TOPIC: Buffing out my aluminum trim on my nineteen

Well,I've started the process of stripping the crappy anodize off the rubrail. I figured I'd do it on the boat so it would be easy to manage that way. Still a lot of sanding. First, I pulled the plastic center out of the rail. Then I start with either 320 grit wet/dry paper or for the tougher to remove parts, 180 grit dry then step to 320 wet/dry. Then I follow up with 1000 w/d and finally go to 2000 w/d. After the sanding, I use a drill with a 4" buffing pad with either medium or heavy duty cut rouge. And finish with high gloss (green) rouge. And to polish and protect it,I use Busch high gloss liquid polish. The molding has some small dents here and there,but not too bad. The worst place is on the starboard side towards the front where by the looks of it, the PO rammed a pier at some time.

Before...

After... Here's some of the aluminum on the top and windshield frame I have yet to deal with.

When I get to the top, I'll pull it off the boat ,remove the trim and give it a good soaking in some lye soap to easily strip the anodize off. I used a PLASTIC gutter with end caps on it filled with lye and water to strip some molding for a '65 ford truck and it worked great.

Looking good Jim!

Excellent.

Bob

jim,the trim is looking good. frog

Thanks guys,Got the rubrail done and got the insert back in. Managed to get the stern drive painted yesterday too. They're not perfect,but they look a lot cleaner.

Great she looks brand new!

Bob

Really looking nice! I am in the process of putting my Buehler back together and am appreicative of your results! I have the original rub rail and lower windshield frame that is anodized. The rub rail has some dings and I wanted to sand them out and them polish. I love your results! Looks like I have a bit more work ahead!

Thanks Hornet,My rubrail still has some places in it ,one in particular that bugs me that the PO bumped the dock pretty hard. I helped it as much as I could,but it's bent in the webbing of the molding itself. It's tough to get this stuff like I want it LOL. When I get to the windshield frame, there could be plenty of !@@##$%%$ symbols posted Going to try and buff it out without having to take it apart. Just pull it off the boat. As dull as the top & windshield trim looks to me now compared to the rubrail, I gotta do them now

Well, I worked on the windshield yesterday and today. Put the frame in some drain cleaner with lye in it. Had to take it apart. Boiled the anodize off of it. Man that was tough. Had to let the top piece cook for 2 hrs! I'm really happy with the results. Some pics...

jim, you can really make it shine. looks like new. greg

Thanks Greg. That's a lot of work,but (to me)it's worth it. Now I definitely got to do the top trim

Yep like new!!!!!!!!!!

Bob

That turned out fantastic!

Thanks Bob and Rick. The old boat needs a little "bling" on it to make it POP.

Ok the results are fantastic.
My question is what will keep everything looking this good over time and water use. Normal cleaning, waxing, sealing the polished finish with??

D

herters59 wrote:

Ok the results are fantastic.
My question is what will keep everything looking this good over time and water use. Normal cleaning, waxing, sealing the polished finish with??

D

My '63 Aristocraft Funliner came new with bare aluminum J-molding for the rubrail. I buffed it MANY years ago and about once a year I polish it with Busch Aluminum polish. It manintains it pretty good.In fresh water,no problem ,but used to when I would take the funliner to the coast,I would need to polish the aluminum when I got it back home. But that was after it had sat in the salt water for 6 days straight.It wasn't terrible,but the salt water and air would oxidize it in spots just a little. On another site,I was told about a product called Shark Hide aluminum protectant. I'm going to investigate that.jim

That looks amazing! I will be doing the same to my windshield

Excellent, excellent, excellent, thats amazing. just shows what alot of elbow grease and tlc will do!! again "GREAT JOB" !! madbohunk safe boating

Thanks guys. Yeah, a lot of elbow grease. They're not perfect,but they are far better than they were.