Grill Surround

I just used that Eastwood kit to polish a set of Harley cases and heads. I was disappointed in the kit. The heaviest spiral sewn buff wheel and black emery compound was the only useful thing. The little cones were too aggressive for the aluminum and left scratches. The "white rouge" was too hard (solid) to rub on to the loose cotton buff and was rendered useless.



I experimented with some wool pads and quite a few over the counter metal polishes but ended up not using most. What I ended up doing was going over the case and heads everywhere I could reach with the heaviest spiral sewn buff and the black emery compound. This cut nicely into the faded aluminum. I followed this with a 3" 100% twisted wool buffing pad I had laying around from a wheel polishing kit, with 3M imperial compound and finishing material on a flex 3403 rotary. I then used a 3" wool polishing pad from the same wheel polishing kit and Menzerna PO85RD. I followed this all up by hand polishing it with Autosol by hand. This was my first ever attempt at restoring old aluminum. I did not get a chrome finish by any means but it was a great improvement.



I was surprised at how long it actually took to complete these small parts. I came to a new understanding of why people are charging so much to do this type of polishing. I had tried to get the Caswell kit but ran into a delay in the ordering process and went with the Eastwood instead. I believe the Caswell kit is a higher quality kit and the fact that it comes with a liquid rouge would probably make all the difference when compared with the Eastwood kit. I will be picking up the Caswell kit for my next aluminum experiment.



Heads Before

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Heads After

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Case Before

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Case After

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Sorry about the poor iphone pics...
 
Paul S said:
Thanks for your reply. Is this what you are referring to Caswell Inc. - Aluminum & Copper Alloy Polishing Kit ?
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I didn't have a specific kit in mind (and can't remember which one I bought, never got around to using it..), but that oughta be an OK choice.



I just used that Eastwood kit to polish a set of Harley cases and heads. I was disappointed in the kit. ..I did not get a chrome finish by any means but it was a great improvement.



I was surprised at how long it actually took to complete these small parts. I came to a new understanding of why people are charging so much to do this type of polishing. I
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Yeah, those were greatly improved. I agree, people underestimate how much work this kind of thing can be.
 
Unless the grille is Aftermarket, I have a hard time believing it's bare alluminum. OEM's aren't working with that finish all that often. If that's the case, it's most likely chrome plated plastic. Scratches are pretty difficult to remove from that surface, especially with a alloy polishing kit.



Andrew - Those cases & heads look very nice!
 
David Fermani said:
... it's most likely chrome plated plastic. Scratches are pretty difficult to remove from that surface..
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I don't think I've *ever* really corrected that "chromed plastic". I researched it once (long ago, forget the details) and IIRC it just doesn't lend itself to abrasive correction all that well. I mean, you can improve really nasty bits to some extent, but you can't really bring it back to "nice".
 
Accumulator said:
I don't think I've *ever* really corrected that "chromed plastic". I researched it once (long ago, forget the details) and IIRC it just doesn't lend itself to abrasive correction all that well. I mean, you can improve really nasty bits to some extent, but you can't really bring it back to "nice".
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Yeah, you can alter the appearance by shining them up, but probably not remove marring. These parts now a days are kinda too cheap and thin for that.
 
Yes it's bare aluminum. It is from a grill surround of a 1960's Ferrari. I bought Aluminum Metal Polishing Kit. I'll let you know how it works. Paul



David Fermani said:
Unless the grille is Aftermarket, I have a hard time believing it's bare alluminum. OEM's aren't working with that finish all that often. If that's the case, it's most likely chrome plated plastic. Scratches are pretty difficult to remove from that surface, especially with a alloy polishing kit.



Andrew - Those cases & heads look very nice!
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