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ALU SIDE PANELS
colibriman - 28/8/03 at 09:06 PM

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY OF FINSHING THE ALI ...CAN I LACQUER(IS THAT HOW YOU SPELL IT) THE BARE ALI ?...OR DO I LEAVE IT BARE AND POLISH IT..MY PANELS ARE SHAPED AND NOT FITTED YET.IF I LAQUER THEM ILL HAVE TO DO IT NOW...WILL THE LACQUER CRACK AS THE ALI FLEXES DURING FITTING

Stu16v - 28/8/03 at 09:52 PM

Leave it bare and polish it occaisionally. Laquering could be prone to cracking, if not now, later on in the cars life. The pain of polishing will be far less than trying to clean the laquer off......


HTH Stu.

P.s. No need to SHOUT dude

Fozzie - 29/8/03 at 09:58 AM

Totally agree with the above! Yes it is hard work, and currently testing products to see which one is easier- none so far, all bl**dy hard work, but the end result is worth it.

ATB Fozzie

Mark Allanson - 29/8/03 at 01:22 PM

Farecla G3, should bring it up with virtually no effort

pbura - 29/8/03 at 02:38 PM

How about "bearding" on inside panels? Anyone ever had a problem with that?

Sometimes I think I'd like to paint the car to keep the maintenance simple. But then again, how many shiny ally cars do you see (esp. in the USA)? Also, that shiny butt is the best crash protection I can think of!

Pete

colibriman - 30/8/03 at 11:04 PM

thanks guys...
appreciate that..ill go with that...

glad to save a lot of wasted effort.......

what is....farecia g3...and wher can i get it...ive never heard of it....l

cheers again
colin

Stu16v - 30/8/03 at 11:36 PM

quote:

what is....farecia g3


Farecla G3 is a 'rubbing compound' used in the auto body repair industry. It is a bit like T-cut, only better. G3 is the grade of 'cut' or abrasion, you can get really fine compound, to very coarse stuff.

P.s. I tried FarcelaG3, and found it to be good, but for a 'real' shine it needs finishing with a good metal polish. If you want a good shine for the least effort, it is the way to go, as metal polish on it's own doesnt have the abrasion to get the imperfections out of the ali. Or dont be too fussy with the first polish. With regular polishing, the finish will get better and better.
Tip, when wiping off the black residue that comes with polishing ali, dip the polishing rag in some flour first. The crap just wipes off a doddle (relatively speaking.....)

colibriman - 2/9/03 at 07:30 PM

cheers buddy..
cant get a more precise and info filled answer than that..

unless...you had offered to polish it for me...haha

thekafer - 11/9/03 at 05:10 AM

There's a product in the states called "Zoop Seal" that is made to keep polished aluminum from oxidizing.It's the bomb!You polish the ali,clean the wax off with the cleaner supplied with the kit,mix the catalyst with the other bit(you must let it steep for 2hrs before applying)and apply it with the little foam thingy they supply.

It then takes 8hrs to cure.

This sounds like a lot of work,but after you've polished a whole car it wont.

I've used this stuff on some aircraft and they absolutely stay shiny(its been four years for two of them!).

It holds up to fuels and so forth but it's one weakness seems to really caustic detergents.

You'll spend a day and $40 doing this but you wont have to fret over it again for a long, long time.


Good luck!
Fletch

colibriman - 18/9/03 at 12:33 AM

thanks for that...ill look into it over here and see if i can trace it....