bright work?

[sgtjed]

what do you guys do to remove the scrathes on your bright work?
on my 70 the grill is really nice but has some sort of tarnish on it. any hints on how to remove the tarnish?

[70c10]

The tarnish is the factory anodizing. I had one polished to look like chrome from a guy here in Maryland. He does anything aluminum and does a great job.( www.starqwestrims.com) I think.

[bobs409]

If you want to fix it yourself, you first need to remove the anodizing. I've used oven cleaner but there are products to do this like: http://bluelightning.zoovy.com/product/ADPT

Once that has been removed, you can polish the part on a buffer. For deep scratches, you could file them out with a very fine file, then buff.

The only problem is that after all this, there will be no anodizing to protect the shine so you will have to polish (by hand) once in a while or have the part re-anodized.

[Randy70C-10]

Easy-off works great for removing the anodizing, Then you can wet-sand with 1500 grit paper, and polish with Wenol or Mothers. It takes a little elbow grease, and about a week for your fingerprints to grow back.

[694X4]

Could you spray it with clear coat when you where done polishing or would it not stick to the smooth surface?

[70c10]

It should stick after 1 or 2 tack coats applied first. Keep in mind that the front of the truck takes alot of road abuse and will start to chip after awhile. When it starts to oxidize under the clear you will have to strip and reclear.

[694X4]

That sounds like a pain!!! What does it cost to get it anodized and where would you go to get that done?

[bobs409]

Go to anyplace that rechromes parts.

Personally, the front grill surround on these trucks are so large, I opted to just buy a repro and avoid alot of work.

If your looking to dramatically improve the looks of your truck, there's nothing like a new grill surround and front bumper. From the front, you'll think it's 1969 all over again!

See the pic to the left
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[WORNBRAKES]

sgtjed, are you retired or active military? I am guessing Air Force. I think that is were brite work comes from.

[sgtjed]

hehehe darn how things just stick out! i have 9 years total air f force,4 of that was at hurlbert field florida at spec ops and 5 years in the oklahoma national guard. i have beena cop for 9 years hence the sgt part of my name.
i have always heard,from my dad and grandad of the mouldings and grill called brightwork.

back to the subject now,i dont want to spend the money for new as the one i have on the truck is fairly nice just dull. plus its a driver not for showin at car shows,so i just want it to look nice.

[Mandrake]

I was wondering about polishing the stainless on the truck. I've seen those kits at Harbour Freight Tools, it has a polishing pad for your drill motor and 2 different sticks of polish or rubbing compound(?) one is white & the other stick is brown, what is the difference in them? Anyone know out there? I can only find one guy in Georgia that handles re-chrome & polishing. He does great work, but it is very high dollar. I wouldn't mind trying to polish the stainless stuff myself if I new which color rubs/sticks to use.

[gashog]

Hey Mandrake, dark brown is emery compound its for real coarse buffing. Stainless compound is light to medium gray, the white stuff is white rouge its for the final polishing. Check out www.eastwoodcompany.com they have all kinds of buffing stuff.

[Mandrake]

Thanks gashog. I'm going to check it out. Figure it can't hurt if I take my time.

[bobs409]

Originally posted by Mandrake
Thanks gashog. I'm going to check it out. Figure it can't hurt if I take my time.

Sears has a nice pack of 4 for about $5.00 On the back they list what colors to use for different materials.

[Mandrake]

Thanks Bob. Thats a good deal. I'll check them out too. I know some people who have done their own before & had very good luck. I figure since I'm not sandblasting it so to speak, I'll give it a try. Can't hurt (unless I do like my dad & don't read the instructions until something goes wrong) lol.