I have a 63 88 and no matter what i do i cant get the trim from the front around the grill to polish. it gets shiny but has a rainbow tinted haze and shine stops there. the pices in question are the outer surrounds and the deflctor and the piece above the grill. thanks.

 

Someone more familiar with your car will have to speak up. But I know there was a coating put on some of the aluminum trim to keep it from corroding. I believe it has a rainbow like color to it. If you polish through this coating it may make your trim vulnerable to the environment


John

 

that is what i was thinking, another thing does anyoneknow why both fusic and usa parts skip 63 for lettering and badges? looking for letters for tail and the rocket al mine pitted bad. nce new paint is down. pits will not look cool.

 

I used a product called "Blue Lightning Metal Polish" along with an electric drill and a small cotton wheel.
These parts are anodized aluminum and were a "satin" finish . They are not meant to be real shiny. (like chrome) As others have said , the anodizing is a coating and you must take care not to rub through the coating.

I have one piece on E-bay right now that I polished and then later found an NOS piece:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181375889320...84.m1586.l2648

Blue Lightning is available from:

L&S Industries
3702 N.E. 28th Ct.
Ocala, FL 34479

Ph. 352-898-2747

 

There's a guy by the name of Dalton in Sisters, Oregon that is parting several 63's with good chrome. He may be able to help you. His e-mail is ;

demammothman@live.com

 

It sounds like this aluminum is clear anodized. If so, you won't be able to polish it until the anodizing is removed.

 

And if you remove that coating, the AL will oxidize within minutes leaving it looking like a city bus.

 

The pieces are bright anodized and the finish is only 3 mil (.00003 ) deep, if you polish the anodizing off completely the panel can be reanodized but when the anodizer runs the panel through his process the finish will look like crap, it will be blochy from the removal of elements in the base material. I have tried this with other parts and had no success.
Steve

 

Actually, 3 mil is 0.003"

 

Joe, .003 is three thousands and three mil is .0003
at least this is what I was taught or we would call it 3 tenths of a thou. in imperial not metric

 

Preeeeeety sure a mil, by definition, is a thousandth of something. Like Mil-a-liter is 0.001 liter. In this case it'd be of an inch, or 0.001".

Google search "what is a mil?" returns

"A "mil" is a unit of thickness equal to one thousandth of an inch. "

I have always heard smaller things referred to as "tenths" - short for tenth of a thousandth, or 1/10,000 inch. Smaller than than we get into micro inches, nano, pico, etc., but in Real Life no one gets down to that level. Just scientists.

 

I'm thinking that
1.0 =1 inch
.1 = 100 thousands of an inch
.01 = ten thousands of an inch
.001 = 1 thousands of an inch
.0001 = 1 tenth of a thousands of an inch
.000001 = 1 millionth of an inch
having been a machinest/ tool maker/manager and now self employed manufacturing car parts from gears to panels I think I should know a little by now.
Steve

 

the gravel shield is a bright finish aluminum and has an anodized finish and when buffed through this anodizing finish the aluminum is in it's raw state, when you take the gravel shield to your anodizer he will run the part on a rack with other parts in order to maximize the tank capacity. My anodizer will run the rack through several steps from washing and cleaning to the anodizing tank where you can add colour and how bright you want the finish.
I have tried to redo panels and repaired parts like the lower gravel shield you are talking about. I have seen that the material composition of this aluminum has silicone as one of the materials used to mill this material.
When run through the anodizing process on a part that has been anodized in the past the company has to use an acid wash to remove all of the old anodizing even if you think you removed it all when you buffed it they will still run the part through an acid wash. This will remove the silicone and leave a mat like starburst or snowflake pattern on the surface of your beautiful polished surface.
Another option that has worked for me is get the anodizer to strip the finish first then try to polish out the marks but be forwarned that when they reanodize the gravel shield it won't look like a new one.
I have tried this with a 62 gravel shield.
I hope this sheds some light on your delema.
Good luck
Steve

 

so another words clean it up but dont kill it. thanks i dont think anyone around here anodises hell there aint any chrome shops near here anymore. used to be a place in johnstown that repaired and rechromed bumpers but to many regs for dep and they gave up became too expensive. librandis is within a hundred miles but heard might as well offer my soul to get things plated.

 

Steve,

Having been an aerospace engineer designing satellite and launch vehicles for 35 years now, I'm pretty sure that when we used 3 mils worth of peel shim, it miked out at 0.003". I'll also point out that 3 mil clearance on the main bearings on your crank is NOT 0.0003".