[Supermario]

Originally Posted by dabears

Skip the mothers and try wax. I don't think you will ever get rid of all the marks. I never do... gotta remember its polished not chromed..

Your right Aaron, Mothers does not work and I was beginning to think, this is it.

Originally Posted by kingbob

When i polished the wheels on my Prime, after all the initial polishing i used an Autosol aluminium polish. Made in germany and sold in auto parts stores for polishing wheels. Magic stuff. The wheels went from a coarse gray aluminium to an almost mirror shine. And that wss just using soft a dremel polishing bit.

Was about $7 for a tube, and i used barely any of it.

I'm a big fan of Autosol. It is incredible stuff and I had a pretty decent look using it with a buffer on a 1/2 drill but it wasn't until Aaron recommend using the polish rouge a few weeks ago, that's when I got a nice clear finish. The rouge is the way to go

Originally Posted by Espeefan

Mario, I'm not a pro, but after all the wet sanding is done I've gotten some great results using just my Dremel and the Dremel polishing rouge, along with their white felt buffing wheels. That said, I don't think you'll ever get the aluminum to be perfect from all angles. My fenders, for example, turned out nice, but I think from the right angle some haze can be seen. I really don't notice it much.



Here is a kit that includes the rouge and felt wheels.

http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Tools/Pa...spx?pid=684-01

I think you're on the right path. I don't really know any tricks except to always travel in the same direction when you polish. Sounds like you are doing everything right, and I'll agree that Mother's aluminum polish seemed to give me worse results then just using the Dremel rouge with a felt wheel. Wax did the same. Something you could try is to wipe down the aluminum with Windex before you do a final polish. Ammonia cleans bare metals very well. Let us know if you ever figure this out! We could all use the tips.

Thanks Nate.As I'm reading the replys, I guess it's the nature of this thin aluminum eh? Thanks for the link and I'm feeling better already. At least now I know when we bring the trailer to Indy, you gs aren't going to look at me and say, Mario, that looks terrible lol.
I will let you know how it turns out for sure. I might try getting a few pics of where I'm at but not sure I can capture in a pic.

Originally Posted by Brian in PA

No matter how much you polish, some small scratches will be seen from various angles. if you can, try and polish on one plane, only go one direction. this will assure that the scratches can only be seen when viewing one certain angle. This is just the nature of polishing aluminum.

Thanks Brian, I know what your saying about same direction and plane. My big issue is the size of the panels. They are 2mm thick ,30" long and almost 5" wide. The front panel which is a little thicker material turned out perfect, clear and no swirls but was much easier to run them off if you know what I mean. The side panels I've been polishing lengthways because I get a better look. It's almost like aluminum has a " grain " to it? Trying to hold and support the panel and not bend or distort it is tricky.
Hmmm, if I put a longer shaft on my motor, maybe I could try a 5" wide buffing wheel? Or maybe at least 3" wide wheel. That's one thing I haven't tried, more wheels maybe!

Originally Posted by tc1cat

DO NOT USE ammonia on aluminum unless you plan on a completely wash and re-polish after. Ammonia attacks aluminum if left on for any length of time. This is ones of the reasons that some of the better gun cleaning chemicals should never be used on any firearm that has aluminum parts in them.

Thank you so much Lynn! I tried that glass cleaner Bon Ami and I'm pretty sure it has ammonia in it Fortunately it didn't help and I re polished the plate right afterwards. Good to know

Originally Posted by JAMMER

I use ZEPHYR PRO40 and I do not notice any swirl marks. I use it on a new micro fiber rag to polish with. After I am done I throw the rag away you can't clean them good enough after once used. I then use another clean micro fiber to finish polishing and clean what is left on off. I also use a dermal with a felt wheel then the micro fiber rags. Ed

Thanks Ed. I've heard of that stuff in the past but couldn't think of the name till you mentioned it



Thanks everyone. You have all re inspired me to get back at it. With your input I have a few more things to try before I accept this as the nature of the beast.

Mario