Polishing an Aluminum Roof Rack and then not- Ass Pain!

[Artacoma]

Your rack might be anodized , only abrasives will take that off.

[jessef]

Rik's probably right.

Simple green has done more damage to my alu bits than good. It may good okay as a cleaner on clean/dry aluminum but on old/used alu, it turns it into a dull brick, especially if there's dirt and grim on it.

http://www.simplegreen.com/solutions_fa ... y=aluminum

[Luna-Sea]

Hey,
If you do have some clear coat (I don't think my aiba works rack is anodized,but I could be wrong ),
You will want to sand lightly to clear this off (220 or higher,test on hidden area)

This is the aluminum cleaner liquid I was talking about.
http://krown.com/products/cleaning-prod ... uma-brite/
Super potent USE FACE SHIELD and GLOVES medieval mofo stuff.
I can't remember if it will eat off clear coat but it sure as heck eats everything else!

The truckers I know use this on their rims and bigass fuel tanks for a couple minutes,hose it off then
hit it with Wicked Polish and it ends up pretty impressive to say the least.
I am thinking that is the look you are going for,a gleaming almost chrome-like brightness.

This picture shows how shiny you can get as well as what happens if you don't use
the right safety gear with the Aluma-Brite.

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Sounds like a serious DIY bling quest ,may you be victorious!

Good Luck!

[CREGAN]

Yeah I am in search of Bling, but now it has become a complete tear down. Just getting rid of all the rotten parts now to make it super strong once again. Not sure if the bling will happen with my limitted tools and brain power, but it will sure be the brightest and shiney looking corroded patina roof rack around.

Craig

[CREGAN]

Tried all 3 different types of polish today (Mothers, Autosol, and Magic Mix) with no success. I know that when you use these polished you should see the rag and polish on it turn black. Nothing would happen. THEN I decided I would rough it up a bit using first the brass brush which worked to an extent at getting the bigger chunks of whatever was on there off. Then I used some 220 grit sandpaper. Things started happening. The polish immediately turned really black and I got a shine starting. Here are some pics:

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Here is what I was dealing with before:

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So it would seem that I need to rough it up a bit in order to get the desired amount of blingyness. The two methods I have used are leaving scratches so what would be a better alternative to these that will take off the coating of crap but not leave scratches? I have been interwebbing and found that i should do it in stages of rough to fine sanding. I have a hand grinder, orbital polisher, and two arms (complete with hands!) at my disposal. I would like to use the grinder if at all possible as I like this rack, but I don't LOVE this rack so wasting copius amounts of time would probably help me to be one step closer to being a bachelor again. What do you think?

Craig

[Luna-Sea]

Hey,
How is your rack rubbing coming along?
I met a guy some years back that cleaned up a
Whole Gruman aluminum step van,
He did the increasing sandpaper grit thing
all the way up to wetsanding. It looked awesome,
He did mention he would never do it again as well.

If you can't find that acid stuff at a truck stop,
What about a place that cleans helicopters parts and the like?
Take your rack apart into pieces and just dip the whole thing!
Then you could buff it and re-apply a clearcoat and be good for many years.

As a fellow member that is always within a hop skip and a jump to bachelorhood whenever my JDMs are involved, I understand the delicate dynamic in such matters of things....

[CREGAN]

No progress as of late. I bought an 8' bench grinder but I could not find any buffing wheels to fit. So I took it back. I want to get one and put a wire brush on one side and a polishing wheel on the other. Have everyting ready on the feet of the rack, just need some way to buff the bar of Jewlars Rouge onto it. I have been told that napa carries aircraft paint stripper that will pull all the shtuff off but not sure now if I am going to go that far yet. Thinking about just doing the towers and the feet- if I can get my paws on a buffer.

Craig

[CREGAN]

Sorry it has been awhile. I decided to say f-it as the polishing of the feet really sucks for an amatuer like myself so I am taking the feet in to get them powder coated tomorrow. Also powder coating a heavier duty set of fog light brackets as my Rugged Ridge brackets kind of suck. They don't seem to be able to handle the weight of my big PIAA's, plus last time I had my van worked on the mechanic just bent them up instead of loosening the bolts. Then bent them back into place cracking the powder coating and making them even more flimsy. Not a great way to spend $75 but I think I will try to used them to make a support for the top of the lights to try and stop the vibration. Anyway- off topic.

Any suggestions for a colour for the powder coat on the feet? I think black, but I could try to match the rest of the rack or go flashy like red or something. What do you guys think...if anyone is still around here

Craig

[Luna-Sea]

Hey,
So maybe the thread title will have to change to

"Polishing an Aluminum Roof Rack and then not
So much as it's an Ass pain so let's Powder Coat
It instead.."

Hehehe all good.

Right On!

[CREGAN]

Hey,
So maybe the thread title will have to change to

"Polishing an Aluminum Roof Rack and then not
So much as it's an Ass pain so let's Powder Coat
It instead.."

Hehehe all good.

Right On!

Consider it done- I tried my best to fit it all but could not but I think everyone will get the gist of it. Sorry I couldn't use your advice to serve a useful purpose. I am only painting the feet and leaving the rest until I learn more from my sensei. It may take several years to perfect the "Non-Ass Pain Technique". So what colour of feet do you think would help enhance the racks inner beauty?

Craig

[psilosin]

Hey Craig,

I have heard people say 'once you go black you'll never go back'. Maybe they were refering to powder coating roof rack legs beacuse it would look real fine. The red colour idea would really pop too. And it would be a great excuse to get a nice matching set of red JAOS mudflaps!

All the work on your L400 is looking good and makes me want to hurry and get mine back on the road.

[CREGAN]

Yeah I like the black- It is a safe bet I think (in regards to the roof rack legs- with the ladies there is no safe bet ) Red would really pop, but I really don't want a set of the red JAOS flappers. I did some more reading on the ol' Interweb and got the translate to work on the AIBA site. Turns out my rack is the lightwieght aluminum ANNODIZED model know as the Noselda 2. This explains alot. I think I will leave the basket alone and just spit shine it.

I have a few more mods to surprise you with coming up. I think I will make my own thread (1 to 2 pages - kind of the opposite of Nick ) when it is done to show the transformation.

Craig

[Luna-Sea]

Bravo Cregan,
Made me laugh out loud, confused some of my co-workers!
Sometimes the energy is best spent elsewhere for sure.
You still learned something though!

Black would compliment your paint scheme nicely,
The flares and intercooler scoop black too.
You would still have the side mirror,steps , bush bumper and
Rims for some shiny for accent.
Space buggy gangster!

Right On!

[RichD]

Well I've polished this same roof rack while waiting for Felix at the shop. I used zero gauge steel wool. It was easymode. I finished one foot in 20 minutes. Looked great. With autosol and the steel wool it would have been faster. You could use a buffing wheel on a drill to really tidy it up but why bother?

If you would rather spend a hundred bucks than a couple of hours, disassemble and bring it to the U-blast. Use the glass media not the stone. Personally after blasting I would then prime and paint but that's me.

Based on the scratches I think you would be most satisfied with the U-Blast. Sorry if I am repeating another suggestion; I got tired near the end of the thread and hit reply.

[CREGAN]

Got the feet back from the powder coaters and reassembled. I like it alot. Pictures of it on the van to follow this weekend.

Craig

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