apextrans' handiwork

[pafixitman]

As mentioned, apextrans got some "bling" added to my 'boards. He stripped the clear coat, machine polished and then hand polished the diamond plate.

 

[ericboutin]

I just commented on this on your other thread...Looks great Joe! What did you use to polish the diamond plate? Everytime I start polishing diamond plate I get frustrated with all the bumps!
Hey Scott are you coming to the IDI meet...maybe you'll do a polishing clinic!!??

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

Looks sweet Joe.
Now I know where to get me a set of steps for the project when I get to that point.











:Sly
Hey look over there, what is that?

 

[apextrans]

Man, I never got to see 'em in the daylight. They look pretty bright in the pictures though. I used aircraft stripper to get the clear coat off. You can get that stuff in any auto body supply store & maybe some auto parts stores. I use a dewalt polisher running between 1000 - 3000 rpms with a Keystone yellow starched fabic wheel & (depending on how bad the aluminum is scratched) either a grey, green, or white tripoli polishing compound. They are big bars of abrasive rouge. The different colors indicate different levels of abrasiveness. Grey is pretty course, white is the least course. You can get tripoli bars & polishing wheels in any big truck stop. Once I got the clear off, the boards were in good shape so I went right to the white bar. I tried some of the more abrasive bars but they were doing more harm than good. The trick is firguring out which way the grain of the aluminum is running & polish with the grain. If you go against the grain, it puts more scratches in than you have when you start. It took some time to figure that out on diamond plate. I really would like to redo some of what was done the other nite because I didn't figure out the grain until the last board. Once I finished with the polisher, I hand polished with a liquid polish & buffed off. We didn't do that on all the pieces, but it is a good idea. The only clean rags I had were too rough & scratched the aluminum. Be sure to use soft rags for buffing.

I still have to do the other side of Joe's truck & now know what the best plan of attack is so it should go a little quicker & look alot better. When do you want to finish up Joe?

I don't think I will be able to attend the ralley but maybe I could write an article or something. If you have more specific questions, PM me & I'll try to help you along.

 

[Russ]

Looks great!!!! How long did it take to do one side?

 

[yARIC008]

Question. Wouldn't you want to put another clear coat on the diamond plate because if you don't won't it start looking pretty crappy in short order without it?

 

[PackRat]

What about acidizing the boards after stripping? Would take off any random oxidation and leave you with a uniform surface to start with.

We us hydroflouric acid (not hydrochloric) at the shop, on the trailers & such. Works good.

I DO NOT polish. :draw

 

[towcat]

What about acidizing the boards after stripping? Would take off any random oxidation and leave you with a uniform surface to start with.

We us hydroflouric acid (not hydrochloric) at the shop, on the trailers & such. Works good.

I DO NOT polish. :draw

packrat-
I strongly urge you to treat hydroflouric acid with much caution. That stuff will kill you slowly. There are no skin burns with this stuff, it is asorbed into your skin and de-mineralizes your bones. The by-product is elevated calcium levels in your body causing kidney stones and nerve damage before it kills you. In the sillycon valley the stuff is heavily used for wafer mfg. Fire dept's hate the stuff with a passion.

 

[f-two-fiddy]

Dood, that sounds like a downright nasty way to go!

 

[apextrans]

I DO NOT polish. :draw

Sissy!

 

[apextrans]

I ve never had the need to strip clear coat until I started messing around with Ford wheels & joes running boards. Until that point, everything I did was already bare aluminum & in good shape , so I just started polishing. I did however make sure to hit the Blue Beacon Truck Wash a few days before polishing & ask them to "flash" the wheels hard. That is some type of acid wash although I don't know which type of acid. It definitely makes a difference if you use acid first.

Yaric008,
If you re-clear them it would last a while but then you would have to strip them again to re-polish. It's easier (IMO) to just have to polish.

Russ,
It should have taken about 3 hrs of actual work. It was much longer than that this first time around due to lack of a pressure washer & just generally figuring out what needed to be done. The other side will take 3 hrs or less start to finish. Now once they're done the first time, re-polishing doesn't take long at all. I can do all 4 wheels on my truck (by hand) in about 30 minutes. Diamond plate will take longer by hand but can be done.

 

[tractorman86]

yup good old jewlers rouge!! messy as hell but if u are good at it u can turn aluminum as smooth as glass. my old man tought me whin i was little and made me polish the fueltanks on all 3 of our peterbuilts It was a good lesson though!

 

[apextrans]

yup good old jewlers rouge!! messy as hell but if u are good at it u can turn aluminum as smooth as glass. my old man tought me whin i was little and made me polish the fueltanks on all 3 of our peterbuilts It was a good lesson though!

Here's another trick I just learned in Florida a few weeks ago. Use WD40 as a cutting oil when you polish tanks. Just spray them before you hit 'em with the wheel. Makes em look like glass. Can be used on wheels too, but a little harder to get them clean.