Trim Metal Identification

DentalDart · May 30, 2020

I'm looking for things to do on my car that I may be able to do to help me keep busy. Most of my exterior trim is actually in really good shape. Id like to maybe polish some of the exterior trim though just don't know exactly what I can do on all of the trim without knowing for sure what kind of metal it is... can I get some help identifying the type of metal it is and what I can do to clean it up/paint it?

Window, wheel, drip rail and vinyl trim - stainless steel
Tail light boarders- aluminum?
Tail pannel- aluminum?
Grill?

Thanks!

Phreakish · May 30, 2020

Pick up some blue magic polishing paste and some microfiber towels.

Rub some on the trim with the cloth. If you get a black spot on the cloth, you can polish it. If not, it's chrome or paint.. Blue magic works on a great number of metals and materials, awesome stuff. Be ready for sore hands..

DentalDart · May 30, 2020

Phreakish said:
Pick up some blue magic polishing paste and some microfiber towels.

Rub some on the trim with the cloth. If you get a black spot on the cloth, you can polish it. If not, it's chrome or paint.. Blue magic works on a great number of metals and materials, awesome stuff. Be ready for sore hands..

Awesome just got some off amazon... will be here on Monday. I'm ready for sore hands, I actually thought of buying an electric auto detailing buffer to do the whole car but I want to make this take a little longer so I have something to do lol.

Phreakish · May 30, 2020

LOL.

Buffers are nice, but also a good way to burn through paint and ruin vinyl too..

I'd tape off anything you don't want polish on before commencing too. If you stain the vinyl top with it, you'll be hating life. It will wipe and otherwise wash off paint, but you don't want random shinier spots adjacent your trim either ;)

DentalDart · May 30, 2020

Phreakish said:
LOL.

Buffers are nice, but also a good way to burn through paint and ruin vinyl too..

I'd tape off anything you don't want polish on before commencing too. If you stain the vinyl top with it, you'll be hating life. It will wipe and otherwise wash off paint, but you don't want random shinier spots adjacent your trim either ;)

Thanks for the advice! I like getting advice from people who know better than I do... I also must worn you.. sometimes I dont listen but I try to. :poke:

My vinyl top is already upsetting me. I had a couple bubbles and I tried to fix them but they actually got slightly worse :mad:

and the piece of vinyl on the drip rail over the passenger front window is not all the way down. I tried sticking it down too but it didn't stay.

I guess thats what happens when you do a vinyl top having never done one before and with an old vinyl that was sitting in a trunk for 5 years lol.

Phreakish · May 30, 2020

DentalDart said:
Thanks for the advice! I like getting advice from people who know better than I do... I also must worn you.. sometimes I dont listen but I try to.

My vinyl top is already upsetting me. I had a couple bubbles and I tried to fix them but they actually got slightly worse and the piece of vinyl on the drip rail over the passenger front window is not all the way down. I tried sticking it down too but it didn't stay.

I guess thats what happens when you do a vinyl top having never done one before and with an old vinyl that was sitting in a trunk for 5 years lol.

Listen to me or don't, doesn't matter! We all do things different for our own reasons and so long as it gets done, does it matter? Hell, others may have a better idea than me. I just know what I've done for me in the past

Vinyl tops are a massive challenge. Most folks won't even try, but you tackled it and learned. That's worth as much as a good result, I think. I'm sure there are ways to deal with bubbles and peeling, probably using needles or syringes.. But I haven't a clue I hate vinyl! LOL.

DentalDart · May 30, 2020

Phreakish said:
Listen to me or don't, doesn't matter! We all do things different for our own reasons and so long as it gets done, does it matter? Hell, others may have a better idea than me. I just know what I've done for me in the past

Vinyl tops are a massive challenge. Most folks won't even try, but you tackled it and learned. That's worth as much as a good result, I think. I'm sure there are ways to deal with bubbles and peeling, probably using needles or syringes.. But I haven't a clue I hate vinyl! LOL.

I was just giving you a hard time about not listening lol.

I tried the syringe method, didn't keep it held down where the bubbles were, tried heat gun as well. Bleh.

Thanks for all the help!

MoparMike1974 · May 30, 2020

Tail light bezels are usually chrome plated pot metal aluminum. Most aluminum trim (grill, tail panel, wheel opening) are anodized aluminum. You can polish anodized but only after stripping the anodize off. This can be done with a lye/water solution and will not damamge the base metal. One the anodizing is off it will require up-keep or have it re-anodized to protect it.

DentalDart · May 30, 2020

MoparMike1974 said:
Tail light bezels are usually chrome plated pot metal aluminum. Most aluminum trim (grill, tail panel, wheel opening) are anodized aluminum. You can polish anodized but only after stripping the anodize off. This can be done with a lye/water solution and will not damamge the base metal. One the anodizing is off it will require up-keep or have it re-anodized to protect it.

Both ways should difficult lol.

I'll look them up though!

Phreakish · May 31, 2020

Clear type II anodize is easy to find shops for, or you can do it yourself with a kit from Caswells.

Thing is, anodize us just an oxide layer and will still be more dull than polished aluminum. I'd look at polishing and then having clear powder coat done, or look into chrome-like powder coat.. But that takes begging $ out of the wife ;)

DentalDart · May 31, 2020

Phreakish said:
Clear type II anodize is easy to find shops for, or you can do it yourself with a kit from Caswells.

Thing is, anodize us just an oxide layer and will still be more dull than polished aluminum. I'd look at polishing and then having clear powder coat done, or look into chrome-like powder coat.. But that takes begging $ out of the wife ;)

Begging? Usually I spend it and then she eventually sees that I spent it and yells at me :rofl:

My uncles metal company does powder coating though. Ill ask him what he'd charge me one day.

str12-340 · May 31, 2020

all the stuff on the top - drip rails, windshield trim, vinyl top trim (except for the little do-hickey at the top of the A pillar ) and the big pieces that hold the rubber that the windows roll up into - are stainless and should be able shine like chrome with little effort just using chrome polish (Turtle wax), or cleaner wax. If there's overspray or some other foreign coating, try an SOS pad 9wet) and a light touch.

Claydart · May 31, 2020

It's always easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission!

CudaChick1968 · Jun 7, 2020

Look into this stuff for protecting your finished trim. It's completely replaced clear powder on the aluminum parts I polish here. Truly a DIY product.

Cerakote - HIGH GLOSS CERAMIC CLEAR

DentalDart · Nov 23, 2020

Bumping this with another question...

I finally started the "half ***" first try for everything let's restore the trunk panel... figured I hate my blacked out grill as well so I may as well do that...

Headlight bezels... are they chrome plated pot metal or anodized aluminum? I ask because it the bezels end up flowing with the front hood trim (stainless steel). I dont know what to do about painting the bezels if they don't match the trim on the hood...

Tail light bezels are chrome plated pot metal, can I sand the chrome off? For my console I think its chrome plated and I just slightly sanded it and painted over... but it still isn't perfect...
.

str12-340 · Nov 23, 2020

I'd be shocked is the headlight doors, grille and hood edge trim were not all the same stuff, but somebody with a 69 should tell us if that's true.

I know this is going to sound like a lot of work, but most of the trim just pops off, but you have to be careful. That's the first thing I would do before polishing trim. Now that I think about it, it actually it sounds like a lot less work than properly protecting what's around the trim and you would get a better result...

pishta · Nov 23, 2020

Getting the anodizing off with original Easy-Off works but its a multi application process as it seem to leave patches of the tough stuff still clinging. I stripped my 65 headlight bezels (once with Easy-off and the other with 500-800 grit sandpaper, it was faster) and polished the AL, turned out 2X as shiny as the anodized finish. Just have to get something on it like wax as it will haze quickly un-anodized. Id try the lye on the stuff that cant be sanded, ie grooves and small channels.

DentalDart · Nov 23, 2020

str12-340 said:
I'd be shocked is the headlight doors, grille and hood edge trim were not all the same stuff, but somebody with a 69 should tell us if that's true.

I know this is going to sound like a lot of work, but most of the trim just pops off, but you have to be careful. That's the first thing I would do before polishing trim. Now that I think about it, it actually it sounds like a lot less work than properly protecting what's around the trim and you would get a better result...

I know the tail light bezels are pot metal plated chrome, and the headlight bezels were anodized aluminum.

I just don't know about the hood trim, if its SS, anodized, or pot metal... if SS I have the blue trim polish and lots of microfiber towels.

I also agree taking the trim off is probably the best course of action for saving what decent paint the car does have.

DentalDart · Nov 24, 2020

Well.... I started sanding... it looks good, I focused on the parts that will be staying silver and not the area that will be black. I went up to 1000 grit sand paper, because thats the highest I have in the garage.

There are differences between the aluminum and chrome though. As it is now, the chrome does have slightly more shine to it. Maybe after polishing it with some blue magic it will shine up a little more and match the chromes/ SS a little better.

Its also dark outside and in the garage, ill try and snap some pictures of it in the sunlight tomorrow... sucks I'm going to have to tape it again... I wish I was faster at taping things off so it didn't take so long...

I'm also going to have to pick up one of those gts repop badges one of these days....

DentalDart · Nov 25, 2020

pishta said:
Getting the anodizing off with original Easy-Off works but its a multi application process as it seem to leave patches of the tough stuff still clinging. I stripped my 65 headlight bezels (once with Easy-off and the other with 500-800 grit sandpaper, it was faster) and polished the AL, turned out 2X as shiny as the anodized finish. Just have to get something on it like wax as it will haze quickly un-anodized. Id try the lye on the stuff that cant be sanded, ie grooves and small channels.

What did you use to polish the Aluminum?

pishta · Nov 25, 2020

Brasso, but mothers AL polish would have worked better. Your Stainless chrome and POLISHED AL will never match next to each other. The chrome is colorless while the AL is almost a very light blue, stainless has its own very shallow shine, not as crisp as chrome. All look good polished if they are alone.

DentalDart · Nov 25, 2020

pishta said:
Brasso, but mothers AL polish would have worked better. Your Stainless chrome and POLISHED AL will never match next to each other. The chrome is colorless while the AL is almost a very light blue, stainless has its own very shallow shine, not as crisp as chrome. All look good polished if they are alone.

Sounds good! i'm trying to decide if I should paint the tail light bezels to match the panel and what to do about the headlight bezels.

DentalDart · Nov 27, 2020

More cleaning... or I should say sanding... who ever painted this used the thickest black they could find apparently...

DentalDart · Dec 17, 2020

Updates... Im happy.

I checked my manual and it doesn't state how to take off all the trim around the rest of the car. Im pretty sure it all pops right off as I put it all on except the front windshield and the hood trim.

I also tried to clean up and polish my spare rear view mirror, but it didn't work... any ideas?

I want to polish it all up as well.