Triumphrat

10drum · 03-20-2009, 04:57 PM

Greetings,

What is the best way to polish the aluminum covers on '60s Triumphs.

Thanks for all replies.

psasak · 03-20-2009, 05:33 PM

I've been using some stuff from a company called "California Customs" - a 2 part system. The first part is an aluminum de-oxidizer, then the second part is a mild abrasive. It works great! After polishing, the shine lasts for weeks. This is what my cases look like after treatment - without using anything else:

Tiger Dale · 03-20-2009, 05:43 PM

psasak,

Did you just use elbow grease or mechanics of some type?

TD

Rathlindri · 03-20-2009, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by psasak

I've been using some stuff from a company called "California Customs" - a 2 part system. The first part is an aluminum de-oxidizer, then the second part is a mild abrasive. It works great! After polishing, the shine lasts for weeks. This is what my cases look like after treatment - without using anything else:

Just fantastic looking 'bike....lovely

GrandPaulZ · 03-21-2009, 12:11 AM

That's pretty sharp looking, but surely it was already fairly clean and not stained at all when you started?

psasak · 03-21-2009, 12:36 AM

This is what it looked like when I got it:

the cases were stained, corroded and grease-laden, but - apart from the scrapes and scratches, they look great!

All it took was some elbow grease with the earlier-mentioned products. I'm sure there are other ways to get the same effects - I'm only saying what worked for me.

GrandPaulZ · 03-21-2009, 12:47 AM

WOW!

it worked allright!

bushybester · 03-21-2009, 04:31 AM

I might have missed something. Did you use a buffer of some sort? Could you name and put a photo of the product and show how you did the polishing please.

One is always looking for something that works better and quicker.

Snakeoil · 03-21-2009, 11:50 AM

You could probably have the same results and with minimal effort using Aluminum Jelly to clean and then Mothers or one of the other aluminum polishes to polish. I have used both Flitz and Simichrome to polish alum in the past and the shine seems to last a lot longer. Both claim to leave some kind of protective finish behind that maintains the quality of the case shine.

I used Aluminum Jelly years ago on a set of nasty looking Boranni rims that were on a Guzzi Ambassador. Jelly cleaned them up nice. I hit them with 0000 steel wool and they looked like new again.

Be careful with some of the engine cleaners/degreasers if you start with cleaning the engine. The ones that are blue detergent, similiar to Wesley's White Wall cleaner will etch the aluminum. I actually did etch an aluminum wheel on a car once trying to get the white letters on the tires nice and bright again. I hadn't noticed it ran down onto the wheel until it was too late.
regards,
Rob

psasak · 03-21-2009, 06:22 PM

http://www.californiacustom.com/alum...eoxidizer.html

http://www.californiacustom.com/purp...al_polish.html

These are the two products I've used with great success - and very little elbow grease.

the only time I've ever used a buffer was when I was taking out some deep scrapes or scratches in the aluminum - then I used finer and finer sandpaper, up to about 600 grit, then buff it out.

But with these two products, the only other thing I used was paper towels.