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Grill Polish

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BlueRidge2

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Any recomendations on polishing the vertical bars on a grill? I have removed all the bars and striped the anodize plating already. Also I have wet sanded the bars with 400 grit paper which smoothes them pretty good. I buffed with a white bar coumpound on a tight wheel which shines them but leaves a black residue that leaves the piece kinda hazey..
They look much better than they did but not really as good as I would like considering the amount of time I am spending on this project. Should I use another rouge or differnt type polish? Would a looser buff wheel produce better results? Thanks Bob
 
Hi Bob,

Are you trying to make them look orginal?

The vertical bars on my BJ8 look like a sort of satin silver color. Not shinny.

Maybe after polishing, use something to dull the shine. Fine Scotchbrite pad?
I would try some spot tests on the bars that do not show through the opening.

If your trying to polish aluminum, they will quickly dull by themselves down the road, unless you coat them with someting.

I would finish wet sanding with a finer grit than 400. Maybe 1000 or 1500. Then polish to a shine.
Mothers makes a great wheel polish that makes aluminum shine almost like chrome.

Helpful info? Best of luck with your project. Roger
 
Thanks Roger, Right now I would settle for making them just look presentable as the original look probably would be hard for me achive without having them reanonized. Where do they sell the Mothers Polish? Does Auto Zone or Wall Mart carry that product? I have experimented with lightly glass bead blasting the pieces and it leaves a nice kinda flat finish that I thought may look alright on the sides and then polish the fronts. Other than dull, my grill is in nice condition, kinda would like to stay with the original rather than reproduction. Is there a reproduction grill available that is nicely done? I am using reprodution bumpers but don't want to start putting alot of that kind of stuff on the car if I can avoid it. Bob
 
Hi Bob,

I hear conflicting reports on the reproduction grilles. Some say they are great and others say the forming of the grille slats is not correct on the sides (wrinkles in the metal). If you do decide to order a set make sure it is from someone who has a no hassle return policy.

The aluminum slats are clear anodized and the finish is satin. This is very hard/impossible to replicate with polishing/bead blast, etc. The grilles get lots of abuse during driving with the anodization getting worn off, pitting, etc. They are also quite thin so be careful with polishing too hard. You might try beadblasting and then lightly scotchbrighting the surfaces to leave a slight grain and then clear coating with a low sheen clear made to cover metal (Glisten by Por15 comes to mind or perhaps a low gloss clear for aluminum wheels).

Cheers,
John
 
Bob,
Iwas at a rechroming shop this week in Fayetteville,NC and showed them the grill while talking about the bumpers. They also recommended Mother's Polish and I found some at an AutoZone. I have just started polishing the grille and will let you know how mine comes out. One other bit of advice that was given to me was to clean the grille as much as possible before starting on polishing it. That makes polishing much easier. I soaked my grille in soapy water overnight and then scrubbed it with a nylon bristle brush. That helped more than I expected.
Charlie
 
Maybe a dumb question, but can they be re-anodized? We spec allot of anodized aluminum for construction projects, but I don't know that much about the process, is it something that can be done at local shops, or just big factories?

Just 'googled' anodizing process: https://www.ihccorp.com/index.htm they probably want production work, but I bet they would talk to you...
 
Charlie, I bought my bumpers from moss. They look pretty good but lighter or thinner than original. My cores looked like the previous owner parked by sound so I had to buy reproductions. Don't know how they will weather but my car stays in the garage in it's new life so they should be OK.

Dar 100 ,I think they probably could reanodize but the last quote I had to do the cockpit and top door rails blew me away from that idea. I did have the rear valence panel redone on a 62 chevy and it looked nice but $$$.
I polished my cockpit rails and they look really nice and it wasn't too difficult to do.

John I'll experiment some with the bead blaster and the scotch brite. Thanks everyone for responses. Bob
 
dar100 said:
Maybe a dumb question, but can they be re-anodized?
Click to expand...

The metal needs to be in pristine condition to anodize. With the usual pits and not much metal thickness to work with you are better off buying new. At $185 or so (last time I checked) for the complete grille assembly it would be cheaper to buy than the cost to have someone re-anodize.

Cheers,
John
 
BlueRidge2 said:
Any recomendations on polishing the vertical bars on a grill? I have removed all the bars and striped the anodize plating already. Also I have wet sanded the bars with 400 grit paper which smoothes them pretty good. I buffed with a white bar coumpound on a tight wheel which shines them but leaves a black residue that leaves the piece kinda hazey..
They look much better than they did but not really as good as I would like considering the amount of time I am spending on this project. Should I use another rouge or differnt type polish? Would a looser buff wheel produce better results? Thanks Bob
Click to expand...

Yes a looser buffing wheel will yield better results. Similarly, final polishing with Mothers Mag Polish by hand will remove the Oxide. However, if I could have the grill reanodized for $185.00 I would be pounding on the Guy's door.--Fwiw---Keoke
 
Keoke said:
However, if I could have the grill reanodized for $185.00 I would be pounding on the Guy's door.--Fwiw---Keoke
Click to expand...

Hi Keoke, There is a chance you misunderstood me. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif The $185 is to buy a new slat assembly from Moss. I would guess much much more to have one re-anodized.

Cheers,
John
 
OK John, Mossy is getting close to $190.00 for a new one. I Do not have a clue about their quality. I have never priced the cost to refurbish one. There is a specialty shop here that does it though.---Keoke
 
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