Cleaning up aluminum on Healey hardtop

[bighealeysource]

Hey y'all,
Was lucky enough to pick up a nice factory hardtop for my BN6 and was seeking advice on best way to clean up the aluminum trim on it. Do not want to take it apart and refinish the individual parts as that is overkill, just clean them up in the assembled stage where I can do this and not harm the headliner or outer painted shell. Any suggestions ?
Thanks,
Mike

 

[Marvin Gruber]

0000 steel wool and Mother's polish is where I'd start

Marv

 

[HealeyRick]

4 aught steel wool is unlikely to do much damage, but I'd probably try Happich Simichrome polish on a cloth before I took it to the next step of steel wool.

 

[bob hughes]

I tried the metal polish from Autoglym on the aluminium trim pieces around the door opening and that worked fine - unless there any unsightly scratches that need to be fettled out - then use a very fine wet and dry paper with soap and water before polishing. Try a section on the back first for a tester.



Bob

 

[johnea]

Congrats on your purchase! Two-seater hardtops are difficult to find.
The aluminium framing on your top is anodized. This process gives a satin finish to the material and prevents it from oxidizing. Make shure you don't rub thrue this thin layer while cleaning.

 

[bighealeysource]

Thanks for the advice guys ! Like Johnea says above, got to be careful with the old anodized finish. Will approach this cleaning up carefully !
Regards,
Mike

 

[elrey]

What say ye when the anodization is all scratched up and hateful looking?

 

[bob hughes]

Why Elrey

You just fettle up the Ali and get it re-anodized of course.

They may have to reverse the process first to remove any of the old stuff remaining.

Bob