Does anyone out there know of a good way to get a shine a 68 grill? Mine is pretty straight , but is discolored. I tried buffing, but it did very little. I used 1200 sandpaper and also sos pad, no luck.

 

not sure if this will work or not but it,s worth a try. on the aluim. trim piece that is on the tailgate that says Ford. i took a rag and soaked it with some paint thinner not paint stripper. and wiped the finish off of it. when you are done it will have a shine that will look like you buffed it out. but you did not. i have used this on two other f-100 tailgate trim pieces. but i have not tried it on a grill yet.

 

Read through these and your question should be answered.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...ll-polish.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...storation.html

I have used the Crystal Draino method of stripping referred to in these threads. It does work, but you have to be very careful with it. Take the safety warnings seriously: work outside, wear goggles, gloves and long sleeves and be sure you don't 'cook' your parts too long in the lye.

And invest in a buffing wheel.

 

You need to get through the anodizing(thin coating) that is used to protect the aluminum from corroding/oxidizing.

Either chemical stripping or sanding(lots of sanding).

gangstakr is the resident specialist in doing grilles.

 

I did this to my grill .
Strip anodizing with easy off oven cleaner ( not generic version)
straighten grill
sand grill from 400 grit to 1000 grit
polish with die grinder and polish kit from Eastwood .
many hours , bloody fingers a big mess to clean up
but came out good

 

if you got the $$
Gangstaker is the man , his grills are works of art

 

Oven cleaner every time. The good foamy spray stuff. But watch out for it also doubles as a paint stripper!!!!

 

Here's a before pic

 

I used this stuff from Walmart. I poured the entire bottle in 5 gallons of water. It worked some, but not very good. Is there something stronger?

 

LYE is the key
I found clean part of dirt .
scuff the grill with Red scotch brite , this seems to give the lye a head start .
spray on oven cleaner , let sit till white foam turns dirty , then use red scotch brite again and scrub rinse and repeat if needed

 

I found an AC coil cleaner that has a higher lye content then easy off .
I used this on my wifes Elcamino Aluminum trim . worked very well .
https://www.johnstonesupply.com/stor...ep?pID=B82-559

 

as for the drain cleaner , you probably over diluted it .

 

Don't use the liquid stuff. Use the crystals in water. Try diluting 1/2 cup Drano per 1 gallon of warm water. Make sure you keep an eye on the parts as the solution will eat through the anodizing and go to work on the metal.

Drano contains lye, which will burn skin, especially eyes. Wear protection and avoid enclosed spaces!!!

 

OK, I'll try the crystals. Here is the headlight bezel. It got some of it off, but still a lot of sanding to do.

 

The anodizing is quite hard compared to the aluminum, so, once you get the anodizing stripped off, the sanding will go much faster.

As others have said, start with 400 grit and go to 600, 1200 and 2000 then the polishing compounds.