Polishing my tiny............car!
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Splat
- Posts: 461
- Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2011 5:12 am
Re: Polishing my tiny............car!
The only thing that I had to farm out was the gear lever gaiter, which was turned around in 24 hours by a local upholsterer. Hard, metal lined trim covers the carefully re-profiled lip of the bulkhead to prevent the fibreglass from chaffing through the vinyl. I hope that you like it.....
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Splat
- Posts: 461
- Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2011 5:12 am
Re: Polishing my tiny............car!
(You might have also noted that I polished the outer sills whilst I was about it!)
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Westfield 129
- Posts: 867
- Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2011 4:20 am
Re: Polishing my tiny............car!
'Looks lovely.
I have been doing the same to my car (inspired by others doing new interiors on their W11s) as the interior was very tired (being more than 30 years old) but I ran into a problem.
it is sunny here, and it gets hot. The polished alloy heats up while sitting in the sun, and it glares into the driver's eyes, usually when making left turns (into oncoming traffic here) and in the canyons. Also, the hot, exposed metal burns the elbows. 'Bad enough that the seat belt hardware gets too hot to handle. Now the rest of the car is like climbing into a hot frying pan if the car has been sitting in the sun for 10 minutes.
I am going to snap carpet back onto the side sills and the top of the tunnel. I will brush the rest of the alloy with a coarser wool to break the glare.
I found that a good quality aircraft spray-on paint stripper made short work of the carpet adhesive (mineral spirits removes any excess after light scraping with the putty knife. It took a lot less work than I expected), and fine steel wool worked perfectly on the aging alloy to bring back the shine. Too bad I have to undo most of it...
I still have to pull the carpet off the rear bulkhead, finish it in vinyl, and install the revised instrument panel (speedo on the passenger side, tach in front of the driver with the dual gauge).
I have been doing the same to my car (inspired by others doing new interiors on their W11s) as the interior was very tired (being more than 30 years old) but I ran into a problem.
it is sunny here, and it gets hot. The polished alloy heats up while sitting in the sun, and it glares into the driver's eyes, usually when making left turns (into oncoming traffic here) and in the canyons. Also, the hot, exposed metal burns the elbows. 'Bad enough that the seat belt hardware gets too hot to handle. Now the rest of the car is like climbing into a hot frying pan if the car has been sitting in the sun for 10 minutes.
I am going to snap carpet back onto the side sills and the top of the tunnel. I will brush the rest of the alloy with a coarser wool to break the glare.
I found that a good quality aircraft spray-on paint stripper made short work of the carpet adhesive (mineral spirits removes any excess after light scraping with the putty knife. It took a lot less work than I expected), and fine steel wool worked perfectly on the aging alloy to bring back the shine. Too bad I have to undo most of it...
I still have to pull the carpet off the rear bulkhead, finish it in vinyl, and install the revised instrument panel (speedo on the passenger side, tach in front of the driver with the dual gauge).
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jonclancy
- Posts: 943
- Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2011 9:30 pm
Re: Polishing my tiny............car!
Looks utterly fab, Si!
Can't wait to see her in the metal!
Can't wait to see her in the metal!
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Splat
- Posts: 461
- Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2011 5:12 am
Re: Polishing my tiny............car!
Cheers, both. To be honest, the polishing was bloody hard work. And unbelievably filthy too! The results are worth it, but I wouldn't like to have to do it again......
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jonclancy
- Posts: 943
- Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2011 9:30 pm
Re: Polishing my tiny............car!
I did my sills a little while ago and went through so much Autosol! Job lots are out there on eBay which helps!
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Westfield 129
- Posts: 867
- Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2011 4:20 am
Re: Polishing my tiny............car!
Rolite Polish is a far better product, and works much faster.
This is an aerospace product, used for polishing aircraft, as well as other specialized polishing requiring a smooth, highly reflective finish.
Use this with a good buffer, and you will find that you wont be using so much product or spending so much time.
I have used this for the last couple of decades (originally to polish an aircraft), replacing the Flitz polish that I used my Renault's aluminum and magnesium wheels.
The stuff is fast, and easy to use. If used with a buffer, it does the job quickly. Adding corn starch to the final polishing speeds up the process even more. I have used a single wheel random buffer, and the Cyclone double wheel random to do the polishing. I have also used a Mother's Powerball polisher to apply the Rolite to my alloy wheels, as it gets between the rim fasteners. I remove the polish by hand with a polishing cloth.
Prep your interior or exterior alloy sheets with fine steel wool or 2000 grit wet paper if they are not already polished. You will have a mirror finish.
This is an aerospace product, used for polishing aircraft, as well as other specialized polishing requiring a smooth, highly reflective finish.
Use this with a good buffer, and you will find that you wont be using so much product or spending so much time.
I have used this for the last couple of decades (originally to polish an aircraft), replacing the Flitz polish that I used my Renault's aluminum and magnesium wheels.
The stuff is fast, and easy to use. If used with a buffer, it does the job quickly. Adding corn starch to the final polishing speeds up the process even more. I have used a single wheel random buffer, and the Cyclone double wheel random to do the polishing. I have also used a Mother's Powerball polisher to apply the Rolite to my alloy wheels, as it gets between the rim fasteners. I remove the polish by hand with a polishing cloth.
Prep your interior or exterior alloy sheets with fine steel wool or 2000 grit wet paper if they are not already polished. You will have a mirror finish.