Cleaning up and polishing aluminum

[Brian]

I was a little dismayed by some of the beatings that my paneling had taken while we trial fitted and removed, and fit back on and removed again the various bits on to the car. So I decided to take a poke at cleaning up the aluminumi cladding in the driver side wheel well. A little compounding followed by a finish polish with a DA and here's what we have. This started out as mill finish aluminum which was about as reflective as concrete.

Brian

 

[Pete]

Hey Brian, that looks great! How would keep the shine though? Wax?

Pete

 

[Brian]

I'll probably put some Zoop-Seal on, have heard some good things about it from the bike guys up here.

Brian

 

[Pat Buckley]

OK - so who did you have do it?

Those fingers are way too clean for you to have done it.

 

[Paul Thompson 'Hooligan']

Wow Brian - your build just gets better and better.

It may well be the last 'original' GTD to be completed but it is clearly setting the benchmark for anyone else - you must be well pleased and rightly so....Well done..rockonsmile

 

[Malcolm]

Now that is shiny. You are hereby banned from my garage!

Are you pointing at a spec of dirt that causes offence?

 

[Randy V]

It looks beautiful now but being in the vicinty of the tires and all the road trash / sand they kick up, I fear it won't look that way for long - wax, sealer or not...
You may want to consider getting some of that heavy duty clear film that they put on the front ends of cars (Clear Bra) to protect that area..

 

[Scott]

OK - so who did you have do it?

Those fingers are way too clean for you to have done it.

You ain't kiddin.

 

[Brian]

Clean hands? I wear nytril gloves (I think that's how it is spelled)and a one piece jumpsuit when I am in the garage. Having permanently damaged the skin on my right hand form excessive chemical exposure building and flying R/C airplanes, I learned my lesson. Also makes it easy to grab a sandwich when the spouse wants to eat lunch

Brian

 

[Mike Dozier]

Looks great....which compound did you use ?

MikeD

 

[Bill D]

You can come do my mono chassis!!!

 

[Brian]

I purchased the materials from Tom over at perfect polish. He has a variety of buffing kits and compound sample sets that allow you to play a bit. I compounded with my 1/2 drill , and then followed up with a DA to polish out. It's a little work but it works pretty well.

Bill, if you weren't so far away , I'd LOVE to come over and play in your garage.

Brian

 

[Scott Calabro]

Look great !!!

Clear anondizing would work the best, but alas the panels are installed.
Now that they are polished, it won't be to hard to keep up.
Nice work.

S

 

[Graham T]

Looks fantastic Brian, but Oh Boy, are you in for a shock when you drive it on the road and God help you if you ever go on the track and hit the "Kitty litter".

Regards,

Graham.