Check out youtube, you can do your own anodizing at home. It doesn't really look that difficult.

 

well, i just looked at u-tube as you suggested, and watched some videos that answered alot of my questions. i'm pretty computer illiterate, so i didn't actually know there was even stuff like this on there. u-tube looks like a great resource, and i won't have to keep asking simple questions here that have probably been answered before. not even sure if i need to reanodize, polishing & sealing might work as well for my purposes. thanks again!

 

Hypothetically speaking, I'm not being a smarta$$ I'm talking real here.
This is what I'm faced with.

Ok lets do some anodizing. I watched the Youtube videos but I don't have time to do this. However you do, so just suppose I brought over a 1966 truck grille.
The grille is polished. Now your going to anodize it for me. first of all, how much would you charge me to anodize a grille? If the job turns out good I'd bring you a minimum of two grilles a month maybe three.
Can you handle this quantity?

Remember this is a hypothetical situation. However it is something I've been faced with for years. That's why I polish then seal. It's not cost effective to send parts out to get anodized. At least not for me.

 

well, iv'e been trying to strip the anodize off my trim, with mixed results. tried drano max and easy off, both worked pretty poorly, even with repeated applications. today i used regular drain cleaner crystals, mixed 4 tablespoons in a gallon of warm water. submerged 2 headlite doors in the solution for 20 minutes, removed them, and scrubbed them with scotchbrite & water, great results! looks like some sanding & polishing will give me the finish i was looking for, without spending much to get it!

 

I have a place in Denver that will de-anodize, polish the trim. He couldn't do the long bed side trim. I found another place that had a vat long enough to take the anodize off those two parts. ($65) Then I took it to my polish guy.


He says to polish and apply a good wax once a year.


It is expensive. One picture of the finished product.


http://i1145.photobucket.com/albums/...ps561da7ea.jpg


Not a great picture, I could get more or names of the companies I used it anyone is interested.
Rich in Colorado
www.photobucket.com/1966f250

 

I've used Anobrite - King-of-trim in Cali and they do a really good job the second time around. I had the grille on my 65 Falcon straightened, polished, and reanodized about 8 years ago. When I got it back - 3 days before a show - it didn't fit the car. They forgot to fit it back to the template they made before they anodized it. They paid to return it and had it back to me in time for the show. So you got that much going for you - they stand behind their work. And accidents happen. But yes, it's expensive. Cost me $500 for the grille and $100 for each headlight door.

I've experimented since then on ways to clean up non-show-quality bright aluminum. You can strip the anodizing easily enough (many ways, from oven cleaner to products made in the auto industry specific to this need), then straighten and polish... and polish... and polish. The purpose of anodizing was to eliminate the never-ending need to polish aluminum. You can get a good wheel-coating, in clear, and that does pretty good. That's about the hardest paint I know of, but not as hard as anodizing though. I've seen some people chrome the parts, which you can do as well, but aluminum is soft and chrome is hard, so don't dent it. You can also strip, straighten, polish - and then powder coat. Powder coat clear or don't polish and powder coat a color of your choosing - including silver.

Recently I tried something different. I took Jasco paint stripper, gloves, and 0000 steel wool and found these work effectively to rejuvenate the finish. I worked it as though I was cleaning the parts as opposed to gooping it on and letting it sit. Was gonna try this again on my 66 F100 parts to see if I get the same effect I did back then.

Hope this helps.

 

T56, nice truck you have there and shiny aluminum!

DoubleOh, good info! Thanks

Hey Gangsta.. When you sand the grille's do you hand sand with those grits or use a mouse sander or something? May be a dumb question as the aluminum is soft but still curious. I just got my grille back from a metal refinishing shop in Mobile, AL and I'm not too happy with it. Looks like they cleaned it and polished it some, but still has dull spots all over. Planned on taking it and having it clear coated at my buddies paint shop but it isn't where I want it to be yet to clear it.. Here are a couple of photos of it:









Let me know what you guys think. Hope the pics show what some of us are trying to remedy or improve on. Later

 

not sure, but it looks like the anodizing needs to come of if you want it really nice? the polishing looks pretty good, but the anodizing is peeling off in places, and those areas are always going to look different until it's removed. i'm in the process of removing the anodzing from my 65 grill & trim right now, so i'll know lots more about this whole procedure in a couple weeks.

 

In all honesty, that looks like crap. The shop you sent it to, did not have it acid dipped to remove all the anodizing. They did a horrible job on sanding, which leads to a horrible job on polishing.
From what I can see in the pictures, they didn't repair any dents or dings. They didn't straighten any bends or dents.
What did they charge for this? Be honest.
A lot of shops say they can do this because they want your money. In reality most shops have never polished an aluminum grille with many bends.
Most shops don't pay attention to detail when trying to fix any dents or dings.
How did you find this shop? Have they ever done a grille?
Granted, these are not easy to do, very time consuming and dangerous work.
You need to find a better shop. How long did they have your grille?

 

That's kinda the reaction I had when I saw it. My dad went and picked it up so I wasn't there to say, "I'm not taking this." They had it for three weeks. Granted he said he's a month behind. He charged me $300 to remove the layer of old spray paint on it and polish... Or whatever they call what they did. Lol. This place is the only place around here that does chrome or polishing work. Maybe somewhere in Atlanta or Orlando. Called and he said to bring it back and he'd spend more time on it. Not sure he knows the procedure of sanding and whatnot. I assumed he did. What would you do at this point? Can I do it and just eat the money however painful that will be? Is there a place that you know of I could send it to?

 

Take it back to him, let him know what you expect. He's willing to spend more time on it, let him.

 

if he doesn't remove the anodize, or know how to remove the anodize, i doubt you'll be happy with the results. so you might ask what he intends to do with more time, and if he's going to charge you more. you're in pretty deep now, so it's gonna be hard to stop, but a new grill is only $500.

thats why i try to do everything myself. i hate paying for something if i'm not happy with the results.

 

I took it back and he is gonna make it right. Said he removed anodize, but maybe he didn't get it all. Is gonna check that out and then do more polish/buffing. We'll see. I hate paying for a job and it not being what I expect too. So annoying. I'll keep you guys posted. Thanks for the info

 

Two words. White Diamond. This is what I've always used for things like this and it's by far the best product. My buddys friend actually owns the company. Depending on where you are you can find it at Advanced Auto for $15.

 

ok, you told us what it is, now tell us what it does. is it a stripper, a polish, what?