Restoring Dart side trim...??

[dusterdoug]

Although I'm not fond of it, (I'm NOT welding up the holes) I need to restore the side trim for a 69 Dart Custom 2-door.

What's safe to blast the black paint off? Soda ash? Glass bead??

Any type of special hammer you'd use to "massage" the small dings???

Lastly, what does one polish with to bring it back?

Thanks!

 

[pntastar69]

I believe the trim was anodized so if you media blast it, you'll remove the anodization. You can glass bead them and just polish them periodically or clean them up and have them reanodized.

Just strip the paint off or use some solvent and rub it off. Can't be much left after all those years.

 

[FASTBACK340]

Google Aluminum & Stainless Steel Polishing or pick up Jeff Lily's book on trim restoration. I've been fooling around practicing polishing trim and if your good at details and have patience, you can do it. I just did an extra grill shell for a `68 Barracuda and I got some VERY encouraging results.

As for stripping the anodizing, use either a solution of Lye in warm water, or use Easy-Off oven cleaner. Let it set for a few minutes and the trim will turn a milky-whiteish color when the anodizing is removed. Wash thoroughly with warm water and make sure you wear GLOVES & GOGGLES. Then I use some small trim and body work hammers to bump out the dents. Small chunks of hard wood ground down into useful shapes for your application are great cheap tools too, just tap carefully so they don't splinter too quickly. Deep dents/gouges require tapping out and sanding the high points in the metal like body work to get it level. Then polish in progressively finer grits sandpaper up to 600 (or finer...) sandpaper. Then you can start with the metal polishing rouge and a high-speed buffer. I've been using a hand-held air tool for polishing with a small kit I bought from Eastwood. The correct way is with a free standing bench polisher with long arbor shafts so you can get good reach. For really small or tight areas your going to need a small flex-shaft type of polishing head similar to a Dremel tool. Once polished, you can use a product such as Zoop, which is almost $100.... or you might be able to clear-coat it. Best yet is finding a place to anodize to permenently seal the finish, or your going to be keeping up with raw aluminum to maintain and keep polished, which is not a big deal, just more work.

For what an out fit like All-Trim charges for trim repair, I figure I can invest a couple of hundred dollars for the tools and try myself. A good Baldor buffer will cost about $300.... one from Sears about $100. You need at least 3/4 HP and speed of about 3,400 RPM. The various polishing rouge's and buffer wheels in the correct materials about another $75.

Again, these are very broad strokes leaving a million details out, but it CAN be done at home. And the results I got doing a half-assed job was fantastic. I'll snap a few pictures of what I've done and post after work. This forum might be helpful too:

http://forum.caswellplating.com/

Go for it!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[homecloned]

Glad to hear you recieved the trim Doug. Follow what FASTBACK said and you are in buisness.
I scored a piece of trunk trim that I have been working on.
I am still massaging it but you get the idea.
There are more pics in my restoration thread.

 

[dusterdoug]

Hey, Homecloned...yea got the trim. Was actually better than I expected for the price. THANK YOU!!

Fastback, that's almost a term paper! I appreicate it.

Should have thought about the tapping blocks myself. Shaped a block into a V, and with a light strike took out a dinger right on the crease. Can't even tell it was there!

 

[FASTBACK340]

Hey, Homecloned...yea got the trim. Was actually better than I expected for the price. THANK YOU!!

Fastback, that's almost a term paper! I appreicate it.

Should have thought about the tapping blocks myself. Shaped a block into a V, and with a light strike took out a dinger right on the crease. Can't even tell it was there!

Yeah.... I've been known to do a how-to story from time to time as I photograph everything I try. Whenever I try something and succeed, I share. Even when I don't succeed, I still share...usually along with a good laugh. :-D

I have the grille shell at work and have been fooling around with it in my spare time. I also found a way to replace those damn mounting studs that always snap on the Barracuda grilles, but that's a story for another thread..... Here's a few pictures.

This is the inexpensive polishing kit I bought. Cost something like $20 or so.

These are the hammers I have. I found these at a Model Car show on Long Island. You can probably find them at one of the tool vendors you find at flea markets and car shows that sell EVERYTHING.... ever made in Vietnam or China. I think they cost me $4 for the both of them. They are approx. 9" long. I also use small ball peen hammers with wooden bucks. I also back up the trim with wood when working on them.

This is the upper section of a passenger side grill for a `68 B`cuda. Although it wasn't too bad, the finish is what's really encouraging me.

Here's the lower section after straightening, polishing, and spraying the light silver argent.

These are a ***** to do because EVERYTHING is riveted together and must be separated to do a good job. I'm still searching for a source of 1/8" X 1/16" rivets that have the round head and collapsible end that get's hammered or pressed closed. If anyone knows where to get them, please hit me up.....

What I posted above was done with a hand held high speed air tool not really designed to do polishing. With the bench buffer (which I have to buy as it never made it into Santa's sled....) I should be able to improve on that finish. Another piece of advice is to tape flat, long pieces of trim to a sturdy piece of wood. The buffer will snatch it out of your hand and either shoot it across the work space, bend it in half, or harpoon you. None of those options are cool. BE CAREFUL and good luck.