Hi there guys, early chevy aluminum trim is anodized, and after 40 years it gets nasty and white, there not many options here since its pretty delicate, cant use a big wheel, too flimsy, by hand it takes forever to buff thru the coating. anything out there that will remove the coating? i have heard oven cleaner mentioned but wont it etch? thanks for all your help!
You're up ****s creek bro. That is a big job to tackle, and VERY easy to **** up. I know there is a guy in Chicago thats is a White metal wizard, but prepare to donate a limb for the job. You got to hammer all the dents out, file very carefully then sand from there. Best thing to do is shave the trim or just buy it on Ebay. I've found good trim for cheap at swaps and on Egay. Especially for a 64 it's not hard to find. Good luck
I have all the means to polish here at my shop. (Luigi, its Jason down at Radir BTW! lemme know on those Bullet spokes btw.) Once you polish thru the coating the trim comes out like chrome man! Just looking for a shorcut ya know, Thanks, Jason
IF you want to strip it - use hot water and lye (red devil drain cleaner works) it will etch it as much as you let it set. Watch out for the g***es/fuses. they are bad for you.
I have used oven cleaner to take the red and blue anodized **** off of valve covers and fittings. Find a piece of s**** trim and see if it works for you.
Jason? WTF small world! It's adamo i was just talking to you! you got a 64? You don't want a cheap 64 wagon do you? Call me
what he said. i have used the same stuuf with great results,just don't leave it in too long. get a piece of vinyl gutter material from the home depot or something, maybe even a cast off at a construction site. it is perfect for soaking said trim pieces in.
My dad does stainless and aluminum restoration up here. He buys some powder stuff out of the U.S. that he mixes with water. I can't remeber the name of it, but it sure works good. I'll give him a call and get the name.
Lye, caustic soda, sodium hydroxide, call it what you like. EEZY OFF oven cleaner allows you to spray it on. Most other oven cleaners are the same. Works great on long ***berome pieces. Small pieces we just throw on in a tub of around 30% concentration. Spray on ovencleaner or emmerse and inspect after 15-20 minutes. Rinse it off with clean water. Don't get it on your hands, it tends to digest them too. fumes are pretty heavy, not good for the lungs or eyes. If it is dull and gray you're done, if it's still shiny give it some more time. Leave it on too long and it will digest the part so 20 minutes at a time is long enough. Normally you need to sand out from around 180 grit to bring it up to a good finish, go to 1000 grit and powerbuff with a quality co**** stainless compound. Then hit it with a good calcined alumina or chrome oxide. We use Showmans blend to finish and protect both stainless and aluminum trim pieces. Repolish lightly with Showmans blend around once every six months to stay in top shape. Once a year is good enough for museum pieces.
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