We have an 60 Chevy aluminum grille that needs a good cleaning before it can be polished. These have all kinds of weird angles and its impossible to just buff it all out. I was wondering if there is a way we could dip this thing into a tub to de-anodize it, so it can be buffed much easier. I know most chemicals would eat aluminum. Any ideas??
I know oven cleaner will strip anodizing off things like fittings, etc. However are you talking about oxidation? That sounds more like what you mean. I suggest rather than using a buffer, etc just use some of that "wadding polish" (Eagle One, American Racing, etc all have some). It polishes easily without a ton of elbow grease. I'm sure an industrial polishing company could do it as well if you don't want to do all the work
Maybe I am thinking oxidation. I've used a chemical in the past to remove oxidation on a flat surface. turns it almost white like you'd see on the aluminum wheel cleaners sold a parts stores. Dont remember what that was....
hot water and "red devil lye" , or technically known as caustic soda. let it soak for a few minutes then check it, if not ready let it go for a bit longer, then rinse with water
My '60 Plymouth's grill is anodized aluminum I think. I was told that the only way to get it to shine was to either have it re-anodized or chromed. I've tried to polish it a few times without any luck. I might try the oven cleaner approach.
I too was told this 60 grille was anodized.??? I was thinking if the anodized could be removed that the aluminum would buff out.
I did my pickup grill It was a very, very time consuming nightmare I started with 80 grit and stepped up from there till 2000 grit I never kept exact time..but I'd say 300 hours When I say sanded till my fingers bled, I'm not kidding I did find a chemical at a show that says to take off hard andonizing Never tried it but ..? I'd send it off to www.kingoftrim.com What ever they charge , its worth it If I'd went a got a job at Home Depot for 300 hours @ 7.00 a hour I'd earned enough and still had fingerprints left
Actually these aluminum grills are not anodized but are finished by a process known as Bright Dip. It is close to anodize but not actually an anodize finish. True it leaves a coating on the metal but it is not the same as the anodize coating. The same methods to strip it are probably the same.
"What is our country going to do when all of the skills and craftsmanship in this country is lost because our kids are no longer learning the fundmentals of manufacturing?" -PETEJOE gears-n-grease... I'm going to have to choose my words carefully and be sure to have good grammar if I am going to be quoted. thanks for the tip!
Are you trying to polish it on the car or is it off? I polished the grille for my 60 and it took about a day of stripping , sanding pick and file and polishing.I did a little tech piece on polishing....http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=154089&highlight=polish+anodized+aluminum http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=153411
Ooofa!! That looks like a load of work, but obviously is well worth the effort. That grill looks sweet!!
When I did my 66 SS about 15 years ago someone sold a powder, when mixed with water, that would take the anodizing off of aluminum trim. You'd submerge it in a plastic container of some sort and check it frequently until the surface turned white. It bubbled like hell and required gloves. It was obviously an acid of some sort and may not be available now. I haven't looked lately. After it was washed and dried the aluminum trim would polish just like any other aluminum piece. I did a few pieces that were not reproduced at that time. I polished them and hit them with a good heavy coat of rattle can clear. It's not an exact match to a neighboring piece of NOS trim but it looked good to me. It was actually shinier than the NOS trim.It only took maybe 10 mins. For something that big you'd probably need to make a wooden trough and line it with a heavy plastic drop cloth. The advantage of the liquid bath is that you can dip it and pull it to check the progress. Put it back in if necessary. For long aluminum side trim, they used plastic guttering from Home Depot to make a trough. I got mine from one of the vendors that sells polishing supplies and polishers for home use. Lots of Dremel tool polishing time need for a 60 grill but ya gotta do what ya gota do.
i took my grill to a polishing chrome shop left it for a day or two cost about 40 bucks it came back looking like chrome but its a bitch to keep up i think it needs some kind of sealer or clear coat good luck
anyone have a correct clear sealer to use after buffing is done? would clear urethane work? i have a 60' chevy also and it's gonna be lots of hours to polish and straighten so protecting the shine is essential.
I had a '67 Camaro grille de-anodised years ago. I just took it in to a local company that does anodising and they did it in a tank. Was very cheap and didn't take long. I have tried the caustic soda trick on red/blue AN fittings and it also works fine, but it would be a bit more awkward doing something as big as a grille at home.
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