polishing aluminum grill

[easyrider]

Has anyone got any advice about how to polish a grill on 65 Satellite? Is it anodized? And if so, how do you get the anodizing off? If not, what do you use to polish, or do you chrome grill? Thanks for the advice in advance!

 

[Blackheart]

Just curious, where are you in NC?

 

[moparsteve636]

easyrider,the grill is anodized!you can use easy off oven cleaner,the regular not the no fume.it will take some time!polish it by hand or use a buffing wheel be careful you can destroy it real easily or yourself!

 

[ilm65]

Polishing Grill

Hi easyrider; The sad news is trying to polish the aluminum grills on our 65 Satellites can't be done (speaking from experience). They're anodized and polishing (especially with compound) simply removes the anodizing. You're best advised to have it re-anodized--it'll last forever. Good luck; Bob

 

[19Fury63]

If you want to polish it, you'll have to sand it first..probably with about 320 grit. Then wet sand all the way up to 2000 grit in a "cross hatching" method. Once you're done with the 2000 grit, you'll be left with a somewhat shiny surface that can then be polished to look brand new again. I just did this on my headlight bezels and was amazed at the results.

 

[65belv]

Polishing anodized aluminum grill

I'm with ilm65 - maybe you could sand some large fairly flat pieces of anodized aluminum to removed the anodization and then polish but, with all the nooks and crannys on the 65 grill and headlight bezels, reanodizing seems like the best bet. In this area, I found a chrome shop that would remove the anodization but won't do repairs or reanodize. The guy that does repairs doesn't reanodize so a third vendor would be needed to reanodize. I found a few nos pieces and spiffied up the rest of the trim to complete the resto.

 

[Dan]

Polishing grill

I just had all my trim,grill headlight doors and finish panel for my 66 Satellite restored and polished to the tune of $2400. Yes it is all anodized and to have it reanodized was another $1000 plus. Iverson Automotive did my stuff to show quality condition but I didn't have the cash for anodizing. By the way the only way to remove anodizing completely is a chemical dip. To keep everything looking new I am going to use a product called Sharkhide,
(sharkhide.com). Its a simple wipe on and they say it lasts forever, it's sold by Eastwood.

 

[bluefury]

By the way the only way to remove anodizing completely is a chemical dip.

If you can locate a commercial anadizer in your area they may be willing to dip your parts to remove the anodizing. Then polish using whatever methed you are comfortable with. What I've done then is to have the part powder coated in clear glossy. Looks great...low cost and maintainance free.

 

[wedge5]

Special T will either refurb/restore yours or you can buy theirs.
Yours: $1800
Theis: $2500 or something outlandish like that.

Either way it is crazy expensive to do. I am stuck with a beat up grill because I will not pay it.

 

[65DODGE]

Special T will either refurb/restore yours or you can buy theirs.
Yours: $1800
Theis: $2500 or something outlandish like that.

Either way it is crazy expensive to do. I am stuck with a beat up grill because I will not pay it.

i'm with you on this one i have wet sanded and polished my grille and it looks presentable for a driver sure its got some dings and scrapes here and there its not perfect but i think it gives it some character and patina i would rather put my money somewhere else in the car like the drivetrain i'm after just having a nice street/strip driver that looks bitchin driving around and then you can take to the strip and tear off some high 11 second passes thats what i'm after i think the grille and some other trim pieces needing redone will be way later down the road for me.

 

[Moose]

My 64 grill

I have been where you are now. My grill needed help. I actually bought a complete 4 door 64 just for the center section of the grill. It's really expensive to make them perfect again. I went a different direction. I found a local plating company in the San Francisco Bay Area that dipped my grill for $10 to remove the anodizing. I hand sanded EVERY pit mark from the surface. It took forever but it was worth the time. Then I bought some polishing compounds from a Good Guys Show in my area. I bought three different compounds that progressively brought out the shine. I did not repaint the black and I think it makes it look unique !!

 

[5.7 hemi]

Easy off oven cleaner will take the anodizing off totally. Then start sanding your arms off, then polish. Not alot of money, but a sh!t load of time and most people have more time than money. I converted 2 grilles to make one superstock, and used the easy off oven cleaner then polished, took about 3 months to get it done.

 

[Meep-Meep]

Oven cleaner or lye is caustic (sodium hydroxide) and I understand that removes the oxide coating (anodizing) but it will eat the aluminum under it so be careful. You may find the bare aluminum will turn dark gray if exposed to caustics for too long. You can remove the gray with a phosphoric acid solution or just get aluminum jelly found in the paint section in the hardware store.

 

[Dodge 330]

I did the same as some of the others in this thread.

Easy Off oven cleaner and lots of tedious wet hand sanding and then a final polish. I did a lot of it during the Superbowl last year!

 

[Dodge 330]

Nother:'

 

[Dodge 330]

Final pic:

I wish I had before pics because it was dented on the top pretty bad, bars were moved, and it had lots of gravel pits in it.