Polished Grill before after - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

NicoSlam · 02-24-2010, 10:13 AM

Well I decided to polish the grill on my 69 since it looked bad against a new chrome grille. The grille was a solid 8 with only one dent on the pass side. I started by removing the grille and tapping out the dents as best as possible. I then used easy-off to remove the anodize. after a good cleaning, I went over the whole grille with 600grit and wd40 to smooth out any scratches etc. followed with 0000 steel wool to smooth out and give a uniform surface appearance. The next was the fun stuff. I used a 4" medium buff wheel and tripoli (brown) and did most of the work with this compound. I cleaned the surface to remove and residue and followed with a new loose wheel and white rouge to remove any haze. Finally I polished the grille using an aluminum polish I found at outzone. Not the show quality results but the grille compliments the bumper pretty darn close. As for the inner grille, I painted the surface with silver, let it dry then taped it to protect it and from the back side I painted it black leaving the look use see in the pic. Overall it took about 7hrs but well worth cost savings of a new grille. Here are some pics. Hope you like.

junkman · 02-24-2010, 10:20 AM

looks great, I have one that needs the same treatment. So did the easy off take off the anodizing pretty well? I have tried a couple things on mine and the only thing I could get to take it off was sandpaper, even tried spray can paint stripper.

OARNGESI · 02-24-2010, 10:32 AM

looks realy goog

DT1 · 02-24-2010, 11:02 AM

I'm in the process of doing my grill on my 71 C-10.
I tried Easy off and White lightning to remove the anodizing but neither worked all that well. If you want to remove the anodizing quickly, use a 20:1 mix of water and sodium hydroxide (lye). Put it in a spray bottle and liberally coat it. Let it sit for ten minutes and use a Scotchbrite pad. Repeat and done.

chas350 · 02-24-2010, 11:03 AM

Nice!

Brad · 02-24-2010, 11:43 AM

That looks fantastic!! I'm not a fan of the 69-70's because of the grill, but I wouldn't mind owning that. Wow!

Ok, after looking at it closely again I'd say you really need to clean up the black overspray on the grill and headlight buckets. In fact, I think it looks way better with the headlight buckets polished instead of painted like you did.

big_al_71 · 02-24-2010, 12:00 PM

That looks really good, definetly worth the effort...

NicoSlam · 02-24-2010, 12:02 PM

thanks for the comments. I also didn't like the black headlight rims. Looked like the truck had black eyes. I wasn't too pleased with the quality of the aluminum bezels. They were shiny but very thin. Anyway, I dont plan on hitting them so it should be fine. I'll try the 20:1 water lye on the trim next. easy off wasn't the best but better than elbow grease and sandpaper.

robzilla · 02-24-2010, 12:24 PM

where can you buy lye? as i need to do my grill too.

DT1 · 02-24-2010, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robzilla

where can you buy lye? as i need to do my grill too.

EBAY...$8.00-10.00 for a 1 Lb container.
Caution!!! This stuff will Eff you up! Wear eye protection and gloves.

**71blksuper4x4** · 02-24-2010, 01:06 PM

Some hardware stores keep it in plumbing sections. Trevor

NicoSlam · 02-24-2010, 01:50 PM

Is it the same stuff you use in stucco to make it easier to spread and what you use when you bury dogs/ cats etc?

DT1 · 02-24-2010, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NicoSlam

Is it the same stuff you use in stucco to make it easier to spread and what you use when you bury dogs/ cats etc?

I think that's lime.

**Roland** · 02-24-2010, 02:20 PM

Yep, that's lime. Please!!! be careful using lye. That stuff is very very nasty. You may be able to buy lye (Red Devil is a brand name) at a grocery store in the plumbing section. Also look for dry Drano granules, it is NaOH - Sodium Hydroxide too. BE SURE you read the directions very carefully and follow them explicitely. This stuff is dangerous!!!

If you know of anyone who runs a stripping business using "hot caustic" solutions ask them about it too. If you leave it on aluminum very long at all it will ruin it. Not only should you wear goggles and gloves - if you are spraying it as suggested, be sure to wear some respiration protection. If you breathe this stuff it will cause you problems for a long time.

If you get the impression that I'm trying to discourage you from using lye - you're right.

fun in dirt · 02-24-2010, 02:49 PM

Oven cleaner worked great for me...but not the cheap kind... use Easy Off original. It must be the original, fume free does not work.

robzilla · 02-24-2010, 03:02 PM

what have others used for polishing the aluminum, after cleaning up the oxidation. any kits anybody would recommend? or just good old elbow grease and a polish?

