Chrome Polishing -belt line deluxe trim-

[EverettB]

Agree with everyone above, the only additional thing I would add is that if you have some really deep scratches or marks like it hit something, I like to put the sandpaper on a small block so that sanding it out knocks down the area around it too and gives you a gradual depression instead of a visible divot.

A lot of times, this can make it invisible afterward to the eye

The sandpaper pads or foam blocks they have now work good too since they spread out your finger pressure.

On one piece I had with a big chunk in it, I went rougher and rougher on sandpaper grit to reduce the amount of time needed.
Came back with finer and finer afterward.
I think I went down to 180 and up to 1500 (wet) before polishing it.
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[Spitty1974]

Thank you to everyone who gave suggestions recently. Also, thank you for the tip about using a block for the longer scratches. I have one long scratch on the long piece of trim where I think that exact approach will work well, it's not too deep, but kinda long.

I'm going to experiment with a piece of trim. I'll post up some pictures of the before with the heavy oxidation and then the after pictures with each of the different grits that I use before steel wool and polish.

I appreciate you all sharing your first hand knowledge.

[peecee69]

I realize this step isn't trim, but it's till aluminum and much of the advice here has worked very well. However, I can't seem to get the grooves in the step cleaned up. Hopefully someone has a suggestion for what to do.

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[mandraks]

sounds like a job for a chemical cleaner, acid of some sort. found this on google:

Acidic Aqueous Cleaners
Acidic aqueous cleaning solutions may contain mineral acids such as nitric, sulfuric, phosphoric and hydrofluoric acid. Chromic or organic acids may include acetic and oxalic acids. These products may also contain chelating agents, detergents and small amounts of water-miscible solvents. Acidic aqueous solutions are sometimes used to clean or remove oxide, rust or scale from aluminum.

plenty of products available apparently
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regards

Uli

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'53 3-Fold Oval, L35 Metallic Blue, looking for a narrow hatch panel

[dlicious]

Bar Keepers Friend
I'm a Chef and use it to clean damn near everything. It will clean that.
It uses Oxalic Acid as its active ingredient. I find the powder does a better job than the liquid. Don't get the powder too wet, you want it pasty and thick. Use a kitchen scrub brush to get into those grooves. After rinsing and drying, spray with wd-40 as a lube and rub out with some 0000 steel wool.....
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'63 Caravelle Camper
dLk

[Jeler]

The trim is aluminum. Deep scratches can be removed with wet 400 grit or perhaps a more aggressive wet grit for deep scratches. Major dings will be almost impossible to remove . Buffing wheel is the only way to go here for a finish you will be proud of

I've refurbished aluminum boats for years now and learned off an AirStream site of a polish I frequently use. Expensive but well worth it in my opinion. A little bit goes a long ways. Good luck.

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/pnpages/09-...gIHcvD_BwE

[Almanor23]

[Jeler]

['40's guy]

Okay, okay, I cheated. I admit it. But friends, I spent cubic HOURS trying to polish the aluminum beltline trim on my bus. I read all of your informative posts. I watched a buncha YouTube videos. I spent $$ on products. I wetsanded and wetsanded...first with 220 then progressing to 320, then 400 to 600 to 800 to 1500. I got that aluminum as smooth as a baby’s backside. Then I polished, oh, man, did I polish...Mother’s mag and aluminum polish, Mother’s liquid metal polish, Brasso, 3M mag and aluminum polish, all using a variable speed rotary polisher with different grade wheels. Finally I used the series of very expensive Duvite compounds from Aircraft Spruce. Ay, yiyi! NOTHING got me past a satin finish, but I did get oceans of filthy oxide black enough to match my mood. Then it hit me, and please forgive me, but I ordered a $14 roll of chrome automotive wrap and covered that stuff with vinyl. I can hear you howling now, but take a look:

Left bar: sanded to 1500 grit, middle bar: polished to within an inch of its life, right bar: wrapped

Good thing you can't throw rotten tomatoes at me through the internet !

Cheers,
Clayt

[BarryL]

Looks ultra shiny. Does the wrap go all round in one piece width?

I've used a cloth wheel and rouge with good results but it does make the black dust.

['40's guy]

I ordered a roll of chrome vinyl wrap that is 30' long and 6" wide. It cost $14.00. I split it down its length with scissors so I had 60' of 3" material. It is quite easy to work with once you get the hang of it, and very forgiving. You peel off the paper backing to expose the adhesive side which is not aggressively sticky, allowing you to lift it off and realign it again and again. It is moderately stretchy. I covered each piece completely with the 3" vinyl, wrapping the excess width around the long edges to the backside. Then I split it with a sharp knife to expose the center groove for the colored plastic insert. When it's all stretched into position and you've worked out all the wrinkles, you heat it briefly with a heat gun to make it bond semi-permanently. It takes a while, but it's kind-of pleasurable work and the results are phenomenal. You can remove it any time you want if you want to return to original. These pictures show the pieces at the front of the bus to illustrate how you can stretch a straight strip of vinyl around a pretty substantial curve. It is so forgiving that I had success first time with each piece and didn't waste an inch of it.

[BarryL]

Impressive all the way.

[MrPolak]

Shiny, but doesn't look like aluminium. Actually very nice if you're after that polished stainless steel look. To each their own.

I'd wrap the entire bus. Seriously.