Alluminum care

[R_G]

OK, I got these alluminum diamond mesh mats in my car. After one year all the shine and luster faded away.



So I been looking arounf trying to find any car care product for alluminum. Couldn't find anything among my favorite Meguair's so I ended up using Mothers' Alluminum Polisher. I used a lot of 'elbow grease' and time and yet the results are pretty bad - there's this whitish/dull residue all over the surface.

Would appreciate any advice. Thanks.

[Mike Phillips]

Hi R_G,

Those aluminum matts look pretty cool!

A couple of things,

1) Being on the floor like that, they're going to take a lot of abuse, i.e they are going to always in a process of becoming duller and duller, not shinier and shinier. As such, Barry always say, "Frequent car care is easy car care", to this end, once you have them restored back to a clear, high shine finish, it will be easier to keep them that way if you polish them often.

2) If you plan on owning this car/aluminum floor matts for a long time, then I thing you should consider investing in a special tool made just for polishing aluminum. Reason being is it will take a lot of the work out of it. Somewhere around here I have a devices with a felt or wool polishing head in a cone shape attached to a flexible shaft, (a couple of feet long), that can be attached to a 3/4" drill. What you do with this tool is apply some aluminum polish to the buffing head and then lock your drill in the on position and the have at it.

It works better than your hand, especially for irregular surfaces, like diamond plate. It's also not too expensive to get into.

I'll see if I can dig up a name or a website.

Besides that, I would recommend All Metal Polish, using this with a piece of terry cloth towel and a little elbow grease and you should be able to restore your aluminum to a brilliant high shine in no time.



You may need to locate a PBE store to find it and if they don't' have it in stock they can order it for you or you can order from Meguiar's direct.

Here's how to find a PBE store in your home town,

How to locate Meguiar’s Professional & Detailer products in your hometown

Mike

[R_G]

Thanks Mike. It's a pity I didn't find this Meguair's product, but I am gonna order one.

However, I did use a lot of elbow grease + time + strength + fine terry cloth and the result is still negative. I am not talking about scratches caused by normal wear and tear + the location of the floor mats. I am talking about some nasty residue and lack of shine altogether. Maybe the raised texture of the diamond mesh simply doesn't enable thorough buffing?

[drag_slick]

I've had good luck with a buffing wheel on a drill and some brown jeweler's rouge. After that hit it with some Meg's polish and they should shine up nice.

Just remember, use light pressure, let the buffing wheel and the compound do the work.

Jamie

[Mike Phillips]

Quick question R_G,

Did you buy these? or have them made?

I'm wondering if they have been anodized?

If they have, then you will not be able to restore the shine until you have them de-anodized.

Mike

[Bill D]

I'm rather impressed with All Metal Polish. In addition to a PBE store I also saw it in boating supply store. The real question is how does NXT metal polish measure up to it?

[R_G]

Originally posted by Mike Phillips
Quick question R_G,

Did you buy these? or have them made?

I'm wondering if they have been anodized?

If they have, then you will not be able to restore the shine until you have them de-anodized.

Mike

"Vitek floor mats, made of polished aluminum diamond plate, are a unique new style."

However, Mike u guessed it right on the money - when I went back to the detailed description - that's what I found:

"Vitek diamond plated floor mats are made of tungsten aluminum and are extremely durable. The standard finish is chrome, however, we also offer them in 5 colors using Vitek's own Colortech anodizing process. This process combines anodizing into the powder coating process, which allows the product to bend without chipping or cracking. It is then followed by a triple clearcoat finish, which will last and last."

[Mike Phillips]

Touché

Been there done that... on my friends drag boat, Tequila Sunrise, this was a Runner Bottom Sanger V-Drive Drag boat and the builder had all of the aluminum anodized.

Take my word for it, it's not worth the expense and money involved in having them de-anodized, then polished, and then re-anodized.

Have you ever seen these one's with Yosemite Sam on them? They real cool!



Mike

[Rick]

Ok playing devils advocate here. Since the mats are anodized and can't be polished up easily wouldn't it be fairly easy to buy some alluminum diamond plate and make your own now that you already have a template on hand? You probably wouldn't need anything more than a scroll saw or some good snips to cut the diamond plate (depending on thickness) and maybe a couple 2X4's and some C clamps to make the bend. If you had access you could get creative and use a sheet metal brake too. Then your best bet would be to put a high polish on them (using buffing rouge, no wax) and have them clear coated. That should last you a while. Thoughts?

[R_G]

Hmmmm.... why can't I put the buffing rouge and clearcoat my existing ones???

[Rick]

You'd have to get through the anodization first in order to be able to polish the alluminum. The clear would be to slow down the alluminums natural oxidation process, though it would probably be scratched from your feet being on it.