Bernard,
It is likely that the coating to which you refer is an anodized finish
which is done on polished aluminum to add luster and protection against
dulling. Unfortunately, rock chips eat away at the finish and
ultimately it will turn dull in those spots.
I don't know if this process can be applied to old parts, but it is
worth checking into! Let me know what you find out!
Joe
Bernard Christian-Woodruff wrote:
>
> I recently found out that my '69 Spit would originally have had an
> aluminium radiator grille rather than the black plastic one that it now
> has. After a lot of searching, I eventually got one from a breakers yard,
> but the grille has a lot of paint on it and needs cleaning up. There
> appears to be three coats on the grille before I hit pure aluminium. The
> first is a badly applied coat of red, I guess from a cheap re-spray gone
> wrong. The second is black - this could be original as the aluminium
> grilles were painted black just prior to the introduction of the plastic
> ones. The third layer is what is confusing me. It is shiny silver and
> polishes very brightly (I would say it is not paint). This must be
> original. The problem is that 50% of this has been worn off and I cannot
> polish the pure aluminium to the same quality of shine!! The question -
> does anyone know what this layer is and how I can go about resotring it
> to its former glory??
>
> Thanks!
>
> Bernard Christian-Woodruff '69 Spit & GT6+
--
"If you can't excel with talent, triumph with effort."
-- Dave Weinbaum in National Enquirer
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