Window molding color

I have been busting my butt trying to polish these moldings that go around quarter and side windows. They are pretty oxidized and its taking alot of work. I was going to go buy some 400,600,800, and 1000 grit paper and take another whack at it. Then i thought, maybe i could just paint them

I dont have some matching paint so red is out. My dad wanted me to paint them black and I think it would look like crap with gloss black moldings. Then I thought gray/silver. Any suggestions? Im tired of sanding and polishing. :sleep: It took me 45 minutes to polish 4 square inches.

-dan

I have been busting my butt trying to polish these moldings that go around quarter and side windows. They are pretty oxidized and its taking alot of work. I was going to go buy some 400,600,800, and 1000 grit paper and take another whack at it. Then i thought, maybe i could just paint them

I dont have some matching paint so red is out. My dad wanted me to paint them black and I think it would look like crap with gloss black moldings. Then I thought gray/silver. Any suggestions? Im tired of sanding and polishing. :sleep: It took me 45 minutes to polish 4 square inches.

-dan

The oxidation you are having a hard time getting off is actually anodizing. I too tried sanding it off on parts on my 74 but decided to become smarter and found out that I could soak my parts in a mixture of Red Devil lye and with some gentle scrubbing and resoaking I could then easily sand the softer aluminum that was under the anodizing and polish it up. If you are still wanting to do it the hard way, keep on sanding and we'll talk to you again in a few weeks :D .

Here's how I got off the anodizing on my parts:

http://hometown.aol.com/krystaldesigns/pageA28.html

If you do opt to paint, try and spray around the edges of the parts to where there is less chance of seeing a missed spot after it is installed.

Could you get a pint of paint mixed up and get a Preval sprayer and shoot them ?.

http://www.prevalspraygun.com/

Jim

I may go up and have a picture taken of the paint to get it matched and mix a pint. That should be a lot easier then this BS. :rolleyes: I may even just have them spray the moldings. I might call them and get a quote tomorrow.

Thanks, I think you have shown me the light :D.

-dan

They sell em repop and they fit well:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d180/Bad68Nova_/100_1268.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d180/Bad68Nova_/100_1266.jpg

They sell em repop and they fit well:


Do you have any links or sources for them? The only ones i could find where about $250 for a set on ebay.

thanks
-dan

I want to spray the channel around my hatch opening before I send it to the body shop to be finally sprayed. The color I am using is called Dodge Viper Blue. It has some metalic to it. Do you know if this sprayer would be able to handle that?? I have a hvlp gun but it is such a hassel to setup etc just to do the little bit that I have to. It can handle base/clear type paint hummmm.....

Brad



Could you get a pint of paint mixed up and get a Preval sprayer and shoot them ?.

http://www.prevalspraygun.com/

Jim

I want to spray the channel around my hatch opening before I send it to the body shop to be finally sprayed. The color I am using is called Dodge Viper Blue. It has some metalic to it. Do you know if this sprayer would be able to handle that?? I have a hvlp gun but it is such a hassel to setup etc just to do the little bit that I have to. It can handle base/clear type paint hummmm.....

Brad

I dont know if it will do metallics well. The air velocity may not be high enough for a consistent finish.

Here's how I got off the anodizing on my parts:

http://hometown.aol.com/krystaldesigns/pageA28.html


OK, Im giving this a try right now. I went out and got some Drano and so far it seems to be doing ok. I could not find any red devil so we will have to wait and see.

-dan

OK, Im giving this a try right now. I went out and got some Drano and so far it seems to be doing ok. I could not find any red devil so we will have to wait and see.

-dan

good luck!
keep us posted on your progress. polishing this stuff in very very labor intensive... i must admit, i tried restoring my grill but couldnt get past the anodizing so i just bought another used one in better condition and polished it right up!

i took my dull aluminum mouldings off and put em in a box so im curious how your project turns out.
what are the repop ones going for now? ~$200 i think?
if youre considering painted ones: you could just buy the steel ones and paint em?

you have options...restore or replace. just be careful when you take em off! :eek:
steve

good luck!
keep us posted on your progress. polishing this stuff in very very labor intensive... i must admit, i tried restoring my grill but couldnt get past the anodizing so i just bought another used one in better condition and polished it right up!

i took my dull aluminum mouldings off and put em in a box so im curious how your project turns out.
what are the repop ones going for now? ~$200 i think?
if youre considering painted ones: you could just buy the steel ones and paint em?

you have options...restore or replace. just be careful when you take em off! :eek:
steve


So far i have tried one of the smaller pieces of the quarter trim and seems to be going pretty smooth. I had to get the clear-coat off of it with some steel wool and then let it soak for 3 hours. Anodized came right off except a few spots I didnt get all of the clear coat off. Ill try and take some pics after I polish it up. It looks so much better but I dont think I had the mix strong enough.

-dan

Give this a try before you spend money on something you dont need.


http://www.secondchancegarage.com/public/665.cfm

Give this a try before you spend money on something you dont need.


http://www.secondchancegarage.com/public/665.cfm

Thanks for the link

I have a bit of progress. I did one piece as a test and it turned out a lot better then I thought.

This is a comparison. The top piece is what it did look like and now. I used rough, medium, and fine steel wool and then a little bit of mothers aluminum polish.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/danthegeek/IMG_1111.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/danthegeek/IMG_1114.jpg

thanks for the advice and now onto the rest :turn:

I could not find any red devil so we will have to wait and see.

-dan


Probably cause the "Meth head" people use it!:no:

Do you think I should put a clear on these or just polish them up once in a while with mothers polish?

thanks
-dan

I just keep mine polished and coated with a good wax. I tried clear coating mine after they were polished and they came out with a haze from the clear coat. I tried several different brands of clear coat.

If the clear coat doesn’t work then have you thought about clear powder coat? I have had luck with Clear PC over aluminum……it should work for your application….

Danthegeek, that is an incredible difference. I'm going to do mine also instead of buying new ones.

WOW!!!

i think i will hold onto mine and try this in the spring!

thanks for the heads up and pic.

keep up the good work- looks great!

steve

Thanks guys but you should thank the ones who helped me. I wouldn't even have tried it without their advice. I will worn you, this is a lot of work. I have 3 hours of soaking and around another hour in fixing dents and polishing just on this one piece. I wish I was getting paid for this :rolleyes:.

I thought about clear powder coating but a few chrome pieces I had done became really hazey. I will probably just stick with wax for now as suggested. Thanks.

I officially hate this. Im worn out after all of this work. It took me 2 hours to get the moldings off of the doors. The vertical pieces I couldnt get off so i had to sand them in place. 3 hours later they look good :D. The other pieces are still soaking. Some had a clear coat on top so I had to use paint stripper then let them soak. I will never do this again. :rolleyes:.

Back to work lol
-dan

Take em off.

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/2532000-2532999/2532222_24_full.jpg