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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Trim

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Posted By Discussion Topic: Trim     JohnA 02-06-2010 @ 12:46 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 281 Joined: Dec 2009 Whats the best way to polish stainless trim on my 48 2dr. I cant afford to pay to have it polished. so must do myself . IT has been removed from car. ford38v8 02-06-2010 @ 1:15 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 2764 Joined: Oct 2009 John, Ford's rustless steel is easy to work with. Dents can be tapped out from the opposite side, filed smooth, sanded with wet/dry, and buffed with jewelers rouge. Check with Eastwood for supplies. Alan deluxe40 02-06-2010 @ 8:07 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 413 Joined: Oct 2009 Be careful with the files. I quit using them in favor of a carborundum (sharpening) stone I got at the local tool supply. Files make deep scratches that take forever to sand out. After the stone I go to 320/360/400 sandpaper and then follow with a sisal wheel with medium compound and a final buff on a cotton wheel with fine compound (washing off the compound between steps). The Eastwood catalog has good descriptions. You can do this without their fancy buffing setups, but you do need some kind of a stationary buffing wheel. TomO 02-08-2010 @ 7:26 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7256 Joined: Oct 2009 You will need a bench grinder on a stand in order to get the clearance to move the trim pieces across the face of the wheels. If you have filed, sanded or have deep scratches (800 grit or coarser), you will need a sisal wheel and emery compound to start with. Then you can move to a spiral sewn cotton wheel with emery compound, another spiral sewn wheel with stainless compound and finally a spiral sewn wheel with rouge. The cotton buff with rouge leaves a glossier finish, much like chrome plating and can be used if you feel the need. Be aware that as you progress from the sisal to the spiral sewn wheel, you may find some scratches that require you to go back to the sisal wheel. This will continue throughout the process and the higher the shine required, the more back and forth is needed. There is always the danger of the wheel catching the piece, forcibly removing it from your grasp and bending, nicking or destroying the piece. Wear leather gloves as the work piece gets quite hot and try to keep the work piece just under the center of the wheel. Do not expose any sharp edges to the wheel and allow the wheel and compound to do the work. Excess pressure increases the chance of having the wheel grab the piece. Tom supereal 02-08-2010 @ 10:03 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 We polish trim by chucking the wheels in our drill press, and run it at high speed. This gives a lot of room to manipulate long pieces that a bench grinder may not afford. Only original trim usually buffs well, as the repro type is very thin, and will be tied into knot if it catches the wheel. In addition to the other cautions, wear safety glasses, as buffing wheels throw off lots of particles as they wear. jerry.grayson 02-09-2010 @ 7:06 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 128 Joined: Oct 2009 I have a buffing wheel, but seldom use it as the risk of catching a small piece of stainless and destroying it are pretty high. It will also hurt you if you are not very careful.(Don't ask me how I know). I found a better way to polish stainless strips that are used on our cars. After you have tapped out the small dents and worked them with 120 sandpaper, go to increasing fine paper until things look pretty good then use Micro-Mesh finishing paper starting with 1500 then ending up with 12000.Micro-Mesh finishing abrasives are used to polish aircraft instrument faces. Stainless is pretty soft and this method goes pretty fast and easy. Micro-Surface finishing products 319-732-3240 rdt52flthd 02-13-2010 @ 3:10 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 46 Joined: Feb 2010 Bench grinders are not suitable for polishing stainless steel because they turn too slowly. You need a buffing machine turning about 3200 rpm. All the cautions listed are excellent advice because you CAN get hurt. Patience is a necessity, take your time. supereal 02-14-2010 @ 9:54 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 That is why we use a drill press to spin the buffing wheels. By placing the wheels in a horizontal position, you can buff long pieces. In a bench grinder, the buffing must be across the pieces, resulting in poor results, and increases the likelihood that the piece will be damaged by catching the wheel. It takes at least three grades of wheels and compound to produce a near mirror finish, and plenty of time. If you press the piece against the wheels too hard, damage is the usual result.

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