Polishing Ali - Is there any easy way ?

[greg]

I've had my Ali / green Caterham 7 a week, and its wonderfull.

 

But today I gave it a clean (10 mins), and polished the Ali with Mothers (2 hours) is there an easy way with either a power tool, or a specialist that will do it for a reasonable price?

 

Q 990 RAE

[Mr Locust]

I use a random orbit sander fitted with a foam polishing mop and fine polish like brasso. It's still a pain in the arse though!

 

Welcome to the black hand gang.

[greg]

Ah,

 

The only other solutions I've seen id s drill bit attachment.

 

I want something that will do the real area, the little bits left can be done by hand.

 

I've found that after washing my hands three times only my finger nails are black !

 

Q 990 RAE

[John Whyman]

Elbow grease is one answer! The other is to paint all the ali bits green, it saves all the ****ing about. Paint keeps its shine a lot longer than ali!!

 

Enough frivolity! a good polishing pad on slow/medium speed in a drill is a good bet, otherwise it is all down to elbow grease and black fingernails. I always dig my fingernails into a bar of soap before starting and finish up by washing a pair of socks in hot water, it gets all the sh*t out really easily.

[ashaughnessy]

After eleven years of black-handed ownership, having tried every trick, I reckon doing it by hand is the only answer. Power drills, etc., don't seem to make it any easier. I've tried Solvol (Autosol, Autochrome) which works well, Mother's is very good, and I've just discovered AutoGlym which works extremely well (better than Solvol).

Takes me about two hours to do the whole car. Not my favourite job.

 

[Andrew Russell]

My recommendation is for Belgom 'Alu' Polish, which is easy to apply, easy to buff up and contains a wax which protects and lasts for ages. Still a long job by hand but once done, you can wash the car normally and just leather it off to restore the shine. I try to give my car just one thorough polish each year and if lucky with the weather, this generally lasts, with just minor polishing for oil marks, tar etc.

 

Hand job is the only way!

 

Andrew

[MADMALC]

Best tip I ever received was to dip the polishing off cloth in flour. As soon as the flour discolours shake it out and dip in the flour again. It appears that the flour soaks up the black so you don't spread it about or get as much on your hands. Plus the cloth remains useable much longer.

An airline is handy to blow off the flour as it gets everywhere, and remember to cover the inlet to the carbs and the louvres when doing the bonnet.

My second seven is painted and it is a pure joy to clean.

 

S7MAD

[Petrolhead]

Andrew

 

Where can you buy Belgom?

 

Peter

[CHRIS CLARK]

Bought some stuff from a specialist polishing co. at the Stonleigh show. The results on the stand looked good (but they would wouldn't they!). Intend to use it on the exhaust guard so we'll see what happens!!!

 

Co. name is M. Farrant (Alloy Polishing Services), Unit 10, Drakes Holdings, Ferry Road, Fiskerton, Lincoln, LN3 4HU tel:- 01522 753071.

 

They do mail order too!

[Andrew Russell]

Peter,

I used to obtain it mail order from a firm called CETEM Polishing Supplies, located in the West Midlands. I understand that they may recently have folded and I do not have their contact number with me at the office, in any event.

 

I have more recently purchased Belgom from a motor cycle chain store known as M & P Motorcycles. I'm lucky because they have a store in York, but they have shops around the country and do mail order.

 

If you have any problems getting hold of it, post again and I will give you some contact numbers.Again, don't have them with me at work!!

 

Malcolm, nice to hear from you on this forum.......I would agree that a painted car is much easier to keep clean and probably encourages more regular use too, but I do so like the look of polished ally!!

 

Andrew.

[elie boone]

If i polish ali. i degrease it first with thinner for paint and then start to polish.The key is to work with a clean rag all the time because when your rag gets black it has no effect any more or get a beer and see how the family is polishing. wink.gif

 

 

 

[Richard_E]

I have just tried metal polish from AutoGlym and it work great. It about £3.75 for a 75g tube. wink.gif

[Simon Horan]

Having the mechanical prowess of a housebrick, cleaning it is one of the few jobs I can do and have spent some retentive time in the colder months trying all the different variants.

 

Its a s**t job, Belgom is the best, elbow grease the only real answer.

 

Plastic Diesel gloves from petrol stations go some way to excluding you from the black hand gang.

 

Simon

Q 602 DPG

[cskip]

I use Autoglym (the paste) and it works a treat, but you do have to keep polishing.

 

I tried using a drill with an attachment, but I managed to burn out two drills! So I reverted to good old elbow grease.

 

Looks like the Dogs Bits when it's done!

 

Clive.

[greg]

The black hands I can cope with.

 

Its the time .....

 

My car is outside, and has been rained on, and a flock of birds have s**t all over the hood, plus some blossom - it looks great - not !

 

I'll give it a clean at the weekend, and try the cordless drill I brought (with attachment!) - this car is costing me a fortune in time and money ! - but I'll have a go with some of the tips.

 

Thanks for the tips !

 

Greg, Q 880 RAE (Green/Ali XF)

[elie boone]

Another factor with polishing ali. is temperature, the hotter it gets the easy'er you can polish the ali. cool.gif

 

 

[CHRIS CLARK]

Well, have tried a quick whizz with the products mentioned earlier by moi in the thread. Great results on the ali exhaust shield which was getting v. tatty. Half an hours work. Sunglasses req. now!!!

[JP]

I' ve found a way to reduce the elbow grease component of the process. When using Autosol, I do not aim for a gleaming finish immediately (the elbow grease bit). After getting most of the polish off, I use a coat of top polish (Autoglym Extra Gloss seems to work and is easy to apply). When I polish this layer off it seems to bring the remaining Autosol with it. The car also retains shine and beading for longer.

 

Hope this is off help,

 

James.

[greg]

I tried again at the weekend, the cordless drill helped, but you have to press hard and the drill did not like that !

 

I agree that a quick go with some polish, do get it extra shinny, then apply some more polish, and then go for the shinny finish is less elbo intensive, if a little less economical on the polish! Once the stuff goes black and hard / no longer moist it's hard to remove without working at it. The secound application helps alot in that case.

 

Greg, Q 880 RAE (Green/Ali XF)