**Hart_Rod** · 02-24-2010, 03:13 PM

It looks great! Have you thought about shooting a coat of clearcoat on it to preserve the shine?

DT1 · 02-24-2010, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robzilla

what have others used for polishing the aluminum, after cleaning up the oxidation. any kits anybody would recommend? or just good old elbow grease and a polish?

I bought a cheap grinder form harbor Freight and converted it to a polisher. After stripping the anodization off, I take out the dents and sand out the pits. Next I cut 6" disks from red Scotchbrite and pancake three at a time onto the buffer and go over the entire piece. After that I use a 6" denim cutting wheel with black compound (Usually for steel but works fast on aluminum). To finish I use a cotton buffing wheel with jewelers rouge.
Caswell Plating has just about everything you will need.

Brad · 02-25-2010, 03:47 AM

Hey, I also noticed the chrome bumper isn't there anymore. Why did you take it off? It looks really good with your blingin' grill!

I did a little 'paint' for ya and I think this would make the grill perfect:

67ChevyRedneck · 02-25-2010, 04:31 AM

I think the last pic was his "before" pic.

I like it, good job

**rockc** · 02-25-2010, 09:46 AM

That is a nice job. What kinda paint did ya use for the lettering?

**N2TRUX** · 02-25-2010, 10:12 AM

That turned out awesome.

NicoSlam · 02-25-2010, 03:11 PM

I do plan on adding the stripping this weekend. It would cover areas I just couldn't reach with the buffing wheel. I'll post update Saturday.

1971ChevyTruck · 02-25-2010, 04:31 PM

Looks good!!

D-Rat · 02-25-2010, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brad

That looks fantastic!! I'm not a fan of the 69-70's because of the grill, but I wouldn't mind owning that. Wow!

LMC Truck sure likes the 69-70s....a new grill shell in their catalog is $1150 vs something like under $400 for a 71-72. Crazy.

02-24-2010, 10:13 AM	#1
NicoSlam Registered User Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: San Antonio TX Posts: 251	Polished Grill before after Well I decided to polish the grill on my 69 since it looked bad against a new chrome grille. The grille was a solid 8 with only one dent on the pass side. I started by removing the grille and tapping out the dents as best as possible. I then used easy-off to remove the anodize. after a good cleaning, I went over the whole grille with 600grit and wd40 to smooth out any scratches etc. followed with 0000 steel wool to smooth out and give a uniform surface appearance. The next was the fun stuff. I used a 4" medium buff wheel and tripoli (brown) and did most of the work with this compound. I cleaned the surface to remove and residue and followed with a new loose wheel and white rouge to remove any haze. Finally I polished the grille using an aluminum polish I found at outzone. Not the show quality results but the grille compliments the bumper pretty darn close. As for the inner grille, I painted the surface with silver, let it dry then taped it to protect it and from the back side I painted it black leaving the look use see in the pic. Overall it took about 7hrs but well worth cost savings of a new grille. Here are some pics. Hope you like. Attached Images

02-24-2010, 10:20 AM	#2
junkman Registered User Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: metropolis il Posts: 91	Re: Polished Grill before after looks great, I have one that needs the same treatment. So did the easy off take off the anodizing pretty well? I have tried a couple things on mine and the only thing I could get to take it off was sandpaper, even tried spray can paint stripper.

02-24-2010, 10:32 AM	#3
OARNGESI Registered User Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: CASA GRANDE AZ Posts: 4,276	Re: Polished Grill before after looks realy goog __________________ 70 SWB STEPSIDE 70 BLAZER 09 challenger

02-24-2010, 11:02 AM	#4
DT1 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Gardnerville Nv No Mo Cali!! Posts: 869	Re: Polished Grill before after I'm in the process of doing my grill on my 71 C-10. I tried Easy off and White lightning to remove the anodizing but neither worked all that well. If you want to remove the anodizing quickly, use a 20:1 mix of water and sodium hydroxide (lye). Put it in a spray bottle and liberally coat it. Let it sit for ten minutes and use a Scotchbrite pad. Repeat and done.

