aluminum skin advice needed ...

[darrell]

I am wondering if anyone could give me some advice on how to refinish the aluminum skin around the rear of my Westfield.

 

After years of neglect I started polishing the aluminum and in the rear ( in the shape of the spare tire ! ) I have several scuff marks I would like to try and remove.

 

I am assuming I need to sand them out and then re polish, has anyone done this before and how did it work out ?

 

Thanks, Darrell in Oxnard

[xcarguy]

If it's a scuff, try Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish:

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0009H519Y

 

. . . or . . .

 

Never Dull:

 

http://www.nevrdull.com/

 

If the skin is slightly scratched, and depending on how deep the scratches are, you can use various grades of wet/dry sand paper. For example, begin with a 400-800 grit and work up (numerically) to a 2000-4000 grit. Once the scratches are no longer visible, finish off with an aluminum polish.

[The Stig]

Just bought some Busch aluminium polish and on a trial it seems great. Online only I believe. http://www.buschshineproducts.com/

 

Was highly recommended.

[darrell]

Thanks guys.

 

I tried polishing with Mothers as well as a few other brands for quite a while but these "scuffs" will require more than that. I might try sanding them out with my orbital sander and the blocking with 1500 -2000 grit and finally polishing.

[darrell]

Now that I finally figured out how to post a picture you can see my dilemma.

I have tried polishing these spots until my arm felt like it was going to fall off but they don't budge.

[ChuckeD]

Start with about 2000 grit sandpaper and move on up, any grit below 2000 is going to leave scratches that can be seen.

 

Use a buffer with polishing compound. Any automotive paint store will give you advice.

[dvl]

Hi Darrell,

Finishing with wet 2000 grit or better is necessary to achieve a near scratch free appearance, from my experience. As I built up to 2000, I alternated sanding parallel and normal to the grain direction. I used Mothers to hand polish after sanding, using a damn microfiber cloth to apply and buff. It is hard work. I hope this helps,

Dave

[MHKflyer52]

When wet sanding your aluminum skin make sure you add a couple of drops of dish soap to your water to help lubricate and keep the sanding paper from clogging up with particles also the higher you go with the sand paper (2000, 3000, 6000) the higher the reflective shine and the smaller the micro scratches that are left in the surface of the aluminum which means less polishing will be needed in the end.

[manik]

Rolite when you are done.

 

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/rolitealum.php