Brightwork gone dull - any tips?

[GreaseMonkey]

Hi, any advice welcomed. The trim strips on my Crayford 280SE are a bit dull. Anyone tell me what they are made of? Looks like some sort of lacquered aluminium, and they have gone a bit gray. Can they be polished/refinished/cleaned up?
Or do I look for new, and are these available?
From the A-post windscreen pillars, back along the drip rail along the side of the roof, and down the C-pillar all need treatment or replacing.
Thanks,
Chris

[jmperkins]

Hi Chris,
I would first try some grade #0000 steel wool (make sure you use this finest grade) followed by some polish.

It is also good on removing water spots on glass and cleaning up chrome.

Good luck!

Joe Perkins
78 280SE
78 450SEL 6.9 Domestic
78 450SEL 6.9 Euro
78 450SEL 6.9 Domestic Parts car

[oscar]

That's a different one Joe.    If it's safe it's worth a try. 

It's an age old problem GM and I'm keen to hear what comes up.  The trim is annodised aluminium and I've tried a few things without success to remove primarily the water stains.  I've used Autosol even though the manufacturer says don't use it on annodised trim, no good.  WD40 worked for someone, not for me.  Car polish can work too, again, didn't for me.   I've also heard 2K clear will bring them back like new.  Haven't tried that one yet.  I've tried an aluminium cleaning solution (which was an acid, basically killrust), no joy there.  Reanodising could be a solution though scalss I think didn't have much success but might have been due to the people preparing the trim. 

I'll try this steel wool method and see how I go but like Joe recommends, I'll put some polish on afterwards because it will need protection from oxidising.

[TJ 450]

I would advise against using anything other than regular polishing wax on the anodized trim, as it is a finish that is right on the surface and it might have a clear coat over it. It's highly likely that you will cut through it in no time and be left with dull pieces of aluminium.

If it is already stuffed, you've got nothing to loose. I would be going with oscar and polish/2k clear, it might be quite reasonable.

Tim

[WGB]

This is an area we have all discussed from time to time and never come up with satisfactory answers.

I have seen some cars with absolutely brilliant trim but most look very ordinary.

Equally having just purchased two new A-pillar trim panels they are certainly better than the lightly dented original ones I had but are a little underwhelming in the shine/sparkles department.

The 2 pack clear sounds an interesting possibility.

Bill

[craigb]

A painful topic for me! Following a dodgy windscreens obrien replacement in my W113 - be careful who you trust with your windscreen replacement.

I took anodised trim to Anodisers SA I think it was, funny how they don't seem to exist anymore, and they said no worries about reanodising. They strip, polish and redo they said with confidence. I think prior to this John Green on Ozbenz had indicated you couldn't get it done successfully so I was superkeen to find a place that could do it that I could recommend to others. Based on my experience I have nothing to prove John wrong.

I believe they acid strip it first. This was so bad and patchy at that stage that they handed them back, said sorry mate they are stuffed and we want your money for us trying! I looked at it logically that underneath all the shit must be ally, so I took them away and spent countless hours on a deburring wheel and buff and made them look like new, but of course there was no coating on there to protect it and keep it that way. A mate suggested I use a product called incralac that they use to keep a shine after you polish brass, but it is not particularly hard and i hated the idea of having to redo it. So I took them back (usually I am a faster learner than that!) and they stuffed it again.

So what I distilled out of this traumatic experience is

• that it is quite likely that you will not be able to successfully reanodise old materials.
• that sandpaper, buffs etc. can remove that thin layer of anodising and get a shiny finish, but you need to seal it and this is where the 2pack clear sounds good, but I reckon you need to get it to look good first and 2pack wont automatically cure what is there I would think

If you want the car look really good, I think new is the best option, and if you keep the car garaged etc. then I think it will stay that way for a very long time. I have for example a 1968 W108 with perfect trims, but it was garaged all its life. Also maybe it was polished regularly. Never seen another one with such good trims.

If you have plenty of time on your hands and the finish doesn't need to be perfect, then I would say you can get really good results sanding and polishing. That deburring wheel I talked about is a mild abrasive thing. Also I haven't tried it but you can get scotchbrite wheels for a multitool that might also work?

I really think that once it loses its shine and stains, that there is no way to get it back with chemicals or anything else, but I would love to be proved wrong. All the other suggestions of polish or steel wool may help depending on the state of the trims, but I honestly think it would be impossible to reproduce that mirror finish they should have.

