First Post - Brushed fixtures and bumpers

[Mrphoto]

So I bought a 65 a month or so ago...Starting to get my hands dirty.

My questions is, what do people think about hand-polishing things like headlight bezel or even the bumper? I started one and it looks pretty decent...

Maybe not all the way polish, but a fine brushed steel look? Coating it with POR15 GLISTEN PC after.

Thanks and I hope to contribute and learn a half-ton here!

[markeb01]

Welcome to the forum!

[Mrphoto]

Thanks!

Here's a picture of the headlight bezel I started on

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

Would just need to start going over it more I guess....thoughts anyone?

[Doug19]

A long time down the road I plan on doing a brushed aluminum look on all the chrome on my truck. I hate chrome. I'm not sure how I plan on doing it and hope some good ideas come out of this thread.

I'm looking for this effect:

[jocko]

i think the headlight eyebrows you brushed will end up looking pretty stock, because the stock ones were aluminum anyway - as were the "shiny" grilles (you can purhase chrome aftermarket bumpers from LMC, etc) - so a brushed finish will look KINDA like a "rough" stock version of the aluminum parts.

So, only my 2 cents, I'd either keep the bumpers chrome or I'd pc them in white, I feel brushing all the shiny stuff would probably look good for about 2 weeks because it's a little different, but then you couldn't really go backwards once you brush finish things like the door handles, etc etc.

Again, that's just my 2 cents. While brushed looks good on some full-on customs, seems one of our trucks would need to be a full-on custom to look "right" as opposed to looking like an "experiment" with scotchbrite.

I yam what I yam.... Popeye

[Mrphoto]

so mine are aftermarket since they rusted?

I hear ya on the "getting over it in 2 weeks" thing but if the fall back is 40 bucks at LMC, I might just give it a go....plus it's just an extra hour (or making the kid do it) to get it to semi-polished.

[BMERDOC]

I painted mine with chrome in a can. I knew what the finish would look like and I knew it wouldn't look like chrome. I'd spray clear on it next time.

[pdxhall]

Originally Posted by Mrphoto

so mine are aftermarket since they rusted?

I hear ya on the "getting over it in 2 weeks" thing but if the fall back is 40 bucks at LMC, I might just give it a go....plus it's just an extra hour (or making the kid do it) to get it to semi-polished.

No. It means you started with the stock painted steel bezels not the aluminum bezels. You now have bare steel which will rust quickly without a clear coat or something to protect them.

[jocko]

pdx beat me to the answer - concur, u have steel, that will brush/polish up nicely, but won't stay that way long. Painted ones were steel vs aluminum.

But you're right, can't hurt to give it a whirl! But guess the big point would be keeping in mind what end state you want. If you can get the bezels polished up nicely in an hour, how long would the grille take? And then the ol bumpers, etc etc. (although I do like mixing of aluminum grilles with white bumpers and vice versa). I do look fwd to seeing how this turns out, could be a cool look, especially if subtle.

[gimmy 64]

i saw a 55 chevy truck with the bumpers and grill done in brushed steel i thought it looked great. i just can't figure out how they did the egg crate grill and it looked uniform

[Mrphoto]

started attacking the second one...it's really actually refreshing as it's happening...see pics

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

[McCoyAZ]

A lot of "brushed" finishes are created using Cratex wheels, big rubberized polishing wheels.

They also use sanding discs, media blasting, good old fashioned elbow grease.... the list is endless

[brawley]

should work as long as you clear coat em