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Restoring aluminium windows trim

Started by denis23, 04 May 2016, 08:45 AM

denis23

Hello. Did anybody restored aluminium trim around windows_

I thought it was just polished metal, but now I see that its something like anodizing or other galvanical layer.

Please, give me advice, which kind of finish is this and how it possible to restore it?

orientrot

I haven't restored mine yet but as far as I am aware, it is anodized. The way I plan to go about it is to try to strip the anodization, polish the aluminum, then either either have it re-anodized or use a metal sealant. Kent at Mercedessource has a kit for polishing the anodized surface https://mercedessource.com/store/anodized-aluminum-window-trim-polish-restoration-kit but I just imagine that stripping the anodization then polishing and re-anodizing would be the easier (but probably more expensive) route.
75 450SEL
80 300SD- cancelled project
83 300D- 5-speed OM617
84 300D- AMG 5.4L N/A M113 6 speed
92 300D- 722.6 OM603 3.5
93 190E 2.6 Sportline LE x2- 6-speed M111 turbo, 3.0 M103
02 C320 Wagon
03 Sprinter 2500
06 E500 4Matic Wagon- AMG 5.4L NA M113

Diesel 617

If you do happen to find a shop that will re-anodize the aluminum please do share.

From what I've read people will strip the trim bare of the anodized layer and re-polish it. However, this comes with the stigma of having to re polish the trim often, otherwise the aluminum will start to oxidize and pit.
X3 1980 300SD Blown Heads, trans -Retired
1980 450SEL Parted out/Scrap
1980 450SEL to Diesel Parted Out/Scrap
1979 280SE Euro Spec Cloth Seats Sold
1979 300CD Daily Driver - Sold


Inventory of w116 Parts
[url="https://www.ebay.com/usr/vintagepartsandstuff"]https://www.ebay.com/usr/vintagepartsandstuff[/url]

UTn_boy

The process used on the aluminum trim is "bright dip" anodization.  Have a look in Hemmings Motor News.  There are several places in there that advertise the "bright dip" process.  I haven't used any of them, so I can't verify the quality of their work.  Maybe send them one piece and see how it turns out? 

Alternatively, you can polish the hazy anodization if it's not too bad.  You can use 3M brand Perfect It polish to do it.  However, a lot of it will have to be done by hand.  It'll take forever, but worth the trouble. The pieces that you can take off of the car can be polished on a rouge wheel.  Though, I recommend practicing on another piece that isn't important before you do the other pieces.  IF you aren't careful, you can polish straight through the anodization.  It's really hard to, but it is possible.

The "restore" kits that are sold is merely a polyurethane, much like what you'd use in wood refinishing.  It's ok, and does make it shine a little more, but polishing gives the best results and will last a bit longer, too.  Especially if taken care of.  The worst thing you can do to the aluminum trim is to let water spots dry on it in the sun.  That'll kill it really fast and make it spot up and turn hazy. 
1966 250se coupe`,black/dark green leather
1970 600 midnight blue/parchment leather
1971 300sel 6.3,papyrus white/dark red leather
1975 450se, pine green metallic/green leather
1973 300sel 4.5,silver blue metallic/blue leather
1979 450sel 516 red/bamboo

floyd111

I would also want to hear from anyone wit suggestions in this field. Since I have not yet succeeded in buying a complete NOS outfit, for now, I am still faced with the inevitable used-trim restoration drama.
For one, the new-age anodizing is not the same as it was back in the day.
It holds as long, no doubt, but after trying the process of chrome-anodizing aluminium shock absorbers, I found that there is a hardness issue. It scratches pretty easily, and to the core.
I was told that this is because chrome-coating falls into the category off soft-anodizing, where any other coating would be possible in hard-anodizing.
I understand that there is no way around that.

For shine, there is no issue. It looks great. But, factories are no longer allowed to use certain chemicals that MB used in the 70's. Therefore, the chrome color of the re-anodized pieces will not perfectly match NOS pieces or used pieces.. For best results, it is advisable to do the complete outfit.
The alternatives to this are clear. If you have only a few bad pieces, pay the money, put in the effort, and see if you can get them NOS.
If that road isn't open,accept the color differences, or do the complete chrome trim outfit.

