Aluminum Polishing Before and After

[kmcypress]

Hi guys. New here to the forum. Just wanted to say I followed some of the directions on the tech articles about polishing aluminum and it came out pretty well. Thought I'd share some pictures and a breakdown in case anyone is thinking about it.

Started by pulling off the aluminum rocker panels. Mine appeared as though they had never been pulled off as everything was completely dirty and rusted out. If you plan on pulling them off, be sure to have mounting hardware lined up because it most likely won't go back on clean.

After washing all the dirt off, I used the Roebic Drain Cleaner Crystals from Lowe's and soaked all the aluminum for about 15-20mins. I recommend using a brush to scrub it a tad in the solution. Mask, goggles, gloves, etc. as this stuff is intense!

Then, wet sanded it (500 -> 1000 -> 1200). After that, I buffed it out with a few different compounds (black -> brown -> white rouge). I started by buffing with drill bit buffers but was afraid I was going to burn out my drill so borrowed a Sears bench top buffer from my dad and it was night and day. I wouldn't recommend even trying the drill after used the bench top.

After wiping down the center section I used 1/4" black pinstripe down the center lines and then polished it all up with Mothers Mag polish.

For a weekend project I think it turned out pretty good. If I were to do it again I probably would have taken a little more time sanding it down as there are still some pretty good scratches but I wasn't going for perfect and didn't have the time to go back and forth.




Sodium Hydroxide (Lowe's): $15
Buffing Kit (Harbor Freight) $20
Extra Buffing Wheels: $10
Mothers Polish: $5
Pinstripe: $10

TOTAL: roughly $60 and about 10ish hours for tailgate trim and lower rocker trim. After researching the mounting hardware I figure I'll be in for under $150 total.

[Mach428]

Wow what a difference! Thanks much for sharing.

[Mancar1]

What a diff. Gonna look good

[hillcountryflt]

Wow. What a change. Makes me kind of glad I don't have much chrome to worry about on my F100 Custom.

[chad67]

Be careful with the buffing wheels! It can be addictive! I've already polished my stainless water bottle and insulated coffee mug!

[jimmy828]

I have been doing the same with my trim and i must say, what a job that is!