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Aluminum Polish Recommendations

3K views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  Jay Vance 
#1 ·
Hello, I would like to get a recommendation on what you think is the best aluminum polish available or perhaps could describe your experience with a certain polishing products. I have some trim molding that I really need to get looking good again.

Thanks
Taz
 
#2 ·
Great question Taz. Your bound to get many different opinions. I just saw this product called Zoop Seal on one of the car shows this weekend and was very impressed. It is a little pricey (actually very pricey), but your supposed to get years of shine out of it. Check out http://www.stylin-group.com/parts.cfm/partfamilyid/798/CategoryID/1/SubCategoryID/127.

Or just put "Zoop Seal" in any Internet search engine. I was going to order some in the near future.

I use polishes from Zaino Bros. for almost the entire elky. It gives a great shine, no white powder residue, and that wet look. I use their polish on the chrome and aluminum after cleaning with 0000 steel wool. Their web site is http://www.zainobros.com

Good luck
 
#4 ·
www.heavymetalpolish.com

This is the best stuff I have ever seen. Has an abrasive to it, so you would not want to use it on chrome, or any other plated metal- but on aluminum- it works wonders.

They sell 3 different levels of the abrasive- heavy, medium, ultra-fine- I almost always use medium and ultra fine.

Mothers and all the other parts store polishes work pretty good if the aluminum is already shiny- I actually use it as a final finish coat after i use the Heavy metal stuff(either that or pure wax) but if you've got pitting and some corosion starting- you need something with an abrasive to it. This stuff is the ticket!
 
#5 ·
Hey Ben, is that the same polish you used on those valve covers from Ebay? If so, that has got to be some great polish. I am going to try that instead of the Zoop Seal.

Taz, check out Ben's Elky under the "members cars" (3rd Gen)section. It looks fantastic. He has some pics of a set of valve covers that he restored. When they say "A picture is worth a thousand words", this is what they mean.

Nice job Ben. That elky must win trophys for you.
 
#6 ·
I got some stuff from my brother-in-law (aircraft mech, for Georgia Pacific) called Flash. This stuff works great! Of course, I just looked at the tin & there was no manufactuer listed...only Mil spec.'s. Oh gawd, now my fingers are gonna fall off! 8O

I'll do some research tomorrow and find out who makes it.
 
#7 ·
I've used Mothers & Blue Magic for the wheels. Those are pretty much the same stuff in different containers. I use only 3M polishes, waxes and compounds. We use them at the shop on new finishes when we get them in Make Ready for the owners to pick up.

These are good premium products. You can get them at some Auto Supplies. For BC/CC paints the wax you end up using can make or brake the surface shine and reflectivity. Generally unless you need to clean up minor abrasions or remove some "not so stubborn" surface contaminates then Wax is all you'll need for the finish. A good cleaner wax or a Clay Bar with stubborn contaminates is good to use.


Just in case; Remember to clean the finish no less than three times a year of all waxes and contaminates. You can generally use a good dishwashing liquid, like "Lemon Joy" or something like that. These products remove wax, grease and other road debris. For things like Tar on the finish / chrome then some 3913 will work best and not damage the finish at all. You can get that at a Automotive Paint store. 3913 is a degreaser and Wax remover. I use it in prep work when doing body work and prep-ing for painting.

These are just the things that I use they work and are not real expensive. The Mother's and Blue Magic will require a little elbow grease but they shine any type of polished Aluminum, or chrome and have never damaged any of mine.

Good luck with the project.
 
#8 ·
a72elky said:
Hey Ben, is that the same polish you used on those valve covers from Ebay?
Heh... well those covers took just a 'LITTLE' bit more than just the polish to get them to look like that... They were several hours of wet sanding with various grits paper and WD40- and that is not even talking about the fins 8O ... But after all that was done- yes I did use this polish to get the final results. Started with the heavy and worked down to the ultra fine.

I polish my centerline rims a couple times a year too, but i only use the medium or ultra-fine on them- they come out looking like brand new every time.

Just a note- I went back and looked at heavy metals website- apparently now they are also selling a bunch of other car products too- I have no experiece with any of their stuff OTHER than the metal polish.

I pretty much stick with megiuars for regular polish and wax, and 3M for heavy rubbing/polishing compounds.
 
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