Polishing Stock Grill - Before & After Pics

[DT1]

I finally got a day of warm weather so I got to finish the grill on the 71.
All of the moldings are finished now and the truck gets home from paint on Wednesday.

[DT1]

I stripped the anodizing off with a mix of sodium hydroxide and water.
I popped out the dents and sanded out the pits then buffed all of the areas that were going to be shiny and masked off the black area. The black is SEM trim paint. I brushed the lower apron section just to make it sort of a "Three Tone" effect. Then I applied an automotive clear coat to the whole thing and applied the trim black again to break the gloss.
Normally, I would have Re-anodized the thing but I couldn't find any place that had the facility to do it. So, instead I had to clear coat it. It should hold up for a while because I plan to keep it covered and garaged.

[DT1]

Originally Posted by petey-pablo

Looks good what did you use for paint on the Inner Grill is it a new Reproduction or did you paint it?

The inner grill was painted with Nissan Titan Radiant Silver and clear coated.

[DT1]

Originally Posted by NINERS1

Wow, great job, I was going to buy a new one but now i think i'll try to clean up my old one. what did you use to buff out the shiney parts? man that looks new!!

The shiny parts were sanded with 400 wet and then Scotch Bright wheel. Black cutting compound on a Denim Wheel followed with red and a cotton wheel.

[DT1]

Originally Posted by Hottrucks

and what is Hydroxate?? where do you get it??

I can't say anything you havn't heard before

Sodium Hydroxide is Lye. You can get it in crystal form from EBAY for about $5.00.
WARNING!
THIS STUFF WILL BURN YOUR SKIN AND CAN CAUSE BLINDNESS IF IT GETS IN YOUR EYES. Wear protective clothing, gloves and eye were!!

Mix 1 part lye crystals to 20 parts water in a plastic spray bottle and apply to the grill. Allow it to sit for 10 minutes and scour with an abrasive pad (Scotch-Brite Red works well). Rinse with water and repeat the procedure if necessary.

[DGulliver]

Your grill looks great!! Real nice work!

Not to hijack your thread, but throwing in my .02 here for another option.
I use Krylon "Dull Aluminum" a lot on my GM resto's.. It works well on grills, rally wheels, etc., and is the closest thing I've found without buying the correct but super-expensive "Argent Silver". I hardly ever see it in stores, but I keep a case here directly from Krylon at about $3.15 a can. For the grills and some of the other stuff, you'll need to follow with a clear coat as well.

[DT1]

Originally Posted by 71blksuper4x4

DT1, I appreciate you giving us the courage to try this. I started on my 70 grille today. Got the dings knocks out and got it stripped. If it wouldn't have gotten cold today and tomorrow, I would be sanding it to perfection and buffing it tomorrow. Where did you get the denim wheel? I have tons of wheels but couldn't find a denim one. Trevor

Try these guys. Very reasonably priced.
http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/ds.html