Vintage Skateboard Truck Restoration

[mxman]

I haven't visited the forums since 2004! I still use Meguiar's products every month though! So this might be a bit off topic but I am doing a restoration on a pair of aged skateboard vintage trucks. (My new expensive hobby)

So first I wanted to clean them and maybe go for the end result seen in the photos here. (Not my exact trucks but good for reference)

Here is what the guy said about how he did it:

I spent a lot of time removing them as well as the casting texture. Once the hard part is done comes the very time-consuming task of all, and that is the polishing portion using various grits. All done by hand!! No machines were used in the procedures.

This is nice and all but it doesn't give me any helpful information plus I don't mind using machine (i don't have anything around house though)
The hardware is easily replaceable but the trucks themselves need work.

...any tutorials, or product ideas would be GREATLY appreciated!


BEFORE & AFTER (not same truck though)

[willhawk]

Re: Vintage Skateboard Truck Restoration

The trucks are aluminum so you might want to start off with Hot Rims Aluminum/Mag Polish. If that doesn't satisfy you then you can move on to the sanding/grinding. If you sand start off with 150 grit and work you way up.


Are you going to be using these trucks? If these trucks are ever going to be used in the future then why restore them. It would be like sanding fire wood.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Vintage Skateboard Truck Restoration

Maybe check into a Dremel or a similar hand held tool and look to see if any kind of felt or other cloth buffing pad is available for it. You could always do a test spot using whatever metal polish you already have in your arsenal and see how the metal reacts with little polishing.

If a little polishing improves the surface a little bit then usually a lot of polishing will make a big improvement. If your test spot doesn't make much an improvement then you'll know you're going to need to do something different.

Some types of metals don't polish out like chrome even the after photos you posted don't show brilliance, just a uniform clean look even though they were polished.

[TRIPOWER1]

Re: Vintage Skateboard Truck Restoration

What brand are those trucks?

[mxman]

Re: Vintage Skateboard Truck Restoration

So regular sand paper is fine, I don't have to do anything special or apply a liquid/polish to it right?

I have a dremmel in the states but I am in Japan now (many, many race type cars) - i'll see if my neighbor or woodshop has one.

Thanks guys and especially thank you Mike, looks like you are still devoted to being the most helpful guy here! I alway saw your av with a blue reflection and a little blue and yellow toy looking back...but can't remember too well!


PS: trucks are TRACKER

[mxman]

Re: Vintage Skateboard Truck Restoration

Got an email back, here is one suggestion.

To simply clean the trucks I just use warm water in a sink of dishsoap. Use a steel wool pad soaked in the dishsoap and keep wet. You must use #0000 steel wool only as anything less than that would scratch. Try to go in one direction only as criss-crossing doesn't have satisfactory results. A soapy toothbrush works good for the lettering. Don't use aluminum polish as that gets stuck in the pores of the texture. If you want to remove the texture you're in for a lot of work. It takes me about 6-8 hours per hanger, but if you do it right and don't rush it, they look awesome. If you decide to try it let me know and I'll tell you how I do it. But once you start there's no going back.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Vintage Skateboard Truck Restoration

I alway saw your av with a blue reflection and a little blue and yellow toy looking back...but can't remember too well!

This one?


That was a Lego Man Key Chain reflecting off the worn spot of my trusty dusty Makita Buffer

[mxman]

Re: Vintage Skateboard Truck Restoration

To get a smooth texture-free surface and to remove scratches, I dry sand with 80
grit followed by 120# and 150# and graduate to wet sanding from 180# to 600#. You
got to be very careful when using the rough grits as you can ruin the shape and
round off the edges. I only use aluminum polish when the surface is smooth and all
sanding is finished.

Here is another suggestion for polishing trucks..

I decided to go with 600 grit wet sanding and work my way up to 2000

I tried to keep the edges sharp and only sanded one direction.

However, so far it looks OK. There are numerous pit holes that I think can not be sanded out without creating new ones (poor casting)

My question is, are the inconsistencies in medal due to not sanding enough? I only lightly worked my way up to 2000 in about one hours time so I am thinking that I will work my way back down again and then back up?

I am also wondering if I should skip straight to aluminum polishing or wait and sand first.

Let me know after looking at these High Res pics:

[mxman]

Re: Vintage Skateboard Truck Restoration

bump

[TH0001]

Re: Vintage Skateboard Truck Restoration

No, those pits are not from you.

You could try micro-abrasives sand paper, it is very sharp as in 1800 microabrasive = maybe 800 grit of normal paper. They also go all the way up to 8000 grit, which will shine metal very nicely. I don't like using their paper on paint (stick with uni-grit for this).

When your done, if you want the best shine you might want to dry something like a dedicated metal bar (Tripoli Rouge followed by Jewellers Rouge) from Caswell.