02-24-2010, 11:03 AM	#5
chas350 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 581	Re: Polished Grill before after Nice! __________________ "I'll Procrastinate Tomorrow" quote by LEEVON 71 K10 long fleet (sons truck) new 370hp 355, sm465 np205, 3.73's 33's 70 K20 long fleet 98 G3500 work van

02-24-2010, 11:43 AM	#6
Brad Out of the carpool lane. Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: Clark Co, WA Posts: 5,672	Re: Polished Grill before after That looks fantastic!! I'm not a fan of the 69-70's because of the grill, but I wouldn't mind owning that. Wow! Ok, after looking at it closely again I'd say you really need to clean up the black overspray on the grill and headlight buckets. In fact, I think it looks way better with the headlight buckets polished instead of painted like you did. __________________ 1968 C-10 SWB, 5.7 Vortec/700R4/3.73 posi, Torch Red 1968 Camaro, 250/Powerglide, all original (No, I'm not gonna drop a 350 in it!...Jeez!) 2000 Honda VFR in the faster yellow! 2008 Husqvarna TE-610 1967 C-10 SWB 'Six Appeal'-Gone but not forgotten... Last edited by Brad; 02-24-2010 at 11:46 AM.

02-24-2010, 12:00 PM	#7
big_al_71 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: South Florida Posts: 11,375	Re: Polished Grill before after That looks really good, definetly worth the effort... __________________ Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please!!!!!. Sylvester's build thread >>>http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...ht=big+rebuild

02-24-2010, 12:02 PM	#8
NicoSlam Registered User Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: San Antonio TX Posts: 251	Re: Polished Grill before after thanks for the comments. I also didn't like the black headlight rims. Looked like the truck had black eyes. I wasn't too pleased with the quality of the aluminum bezels. They were shiny but very thin. Anyway, I dont plan on hitting them so it should be fine. I'll try the 20:1 water lye on the trim next. easy off wasn't the best but better than elbow grease and sandpaper.

02-24-2010, 12:24 PM	#9
robzilla Registered User Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: castlegar,b.c Posts: 277	Re: Polished Grill before after where can you buy lye? as i need to do my grill too. Last edited by robzilla; 02-24-2010 at 12:27 PM.

02-24-2010, 01:06 PM	#11
71blksuper4x4 SWB 4x4 Collector Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Osage City, KS Posts: 5,155	Re: Polished Grill before after Some hardware stores keep it in plumbing sections. Trevor __________________ TREVOR 1970 CST swb 4x4 (speedwarning,cruise,tilt,tach,8track, original red shoulder belts,tow hooks) 1972 Jimmy (soon to be Hickey cloned) 1971 Cheyenne Super 4x4 swb (tilt,tach,buckets, original blue shoulder belts,am/fm,cruise,tow hooks, dealer 8 track) 1972 Cheyenne Super K20 4x4 Custom Camper (tilt, tach, am/fm, tow hooks, bed toolbox, aux gas tank 1972 Cheyenne Super Crew Cab K30 4x4 Duramax, Allison, np205, buckets, tow hooks (CURRENT PROJECT) http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=624819 1989 V3500 Crew Cab (454tbi, NV4500, np205) 1970 Chevelle SS (LS5 454,th400,8track,buckets,tach) :2004 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon (daily driver) WTB: 1968-70 Cruise Control Lever

02-24-2010, 01:50 PM	#12
NicoSlam Registered User Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: San Antonio TX Posts: 251	Re: Polished Grill before after Is it the same stuff you use in stucco to make it easier to spread and what you use when you bury dogs/ cats etc?

02-24-2010, 02:20 PM	#14
Roland Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Brandon, MS Posts: 134	Re: Polished Grill before after Yep, that's lime. Please!!! be careful using lye. That stuff is very very nasty. You may be able to buy lye (Red Devil is a brand name) at a grocery store in the plumbing section. Also look for dry Drano granules, it is NaOH - Sodium Hydroxide too. BE SURE you read the directions very carefully and follow them explicitely. This stuff is dangerous!!! If you know of anyone who runs a stripping business using "hot caustic" solutions ask them about it too. If you leave it on aluminum very long at all it will ruin it. Not only should you wear goggles and gloves - if you are spraying it as suggested, be sure to wear some respiration protection. If you breathe this stuff it will cause you problems for a long time. If you get the impression that I'm trying to discourage you from using lye - you're right.

