Aluminum side trim resto

[rod1701]

Got a 1970 Suburban. My kids named him Rusty because of his copper color and the amount of actual rust that he has. Finally got a little time to spend on it and I am trying to polish up the side trim. I've read quite a bit online but no good concensus on best approach.

It has a milky/cloudy haze on it. Tried some fine steel wool, rubbing compound, metal polish, etc. not much luck. What I am reading is to use something caustic to get the adonization off. the most common suggestion has been Easy-off oven cleaner. The only problem with that is this is a wide piece of trim that is partially painted and I don't want to damage or remove the black paint.

Does anyone here have any tricks for scrubbing and polishing this stuff? Oh yea, I am trying to make this look as best as possible without removing from the truck.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by rod1701

Got a 1970 Suburban. My kids named him Rusty because of his copper color and the amount of actual rust that he has. Finally got a little time to spend on it and I am trying to polish up the side trim. I've read quite a bit online but no good concensus on best approach.

It has a milky/cloudy haze on it. Tried some fine steel wool, rubbing compound, metal polish, etc. not much luck. What I am reading is to use something caustic to get the adonization off. the most common suggestion has been Easy-off oven cleaner. The only problem with that is this is a wide piece of trim that is partially painted and I don't want to damage or remove the black paint.

Does anyone here have any tricks for scrubbing and polishing this stuff? Oh yea, I am trying to make this look as best as possible without removing from the truck.

I guess my answer today would be the same as it was in 2013...

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=599483

I have used an orbital sander with 3000 disks on it since that reply but you couldn't do that with it on the truck.... I haven't tried the oven cleaner but I guess it works. There again, not a good idea with the trim on the truck.

LockDoc

[vectorit]

The side trim is aluminum that has been anodized, and then a protective finish on it. Once it turns gray or milky, it's time for a trip to get them re anodized.

Many people have stripped off the anodize to bare aluminum and given it a high polish, then spray with a lacquer or some sort of urethane. But to me that is a lot of hard work, with a lot shorter life span than anodizing treatment.

I had mine all restored, and re anodized ten or so years ago and they still look like new. The company I used was in the Burbank area, and IIRC it was called "Anobrite".

Or you can buy new ones from the vendors.
I'm not sure about your YOM Suburban side trim, but only recently have 67/68 side trim started to be reproduced by and sold by vendors like Mar-K.