orientrot

I should say that my personal goal is to just get it to be shiny instead of cloudy as my car will never be a concours candidate. I've only done about an half an hour of research into polishing/anodizing or finishing aluminum, but one thing I read that may work is to chemically strip the anodized surface down to bare aluminum, polish it then have it clear-coated. This is probably what I will have done based on my prior research on the price on anodizing near me.
75 450SEL
80 300SD- cancelled project
83 300D- 5-speed OM617
84 300D- AMG 5.4L N/A M113 6 speed
92 300D- 722.6 OM603 3.5
93 190E 2.6 Sportline LE x2- 6-speed M111 turbo, 3.0 M103
02 C320 Wagon
03 Sprinter 2500
06 E500 4Matic Wagon- AMG 5.4L NA M113

floyd111

..is the clearcoat-method durable? Wonder what that looks like in real life. Are you saying that this method's color is too far away from the original color to make it through a jury?
(not that I will ever be faced with one myself!)

orientrot

Quote from: floyd111 on 07 May 2016, 01:50 PM
..is the clearcoat-method durable? Wonder what that looks like in real life. Are you saying that this method's color is too far away from the original color to make it through a jury?
(not that I will ever be faced with one myself!)
I haven't tried it yet myself and I wish that I could say that I could get around to it soon, but unfortunately I have limited time to work on my car this summer because of school. I also don't have any non-cloudy trim to compare a finished product to. I'm really just throwing out ideas at this point. I would say that if you have any extra used trim and would be willing to try this method, you could possibly just try it on one of the small slidey bits that cover the edges of the two larger pieces of trim then compare it with a non-cloudy piece.

The idea of re-anodizing the aluminum trim is intriguing but I can't say whether or not it is a good or viable option. I've read that many places cannot actually do the trim because of its size, but there must be places that can do it because large anodized aluminum aircraft parts are done somehow. It may just be a thing of asking around and finding out who can do it, but as I have learned with other projects, companies often do not want to deal with consumers with small batches.

I am not a chemist so I am not entirely aware of how the anodizing process works, but from my brief research into the subject of anodizing polished aluminum, the aluminum oxide layer will dull the finish of mirror-polished aluminum. Now I may not be totally correct on all of this, but this is my basic understanding: Aluminum oxide naturally occurs on raw aluminum and the process of anodizing gives an mostly even layer of aluminum oxide on the surface of the aluminum. The purpose of this is of course to make the aluminum corrosion resistant and more rugged. The slight dullness apparently comes from the layer of aluminum oxide not being perfectly level. Aluminum can be nearly perfectly polished/shiny, as it is used in modern production of mirrors. In this case, aluminum oxide cannot form because of the glass being right on top of the aluminum. Now Mercedes aluminum trim was certainly shiny from the factory but not mirror-finish levels of shiny. The process that was used to anodize Mercedes trim left a very thick anodized layer as compared to other manufactures, which is why it is extremely difficult to polish. The anodized layer gets cloudy from surface contaminants that in-bed themselves in the anodized layer, which can include salt to stuff as seemingly innocent as rain or moisture as rain water is usually slightly acidic. Any sort of polish really just thins the anodized layer and eventually will require re-polishing to maintain a perfect look. To be fair, I don't think that there is really any answer that is a permanent fix, but some fixes may last longer than others.

Back to the idea of clear coating; like the anodized layer, clear-coat will be slightly translucent rather than transparent. As to how well it would match the factory anodizing or whether concours judges would be able to catch it out, I have no idea. I am also not an expert on clear coats, but as far as I understand, there are options that are incredibly durable and others that are crap. I've heard that some ceramic clear coats can be very durable and scratch resistant (nothing is ever scratch proof). As you said, best results will come from just doing all of the trim at the same time if you discover a clear coat method that is satisfactory.
75 450SEL
80 300SD- cancelled project
83 300D- 5-speed OM617
84 300D- AMG 5.4L N/A M113 6 speed
92 300D- 722.6 OM603 3.5
93 190E 2.6 Sportline LE x2- 6-speed M111 turbo, 3.0 M103
02 C320 Wagon
03 Sprinter 2500
06 E500 4Matic Wagon- AMG 5.4L NA M113

nathan

this subject has come up a few time over the years and always seems to finish at a dead end.  attempting to polish this appears futile, people have tried re clear coating and this has also failed.  hopefully works out, i just bought a complete new set a fews back on the 6.9 resto.
1979 116 6.9 #6436
2018 213 e63
2011 212 e63
2011 463 g55
2007 211 e500 wagen
1995 124 e320 cabriolet
1983 460 300gd
1981 123 280te

marku

Over a year ago I had the cam covers commercially polished to a bright chrome look. I asked at the time if they would oxidise and was told they wouldn't. I have very occasionally put a bit of polish on them and they have stayed bright. Would the trim polish up easily through the anodising on a felt wheel? Might be worth be worth trying as I have some spare trim.
1974 450SE silver green/bamboo velour/green vinyl roof