02-24-2010, 02:49 PM	#15
fun in dirt Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 2,122	Re: Polished Grill before after Oven cleaner worked great for me...but not the cheap kind... use Easy Off original. It must be the original, fume free does not work. __________________ '72 C to K20 "Cannibalizer" http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...32#post8653432 '85 K30 "Big Nassy" [B]'85 C10 [B] "Corpse" '01 2500 Suburban ...party wagon & tow truck '06 Silverado SS...DD '06 C1500 WT...DD '07 Classic C1500 WT...DD Built & sold cause can't keep 'em all: '72 Blazer "The Bucket" http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=433190 '55 Chevy straight axle gasser https://www.trifive.com/forums/showthread.php?t=173938 '69 Pro Street Chevelle http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=332541 '86 M1031 CUCV http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=553619

02-24-2010, 03:02 PM	#16
robzilla Registered User Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: castlegar,b.c Posts: 277	Re: Polished Grill before after what have others used for polishing the aluminum, after cleaning up the oxidation. any kits anybody would recommend? or just good old elbow grease and a polish?

02-24-2010, 03:13 PM	#17
Hart_Rod ************* Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Pensacola, FL Posts: 17,865	Re: Polished Grill before after It looks great! Have you thought about shooting a coat of clearcoat on it to preserve the shine? __________________ Rob - https://www.instagram.com/hart_rod_c10 As Iron Sharpens Iron, So One Man Sharpens Another. Proverbs 27:17 FOR SALE: DBW pedal bracket - http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=651123 FOR SALE: Hood Brackets http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=679945 1987 Silverado SWB - 34.5K original miles http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=801834 1969 SuperBurb - http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=200387 1968 Farm truck - http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=358692 1968 SWB - http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=551258 1948 Chevy - http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=122164&page=3



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02-25-2010, 03:47 AM	#19
Brad Out of the carpool lane. Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: Clark Co, WA Posts: 5,672	Re: Polished Grill before after Hey, I also noticed the chrome bumper isn't there anymore. Why did you take it off? It looks really good with your blingin' grill! I did a little 'paint' for ya and I think this would make the grill perfect: Attached Images __________________ 1968 C-10 SWB, 5.7 Vortec/700R4/3.73 posi, Torch Red 1968 Camaro, 250/Powerglide, all original (No, I'm not gonna drop a 350 in it!...Jeez!) 2000 Honda VFR in the faster yellow! 2008 Husqvarna TE-610 1967 C-10 SWB 'Six Appeal'-Gone but not forgotten... Last edited by Brad; 02-25-2010 at 03:51 AM.

02-25-2010, 04:31 AM	#20
67ChevyRedneck Hittin E-Z Street on Mud Tires Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Greenville, SC Posts: 23,090	Re: Polished Grill before after I think the last pic was his "before" pic. I like it, good job __________________ Jesse James 1967 C10 SWB Stepside: 350/700R4/3.73 1965 Ford Mustang: 289/T5-5spd/3.25 Trac-Loc 1968 Pontiac Firebird: Project Fire Chicken! 2015 Silverado Double Cab 5.3L Z71 2001 Jeep Wrangler Sport 4.0L 5spd 2020 Chevrolet Equinox Premium 2.0L Turbo 2011 Mustang V6 ~ Wife's ride American Born, Country by the Grace of God 1967 CST Shop Truck Rebuild! My 1967 C-10 Build Thread My Vintage Air A/C Install Project "On a Dime" Trying my hand at Home Renovation! 1965 Mustang Modifications!

02-25-2010, 09:46 AM	#21
rockc Registered User Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: SE WY Posts: 640	Re: Polished Grill before after That is a nice job. What kinda paint did ya use for the lettering? __________________ 72 chevy 3/4 ton 4X4

02-25-2010, 10:12 AM	#22
N2TRUX Happy to be here Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Cypress, TX Posts: 39,021	Re: Polished Grill before after That turned out awesome. __________________ Follow me on Facebook and Instagram @N2trux.com Articles- "Jake" the 84 to 74 crewcab "Elwood" the77_Remix 85 GMC Sierra "Scarlett" "Refining Sierra"

02-25-2010, 03:11 PM	#23
NicoSlam Registered User Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: San Antonio TX Posts: 251	Re: Polished Grill before after I do plan on adding the stripping this weekend. It would cover areas I just couldn't reach with the buffing wheel. I'll post update Saturday.

02-25-2010, 04:31 PM	#24
1971ChevyTruck Registered User Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Illinois Posts: 1,006	Re: Polished Grill before after Looks good!!

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