on a Eastwood kit with 4 compounds and some wheels, and here is some progress I am making. Its not all perfect, but damn...I have mannny hours in this already, I cant imagine the time perfection would take. The 1 little spear in there is a piece that isn't buffed yet, obviously
Yeah, slow though. We tested the paint color I wanted, it was converted from enamel to urethane, and didnt look like what I wanted it at all. Got another color and will test it next week. He told me yesterday the body is done, 1 door is done, and has been working on the driver door for 2 days. Said it is full of bondo and having to get all that out and fix it right. He says 2 weeks and it will be home. Hey, heard that one before
Recommendations for the best electric buffer/polisher ? A question was asked but no answers given pertaining polishing the stainless while its still on the car. If I were to use tape on either side of the stainless to protect the paint what would be the best electric buffer / polisher to use ? I also tried reviewing overviews on autogeek but the recommend everything they sell so that didn't pinpoint any single unit. I also saw the poll on the main page and there were no clear winners there either. So - any recommendations ???
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