advice for restoring A body aluminum trim- In the Pacific Northwest

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Fishing68

Fishing68

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Hello to all of you in fabo land. I have a Plymouth a-body that I wold like advice on restoring the aluminum trim. I believe the best route would be to find a local craftsman but not opposed to trying to hone my skills in order to do the work myself. Does anyone have a good trim restoration source in the PNW? Thanks -Aaron
(PNW= Pacific North West USA aka for those outside of the area "somewhere up theres near A laska ;)
 
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"Subscribed"... Whaaa the heck?...
My vashon Island brotha what is it that you are trying to tell me?...
It is Friday night so a random keystroke while tipping back a refreshing beverage is of course going to be forgiven... after all the PNW Mopar crowd is thin enough that one might just burst with enthusiasm when coming across another local members post ;)
 
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I need some trim worked too. By replying to your post, I'm "subscribed", meaning whenever anybody else posts on your thread, I get a notice so I can share in the advice that you get... My current project is a complete resto with upgrades on a 70 Dart GT.
 
anyone have a referral?... heck I can ship across he country if necessary but scared to death of the treatment the shippers give the packages. (and this from someone who worked for UPS some 30 years ago.... -wow... how did I get this old? I always thought I would be dust at half this age -lol)
 
st12-340- It may be just you and me up her in the woods -lol.
I have a plan... how about I buy a buffing wheel and you send me your trim ;)
...that way by the time your pieces are 'done' I will be ready to rework mine- lol.
OK maybe back to the original plan to find a skilled craftsman...
Anyone?
 
Demonic -Thanks... books are great. but reading a book does not make you proficient at a craft... trying to avoid the trial by error apprach. especially since my Vashon brotha has not agreed to loan me his trim to practice on ;)
 
Keep in mind that some of the trim is stainless steel, some bright anodized aluminum, some chromed pot metal.

I too would love to find a component trim restoration shop.
 
King of Trim in Pacoima California (San Fernando Valley) has been around a long time and has a good reputation. kingoftrim.com is their web site. It’s worth a look.
 
My main focus is on the aluminum restoration although it would be good to have leads for stainless, aluminum and pot metal (chrome) restorers in this area.
 
Fishing68 said:
Hello to all of you in fabo land. I have a Plymouth a-body that I wold like advice on restoring the aluminum trim. I believe the best route would be to find a local craftsman but not opposed to trying to hone my skills in order to do the work myself. Does anyone have a good trim restoration source in the PNW? Thanks -Aaron
(PNW= Pacific North West USA aka for those outside of the area "somewhere up theres near A laska ;)
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First things first... What is your definition of "restoring" the trim? How nice are you wanting it? I restored 99% of the trim on my Duster build, but (there's always a but...) if you look close enough you might barely see where I popped put a dent or ding. For me, it's okay... I saved the original trim and some money too. I'm not sure what year your car is, but a lot of trim pieces are available aftermarket now.

See page 4, post #79 for an example.

'70 Duster - First MOPAR Build

If you want to give it a go, pick up a decent buffing wheel ($75-$125), get 4 or 5 rouges AND a dedicated wheel for each ($50), at least one trim/body hammer ($15) and Eastwood has a trim anvil ($20).

So, for around $150 you can set yourself up for success. Compare that to hundreds of $$$ paying a specialist to do tue work, or buying new trim altogether.

If you have a piece that is too far gone to save, there are a bunch of members here that have stashes of trim just waiting to be sent to the PNW.

Hit a junkyard and grab some trim from an old Lincoln or Imperial. Teach yourself and never look back!

Good luck.
 
thanks for the reply jonn6464. I am a control freak but know my limits... I am not sure I have the patience to learn the techniques but you are presenting a persuasive case. I may have to break down and find some spare trim to 'experiment' with and see what damage I can do trying to do a piece myself.

-I am not looking for perfect but I am a fan of restoring to factory original- so it is not only the straightening and polishing that I am interested in but also the anodizing for example. Would be good to find someone who has all in house. I learned at the age of 12 that I could buy my dream bike one component at a time but that I would be far better off if I did it as a complete bike instead- the package is usually more cost effective... And often saving a buck doing part of the work is not a real savings when you have to send it out to do the refinishing steps that require specialty chemicals/processes (anodizing etc)
 
an aside- should I be concerned that the ads in the margin of fabo are real estate ads for retirement communities -lol. I am 52 and feel way too young to be shopping for a retirement home. Perhaps this is my denial/early onset of age related cognitive challenges -hmmm lol
 
Fishing68 said:
an aside- should I be concerned that the ads in the margin of fabo are real estate ads for retirement communities -lol. I am 52 and feel way too young to be shopping for a retirement home. Perhaps this is my denial/early onset of age related cognitive challenges -hmmm lol
Click to expand...

Gold Members do not see those. Like other sites, those sites are based on what your computer has seen. When @Ben Drinkin lets his gold member expire, or if it already has, he will see **** ads. lol
 
Aaron I do not know of any shops up here in the swamp, I do have a few random trim pieces I would donate to your learning escapade - let me know

several years ago I had a buddy who bought a Craftsman buffer and a few different polishes - with plenty of patience he turned some ugly things into what looked like art - PATIENCE was key, and probably determination
 
What car are you working on here in the PNW? There’s enough cars, people and wrecking yards that you could get nice used trim. Or, you could set up shop and be the go-to guy here. A lot of the aluminum parts have a protective coating called bright-dip which needs to be stripped off before you can start restoring the trim. Then you’ll have to protect your newly polished pieces clear or something.
 
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