What really works on restoring aluminums shine

[Suzsmokeyallan]

I know this has been discussed before somewhat, but id like to hear some personal opinions on what products do what and to what level of shine or cutting can they perform on aluminum.
So please post your experiences and where the items are available, and the price per size of the product.

[H2RICK]

Well, Allan, if you DON'T have access to a 3 or 5HP buffer with a 12" wheel on either shaft.....then Autosol in its various container sizes does quite a credible job on aluminum with lotsa elbow grease. This is the gold/black container version. They also offer another compund that comes in a silver/greyish container but I'm not sure what it's for since I've never used it.
Unfortunately Autosol's website is being revamped so you can't access the proper info right now.
Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish is also okay....but not as good as Autosol, IMO.

[djfisher22]

depends on what your starting point is.If the surface is corroded or scratched you can start with step sanding.I'm lazy,I use a jitterbug sander as much as possible then hand sand the hard to get places.I usually start at 100grit to 220 to 400 wet,600 wet,1000 wet.You can go up to 2000 grit or more but at 1000 I use my trusty el cheapo Harbor Freight buffer and I believe white compound.Here's a good site for stuff.........

http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/compound3.html

[advant63]

this finish came from rouge on an air drill using wheel and cone pads.
they were in very rough shape. non of my bikes are cosmetically pleasing
so i was very happy with the results.

[oldjapanesebikes]

depends on what your starting point is.If the surface is corroded or scratched you can start with step sanding.I'm lazy,I use a jitterbug sander as much as possible then hand sand the hard to get places.I usually start at 100grit to 220 to 400 wet,600 wet,1000 wet.You can go up to 2000 grit or more but at 1000 I use my trusty el cheapo Harbor Freight buffer and I believe white compound.

I went a similar route of sanding, but then finished off first with black compound and then with blue. I bought a small kit of various compounds at Princess Auto and used a cheap 1/4 drill and a Dremel for the picky bits. Here is a before and after of my bashed up alternator side cover.


To maintain the shine, I use a Mother's blue metal polish.

[Tom Garcia]

I bought a 6" Ryobi bench grinder, removed one shroud, and put two 6" Craftsman spiral sewn cotton buffs on it...brown rouge...

It's what I used on the wheels in my other GT250 post...

Also did a badly scratched set of Redwing Hammerheads today...30 MINUTES... Hit them with a 200 grit jitterbug and then polished them on the buffer...



My hand still hurts from sanding hubs by hand three weeks ago... Yes.. Pre-buffer...

[ilbikes]

I used wetsanding with 200, 400, 600, 1200, and 2000 grits. I then polished by hand and then tried a buff wheel on my cordless drill - this first photo shows my best "hand" results.

Ther 2nd photo of the sprocket cover shine came after I purchased a 1 horse, 10"x 2" 1,750 rpm proper buffer. The differences are immediately noticable. Just a few minutes of practice on some spare pieces and I was getting chrome-like results. The key is heat. Your part needs to reach 145 degrees F before it will melt the animal fats that carry the aggregate in the compounds. The machine buff makes this an easy task and once you have a little practice. You will see/feel the shine happen when the temps are reached. The black dissapears and the chrome-look starts to show in just seconds of getting the heat in the part.

Regards,
Gordon

[rngdng]

I just did the last cover for the H1 recently, and after using paint stripper on it to remove the clearcoat, I tried something different.....valve grinding compound! I put it on a rag, and it quickly got the oxidation off. I shifted to wet-sanding with 400 grit, then on to 800, then Simi-chrome. I don't go to full mirror gloss anyway, so this worked out pretty well.



Lane