Restoring Aluminum Trim

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Restoring Aluminum Trim

Postby acstestinc » Wed Jul 11, 2007 7:31 am

The aluminum trim on the front and rear bumpers of H-Bodies, with urethane bumper covers, is anodized. It can't be polished without removing the extremely hard anodizing either chemically or with a very aggressive machine polish. Over time, if left unprotected by wax, the anodizing will become stained, due to its porosity, and get a cloudy / water stained look.

An easy fix is to spray the trim with a gloss clear coat. The cloudy look / stains will disappear. Scratches however will still be visible.
The clear coat will need to be stripped and reapplied if it starts to yellow over time.

The other alternative is to strip the anodizing / polish the aluminum / then either re-anodize or clear coat. It is recommended that aluminum be anodized otherwise it will scratch very easily.

Paul
Last edited by acstestinc on Sat Dec 29, 2007 7:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby res0o7eb » Wed Jul 11, 2007 10:58 pm

I've heard that "Easy-Off" oven cleaner will remove the anodized layer.
Leave it on for about 20 minutes. Then wipe off all residue and rinse.
You're ready to polish.
(Ref.: One of the PowerBlock TV shows on Spike).
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Postby acstestinc » Thu Jul 12, 2007 7:45 am

Stripping the anodizing isn't hard to do and neither is the polishing. Re-anodizing and the total expense are the issues.

Paul
Last edited by acstestinc on Fri Jul 27, 2007 12:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby markl » Thu Jul 12, 2007 2:10 pm

You can go to www.caswell.com. They sell home plating and anodizing kits as well as anodize stripper and sealer etc. I also found this a while ago on how to anodize at home, havent tried it yet buts sounds fairly easy http://homepages.udayton.edu/~jacobsnj/anodize.htm
Hope this helps
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