Kramer79
Well-Known Member
Thanks to Mopar Dan I have replaced my two dented wheel well trim pieces. I assume these are aluminum - i tried vinegar and steel wool, any suggestions on how to rebrighten the trip?
Aluminum trip
- Thread starter Kramer79
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Aspen500
Well-Known Member
You can't really brighten it up. They are aluminum but are clear anodized over a "bright dip" type of coating. The only way to get it bright and shiny again is to strip the anodizing and bright dip off and then polish the bare aluminum. Problem with that is it then needs constant care and polishing or it starts to turn dull and whitish fairly quick. I stripped and buffed all the window trim on my Aspen, and I need to use a polish (I use Griot's Garage Metal Polish) every couple months, and it spends 95% of it's life indoors. I tried an aluminum protectant (like Zoop Seal) but it didn't really seem to help much.
I know, way more information than you wanted to know.
I know, way more information than you wanted to know.
Kramer79
Well-Known Member
Thanks, I think I may just roll with it! It’s not like it’s a rust free wagon so I can’t get too crazy… yet!
MoparDan
Well-Known Member
I really thought the chrome would polish up fine but i guess i was wrong. I got the windshield trim (still haven't put it on) from it and polished it with some Never-Dull but it didn't really do much. The strange thing is the bumpers and the grill are shiny, so go figure
383scuda
Well-Known Member
As stated earlier, that is a Bright Anodize finish. Anodize is very hard and can not be polished. As far as I know, the only place to get those redone is King of Trim. They restore and redo Bright Dip Anodize. My Super Coupe has colored anodize trim from the factory. It needs to be redone. I assume it will cost a fortune.
volare 1977
Well-Known Member
You can strip it, polish it and then clear coat it. I done it to some small trim before. It is a lot of work and is also very easy to damage if using a buffer wheel. It will look more shiny the the originals too.
Oldiron440
Well-Known Member
You can strip the anodizing off with oven cleaner.
Aspen500
Well-Known Member
It has to be real oven cleaner, not the "no fumes" tree hugger stuff. I looked into getting my trim bright dipped and anodized about 15 years ago and,,,,,,,,,,,,my wallet told me no, and I'm sure the price hasn't gone down since then. Maybe someday when I get tired of polishing it every couple months. Besides that, it scratches if you even look at it wrong.
jasperjacko
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could it be chromed?
Aspen500
Well-Known Member
I don't know for sure. Maybe there's a process that could be used but, every aluminum thing I've seen that's chrome plated starts to peel off after a few years. Chrome aluminum wheels especially like to peel in big, sharp, finger slicing chunks. From what I understand, copper and/or nickel won't stick to aluminum, and without those, the chromium won't stay on either. I did run across some chrome aluminum trim quite few years ago, and half the plating had fallen off. IIRC it was on an early '90's Audi.
Hehe, chrome, in general, likes to do this. It might even be what is used for "razor wire" (maybe).
I would agree, Aluminum and many other metallic items can be chromed - but all in all, do not take it well.
My wife's minivan has "chrome clad" aluminum wheels on it and I wondered how they got the chrome to stay on it.
These wheels sure look fancy when clean (when dirty - um, not so much). The one in this picture is dirty.
What Chrysler did to this wheel is a (more or less) rough cast aluminum wheel with a thick chromed plastic piece snapped onto it. Most (except for a tiny lip at tire) of what you see here is plastic.
One nice thing about when chrome bumpers stopped being installed on new cars - is less chrome finger cuts after getting a bent bumper.
Working with chrome can be a dicey (sic), more often than not.
BudW
