tailgate band questions

[1985_C10]

i have a few questions about tailgate bands. i may have asked one or two of them before but i thought id get them all in one thread. first off how do i have the band off? second, what is the best way to get small dents out of it? and third, polishing it. if you have polished your band could you please tell me how you did it. i know someone already told me how to but i just want to see if anyone has done it ant differently. and also there is a dealership decal on it. how can i get that off? i wont be needing it for a while but i thought id pull it off and get it fixed while it is raining the next couple of days and hang it on the wall till it is time to put it back on. thanks to anyone who replies with some advice for me.

[B Barber]

There are four bolts on the inside of the tailgate that remove the band. It is a two piece band where the two pieces are crimped together. The two pieces can be carefully separated to remove the dents. It can be polished with high quality aluminum polish such as that found at chrome shops. A Dremmel tool can be of great help, but must be used on a low speed setting so not to burn the metal. The decal can be removed with a bottle of sticker remover from any parts store such as Auto Zone, Advance, O'reilly's, etc. for about $10. Hope this helps. Takes a lot of precision and patience.

[1981Sturgis]

My band has a clear anodizing on it, making it hard to impossible to polish.

[B Barber]

The anadizec coating can be removed by the acid used at big rig chrome shop (or where the wash and polish trucks) so that it can then be polished.