I have polished alum valve covers on my 78 Elk and they were clear coated from the factory. The:dontknow: top radiator hose blew off and sprayed anti-freeze on the valve covers and it started to lift the clear coat. I'm wondering if there is anything out there that would take off the rest of the clear coat so I can polish them, other than anti freeze. Also what can I use to polish them to a high shine? Any tips or tricks out there???

Thanks,
Fyjimo

use really fine sandpaper or 0000 steel wool, then once you polish them clear coat them again. aluminum doesn't stay shiny very long - especially under the hood

i accidently sprayed carb. cleaner on some rims & that did a decent job ruining the clear coat. i think you might also discolor the alum. with these things. ask around at your local paint shop see what they suggest. good luck. carl

Unless you want to go through all of the steps of sanding and polishing to a bright polish again, use a chemical stripper like acetone and scrub scrub scrub. Acetone may not work, not sure what kind of paint it is.

Then hit it with some pink or white rouge to get that mirror like finish (it has to already be close to a mirror finish though)

You could check the local body shop and ask them what it would cost to have them remove the clear. You may find it's cheap enough and worth the small expense to save yourself all the labor.

I polished mine on a buffing wheel then hand polished to a mirror finish. I then protected them with Zoop Seal www.zoops.com/zoopseal.asp They stay mirror finish for a year, then just a touch up and we're good!

I've used EZ off oven cleaner to remove the clear coat on factory aluminum wheels. It worked great. Don't leave it on long enough to dry though. It'll also remove anodizing. I stripped the anodizing off all the aluminum grille surround pieces on my old '60 ELKY and then polished the parts. They've held up well with just the polish, but the guy I sold the car to is a nutcase about keeping it shiny.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n88/47convert/Elky1-1.jpg

:You_Rock:Thanks for the imput everybody. I found that 0000 steel wool takes the clear coat off pretty good. Of course you'll want to take the covers off to do a really good job. Then polish with jewelers rouge (white) and spray a good clear coat on them. Thanks again!!

I don't see anything wrong with dropping them at the Polisher's, and
while I'm at it, stopping at the 7-11, picking up a 12 pack. About the time it's done, the covers should be ready for pick up. :dontknow: