I stripped the clear coat off the side panels because the polishing wasn't good enough. Interestingly, After soaking the 2k clear just wiped off the blasted inner surface, the outer polished surface was a different matter, had to scrub and scrub and scrub to get it off.

Then I polished again: Sisal and black, sewn cloth and white and then loose leaf cloth with green. Finish was pretty good, but I wanted better so finished off with a loose leaf Swansdown mop and green compound. Normal loose leaf cloth mops are calico, Swansdown is a finer, softer material providing a better finish. But don't be fooled, all mops, sisal, calico and even Swansdown mops leave streaks in the aluminium, you just have to look closely. You can reduce the streaks by polishing in different directions leaving a cross hatch finish, again, if you look close enough. Polishing with a very soft touch will reduce the streaking even further.

The compound is what does the polishing, don't use enough compound and all you'll produce is heat. Compounds when running lean will leave little globs on the surface of the material, particularly around holes and edges, particularly green compound.

I use Silvo as a final hand polish, Silvo has a finer texture than aluminium polishes such as Meguires and Autosol, so provides a better finish. Final polishing with Silvo and a microfibre cloth will also scratch the material, particularly if used in a circular motion. So, take note of the direction in which the streaks run, polish with the microfibre in the same direction, streaks are then less noticeable. These streaks are hardly noticeable unless you look very, very closely and are very, very fussy, not something you would normally notice.

I've been at it for over 55 years, so I'm very fussy. Here's some final polishing I did today; side panels, engine mounts and a filter mount I made some time ago. Aluminium will never polish up like chrome or stainless, it is a more 'subdued' shine, which I prefer. Nevertheless, it does come up nice providing a good mirror finish. In pic three you can see the hairs on my fingers..
Attached Images




Read the full thread at metalworkforums.com...