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Fri Feb 24, 2006 6:33 am

I have a nasty old spun aluminum tank that came with my rail project, and just can't bring myself to install it as-is. Has anyone attempted to polish one of these out? It's discolored, hazy, and dull.

I have aluminum cleaning acid, several grits of sandpaper, Mothers aluminum polish, a variable speed sander/buffer, and time.

Fri Feb 24, 2006 7:04 am

Sounds like you're on the right track, i did one a few years ago.Just took alot of patience.

Fri Feb 24, 2006 7:06 am

I tried to clean mine. It was too far gone to clean/polish, so I took 220 grit paper on a long block and sanded the whole thing with the grain. It turned out fairly good, and a whole lot better than it looked.

Fri Feb 24, 2006 7:40 am

Jowlz posted a great "How-To" on polishing aluminum over in the Body/Paint forum. He responded to someone asking about wheels, but the steps are universal.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1297321&highlight=#1297321

Fri Feb 24, 2006 10:12 am

jps1145 wrote: Jowlz posted a great "How-To" on polishing aluminum over in the Body/Paint forum. He responded to someone asking about wheels, but the steps are universal.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1297321&highlight=#1297321

the problem with the spun tanks is that they do not have a smooth surface. this makes polishing much different than if it was smooth like a wheel

Fri Feb 24, 2006 10:58 am

Yeah, exactly. I wonder if I started with 80 grit paper on my sander, and got it fairly smooth, then moved my way down to finer grit, if I could bring it to a smooth finish for polish? I could probably never get it to look right.

The acid (White-Lightning) does wonders with spun aluminum wheels, but etches pretty bad, and needs to be reapplied often. That's some nasty stuff when not diluted!

Fri Feb 24, 2006 11:01 am

while mine was still new, i was contemplating putting a clearcoat on it. but it got dirty to fast, so i though, "to hell with that idea"

Fri Feb 24, 2006 11:06 am

polished tanks are for trailer queens :lol:

Fri Feb 24, 2006 12:21 pm

HamburgerBrad wrote: jps1145 wrote: Jowlz posted a great "How-To" on polishing aluminum over in the Body/Paint forum. He responded to someone asking about wheels, but the steps are universal.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1297321&highlight=#1297321

the problem with the spun tanks is that they do not have a smooth surface. this makes polishing much different than if it was smooth like a wheel

Right, you just have to sand the snot out of it to get down past the mill marks, but it can be done.

Fri Feb 24, 2006 12:36 pm

Personally I'd do exactly what axishp did. Lot less work and brushed aluminum has a great look. Spray some clear coat over it and it'll look excellent.

Fri Feb 24, 2006 2:02 pm

You got to be careful when you sand the tanks that you don't sand to much because most tanks are only around .55" thick and some of the spun groves are .20" to .28" deep.

Fri Feb 24, 2006 2:04 pm

dansparts wrote: You got to be careful when you sand the tanks that you don't sand to much because most tanks are only around .55" thick and some of the spun groves are .20" to .28" deep.
are you sure you don't want to add a zero in there somewhere?

.055"? .020"? .028"?

Fri Feb 24, 2006 2:15 pm

Yes you are right!

Fri Feb 24, 2006 3:24 pm

That thin?

I think I'll just clean the tank and hit it with some acid. Maybe a little bit of polish if it needs it.

Thanks guys.

Fri Feb 24, 2006 4:39 pm

Note....

Go all over --- random polishing... we alll focus on a spot too long... then it requires the entire thing to be done.

2nd Note... then watch it... many of these things are VERY thin... I've gone through them.

T.

Fri Feb 24, 2006 7:18 pm

If you dont want the trouble of polishing it out, you can also just acid it. It will look whitish..but should be even. Put the acid on with a scrub brush.

You can also take a twisted wire wheel and give it the brushed look very quickly.

Sun Feb 26, 2006 11:24 pm

After polishing use cornstarch on a clean terrycloth towel to remove the last bit of polishing compound. This really brings out the shine. I repair fuel tankers at work and when we are done they get polished to mirror finish again . This is how the polishers do it . so damn brite it hurts to look at them.

Mon Feb 27, 2006 6:17 pm

I've never tried it but I would think a wire wheel on a 4" grinder would clean it up and give it the brushed look again.

Mon Feb 27, 2006 8:14 pm

If polishing will not get you the finish you want what about going another route, paint. You could give it a cool paint job.