[GreaseMonkey]

First, thanks to all who have offered opinions, and yes, the majority do seem to think they can't be brought back as new.
Well, two things;
One - I am a stubborn bugger when I get an idea.
Two - I like a challenge.
I am making notes of all suggestions, and when I can clear a space on the workbench I will try some scrap parts and photograph the results.
I should maybe also point out that I am a Pom who has only been in Aus five years and I am still amazed at how much damage the sun and UV does to cars here.
In the old country, we only had the salt on the road in winter to worry about, and the floor of your car usually rusted through and fell out, but the plastic parts, rubber window and door seals, paint and trim were never a problem.
The main lesson I have learned here, is keep a car under cover as much as possible, and where the car is new, or restored as new that is worthwhile advice, but where we are trying to make good on thirty year old cars, the damage is often already done.
Still, ever the optimist, I'll have a go.
Chris

[craigb]

Another interesting thing about UK vs Oz I was told (but I don't have direct experience with) is that UK headlight lenses (and I suppose associated trim) don't get the same sandblasting that ours do. This guy imports rare headlights from the Uk that are for RHD but not sandblasted like all our old ones are.

[oscar]

Craig and GM, interesting points and I reckon regarding sandblasting, the same must go for the small bits of trim connected to the bonnet just above the headlights and the turn signals.  All mine are sandblasted and would not be restorable without some serious rubbing back or filling then replating of some kind if it was possible.  In other words, I think only new replacements would be acceptible to address those worn parts.

[s class]

Indeed, oscar, I had disappointing results with some readonising work.  Basically the prep they did was way too poor.  I'm going to have another go sometime, doing the prepping myself then sending them in to the place that adonises curtain rails for GrantV. 

Another option - I've found a place that does decorative chroming - of many metals including aluminium.  They said they can chrome my trims - that would be long lasting I presume - but its expensive - like $100 per piece. 

[craigb]

Just adding that after the initial hassles I did my own prep work and it looked absolutely perfect and beautiful, but of course with no protective coating. They still managed to produce a shocking job, which made me wonder about the process ability to work on anything but brand new stuff. Or maybe just these guys were idiots (they did plenty to support this argument!) but I thought I would just mention.

The chroming would no doubt have better resistance to the sand blasting effects, but will have a different appearance.

[s class]

I wouldn't go the chroming route on a 6.9, but on my 280 daily driver I was looking for a durable and affordable solution.  Well the chroming may be durable but its not affordable.  Of course, one could just buy all new.  I priced up a set of front and rear screen trims, side door trims, drip rails, A and C pillar trims etc etc, and it comes in at $4000 to $4500.  Hmmm. 

[craigb]

Yes I find that an interesting situation, coonundrum maybe is the right word. If you had a rare and special old beast, lets say a Bugatti worth a couple of hundred or so thousand dollars, you spend $10k on a paint job without questioning it and would no doubt not think twice about spending 4 to 4.5 on trim........ if it was available! We have the ability to buy the trims but of course question spending more than the car is worth on a few bits of trim! At least with a 6.9 you have something worth more now and surely one of 'the cars' to have in the future. If you intended on selling a 6.9 in the near future, no doubt you wouldn't get your money back in extra value if you put these trims on. But if you are like me and have cars that have become 'family' and no chance of selling in the future then $4k now will not sound so much in 20 years time and maybe the trims wont be available then anyway. With my W113 I have bought various bits of trim, like the anodised kick plates at something like $1k and stuck them in the shelf. Not that mine are that bad but thought that maybe they wont be available in the future or may get very expensive. Another item I have shelved is new headlight lenses that get 'peppered'. I can always get bumpers rechromed and repaint panels to make it look spot on at any time in the future.

Anyway, just thought I would share my thinking.

[John Hubertz]

I'd like to see a polish job - methinks that like all aluminum bits it will look magnificent and modern clear coatings will definetly protect the finish. 

Anybody have pics of "done" bits in this way?

[aussiew116]

I use an American product called"PURPLE". You guessed it, it's Purple. It is the best metal polish I have ever used. I'm into vintage BMX bike as well and nothing seemed to work on a nickel plated bike except for this stuff. It's awesome on Chrome,and especially alloy. Polish the top of your merc engine with it and you'll be amazed!  "PURPLE!"