Aluminum Panel Refinishing

[Akimbeau]

Along with some rust abatement, I'm planning to refinish the aluminum panels in the engine compartment. What process would be recommended to get rid of some light corrosion and give me the original finish? Sandpaper? Steel wool? Has anyone used a clear sealer of any kind they were happy with?

Kim

[427Larry]

Use a Maroon ScotchBrite Pad with WD40, the WD40 has fish oil in it. Try to follow the original grain pattern direction in as long a strokes as you can, wipe off any excess WD40 when you are done, do not remove all of the WD40 as it helps to protect it and will help it look more original as time goes on. You can use 180 grit Sandpaper to get out any deep scratches, then go back over it with the Scotchbrite Pad with WD40. You may want to fold your Scotchbrite in half or use a sanding sponge behind it or a block depending on what you are doing. This will get you as close as you can get to the original finish, but not exactly, as time goes on they will look more original. I was told there is no way to restore the panels to exactly like original. I was also told this is way to do it by Renowned Cobra Restorer Dave Wagner. I actually just did the Engine Compartment Panels in my early Kirkham and they turned out great, but I will tell you it takes sometime to getting the pattern right especially on the long runs. Hope this helps.

[MOTORHEAD]

Ditto the above.

[HTM101]

Its helpful to use a straight-edge as a guide while scuffing back and forth with the piece of Scotchbrite. Something softer than the alloy, such as a scrap piece of wood; a half-round, a 1"x1", even a scrap piece of baseboard. The results are more uniform as in this trunk.

There are a few more shots in the Trunk Album.

[DanEC]

I coated my panels with Sharkhide when I assembled my car but at this time I would not recommend that you try any type of protective coating. Sharkhide is difficult and tricky to apply and doing so in a finished car would be nearly impossible. I would concentrate on finding a method of polishing the panels out as suggested above and that you are happy with the results of - and stick with that.

[krausewich]

Nice advice above. I would not recommend going as low as 180 grit though. Even 220 may be a bit much. A fresh piece of 400 will do a great job for a bit. Work your corrosion areas lightly with the paper on a sanding block to remove it the best you can. work the AREA, not just the spot, otherwise you will end up with noticeable dimple in the panel. Then follow up with passes over the worked area to rough blend the grain, then full panel passes with fresh paper, and or scotchbrite to blend everything. OR hit the whole thing with some 800, then polish it up : ) Good luck !!

[davids2toys]

Not that I have tried this on the Cobra, but other aluminum I have, including my job.
I would do as above but finish it off with the WHITE Scotchbrite. It is a great polisher

[Akimbeau]

Thanks everybody for the GREAT advice! Knowing the right way to do something ahead of time, gives me the confidence I need to tackle the job. Much appreciated!!

Kim

[Akimbeau]

An update on my refinishing. I started with a panel in the trunk and used the Maroon scotchBrite pad. It was quite a chore to get thru the light corrosion the panel had and give it a uniform finish. I had an idea to make it easier, and as a test, I put my palm sander on top of the Maroon pad and it made very fast work of getting rid of the corrosion. I worked the sander in straight lines, just as I had done when hand sanding. As was expected, it left some very small circular marks along with the straight line marks but with just a few additional hand sanding strokes they went away. I'd say using the palm sander on the pad uses 25% the time and effort of just hand sanding...maybe even more! It'll make quick work of all the remaining panels.