polishing ?s

[Kevin Werner]

Polishing is one of my winter projects. I did not find any of the above mentioned products but did find Noxon 7 metal polish. By hand, by 4" buff wheel on the drill, it did little more than a nice wipe-off cleaning on one of my rocker covers. Do these covers have a conformal coat (polyurethane coat)?

 

[jetmechmarty]

Do these covers have a conformal coat (polyurethane coat)?

They were painted with some sort of clearcoat as delivered to the dealer. I don't know what it was. I did not find it particularly durable.

 

[Kevin Werner]

What's the trick to removing it? Are both engine side cover coated the same?

 

[jetmechmarty]

What's the trick to removing it? Are both engine side cover coated the same?

Aircraft Paint Remover from you local auto parts store.

 

[5twins]

Yes, you need to remove the clear coat or you're just polishing it, lol. Any sort of paint stripper usually does the trick but some do work better than others. Then, you may need to do a little sanding to remove any corrosion. Fine (blue) and super fine (gray) Roloc discs work well for this too. Then finally, you can polish. A buffing wheel with a coarse compound will remove fine sanding marks (I sand down to 400 paper then buff). Then you can progress to finer buffing compounds but I usually don't go much beyond the coarse (black emery) compound. I'm happy with the shine that gives me, not show chrome quality but nice enough. Then through basic maintenance, every hand polish makes it look better.

Yes, all the polished aluminum parts on the later models were clear coated (fork legs, rims, side and valve covers, rear drum brake plate).

 

[Kevin Werner]

I purchased the Kleen Strip Aircraft P{aint stripper in a quart tin (non aerosol) f0r $21 at Advance Auto. The Spray can Aerosol was $18. Once the coating is off I will try Mothers to see if the spots polish away. Then using this rouge chart and advice on this forum, get some black rouge. I already have white

Jewelers Rouge & Polishing Compound Chart (pjtool.com)

 

[5twins]

Yes, the white compound really isn't good for much more than a final polishing. I never used the spray-on stripper either, just quart cans. It is also very good for removing old stuck on gaskets and for de-carbonizing heads and pistons. Caution, get some rubber gloves because that stripper will burn your skin.

The black compound may remove the corrosion spots if you buff long enough but it's easier to sand them off, then buff. Get some 320 and 400 paper. Some sand down to as much as 600, 800, or 1000, but I find 400 is as high as I need go. The black compound will remove the 400 scratch marks.

 

[cra-z1]

I gave up on strippers to remove the coating. On some pieces I just go for the black bar and polish what's left of the coating. If its to heavy I go to my
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0897MLK9...uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl (i use the blue pads only)
and air grinder and quickly remove the coating. Doesn't get it all of it but close. Always some left in the tight spots. Whats left I just polish. These pads will quickly get rid of the badly oxidized sections.
If you really get into buffing and start doing a lot of it I would recommend investing into the best buffer you can. For many years I relied on an old Harbor Frt buffer that worked but still a PIA. Best thing I did was invest in this baby. It adjustable RPM's has been very handy
https://www.amazon.com/Jet-IBG-8VSB...ocphy=1016140&hvtargid=pla-610947926136&psc=1
Another note on the white compound. I actually use it quite a bit. I start with black but once the part is close to where I want it I switch to white still using my sisal wheel. You will notice a huge difference. I then move to my left side where I have my finale cotton sewn wheel is and continue with white or purple for a few minutes. I keep several rags close by and wipe the part fairly clean throughout the process and before I switch wheels. I used to be anal about cleaning the parts between compounds. Just got to get the majority off.

 

[Kevin Werner]

I did every stainless exposed screw, bolt head, trim piece, window frame on a 66 Mustang years ago with white and a cotton 10 inch buffing wheel on a 3600 rpm bench grinder.. Each came out looking like good chrome. Aluminum bits are softer so I will see how my results turn out on a 6 inch wheel and a 2500 rpm drill motor. If I have to remount the bench grinder, so be it.

 

[5twins]

Yes, I found a 2500 RPM drill doesn't buff very well. I recently acquired a 4K RPM drill and it does much better. Die grinders work well too. But I do as much as I can on a bench grinder/buffer. They seem to work the best. I don't have really good ones, just the HF ones. The 8" one works pretty good, the 6" one not so much, lol. It has less HP so can be easily slowed down if you push too hard.

So, I use the bigger, more powerful 8" buffer for my "heavy" buffing with the coarse black compound, the smaller 6" buffer for the "lighter" work (white and brown tripoli compounds). Buffing is a dirty job so the buffing table is on wheels so I can roll it outside. In the nice weather, this is where I do most of my buffing.

 

[Kevin Werner]

Compound on a buffing wheel is all about tip speed. I learned (I think?) to let the wheel and compound do the work, only enough pressure on the pad to ensure contact. To much pressure on stainless and you get a bluish colour. I like tossing in the Brittish usage and spelling to add colour to my posts.