The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk best way to clean dirty side mouldings.

I haven't posted in a while but was wondering if someone out there could give me some ideas on polishing the upper and lower side mouldings on my 1972 C-10. They are all in very good shape as far as dents and dings but are very dirty and dull. I have bought several polishes from the auto parts store but they are still very dull when I am done. I was considering buying a buffing wheel for my bench grinder but really don't know that much about them. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Are they anodized aluminum, or stainless?
If theyre stainless,,the best way is to remove them and use a buffing wheel w/buffing compound.
If you have to leave them on the truck,,maybe just mask around them and use a buffing wheel on the end of a drill,with the aforementioned buffing compound.
If theyre anodized aluminum,,,good luck.

delux54panel, these are the original mouldings on this truck. I would say they are anodized aluminum. I will be removing them from the truck because the truck is going to the paint shop in a couple of weeks. So what ever works best is fine by me. Thanks.

Try #00 steel wool with some aluminum polish. Very labor intensive but does the trick,
Scott

Oven cleaner works on some aluminum parts followed by buffing. Obviously use at own risk as your mileage may vary.

Gotta be careful when theyre anodized aluminum.
The anodize is a coating,,so if you break thru that,,you kinda hafta do the whole piece for it to look even.
Good Luck,
Marty

I buy metal polish from a guy at the car shows.He sells the waterless car wash and polish.He also sells a metal polish that will shine up just about everything.Check out the car shows and swap meets.

The very beat product that I have used is called Autosol. It is absolutely amazing stuff. It is advertised as metal polish/cleaner but it also works on plastic and glass.

My wife and I restored a 66 mustang and are now working on a 61 Apache. After seeing what she can do w/steel wool, on windsheild moldings, mirrors, headlight doors. bumpers etc. I'd use nothing else, some compound w/steel wool might be ok but it looks very good without.

I am with the others on the very fine steel wool thing. I used that and Mother's Billet polish on a few things and was very happy with the results.

If they are anodixed, the moldings will appear cloudy and will not shine, regardless of what you normally do. These must be re-anodized to get the right shine back. Costs money, but what doesn't?

sbw61apache, Could we...uumm....use your wife and steel wool to shine up our trim on our trucks?

Where would a guy find a place to re-anodize aluminum?

I did a search and came up with this, trim restoration. Did a little reading on the home page and it clearly states that the process is very expensive. Good luck.

The problem with aluminum oxide is that it is very hard, just about harder than anything but diamond. Anodizing is just controlled oxidation. If it was originally just polished aluminum, then you have a chance to cut through it with aluminum polish (which is just more Aluminum Oxide). If it was anodized, you will not be able to do it.

To practice, you can work on the bottom of an old Coke can. Its the same stuff with the same problem.