[VAC] another polishing technique

[jim graves <homeplac@xxxxxxx>]

hey folks,

after wading through the archives and the wonderful vac  resto site i
decided to tackle the worst of my three vintage units.  my 53 safari is
badly oxydized, pitted and streaked.  it may have been clear coated at some
unfortunate point.  in any case, armed with every piece of polishing
equipment in existence and most of the goops i began.

i have- and am accustomed to operating- a variable speed porter buffer. i
have used it for years with much success on an auto collection i endeavor to
keep shining.  1200 rpms is way too fast in my opinion to compound this
aluminum.  tried all the nuvites with the most success from  the f7.

i also tried the f7 with my variable speed drill and 4" wool bonnetts.  i
dipped the pad in highly evaporative solvent (unflammable), spinning it dry
in the cut off gallon jug used for the dunking. just a dab of the f7 and the
slovent damp bonnett worked the best of all at very very slow rpm- but it
was still incredibly slow going.

on a what-the-hell hunch i rummaged out one of the da's i use for body work,
slapped on a 600 pad a gave it a go. low and behold the streaks and
oxydation evaporated effortlessly. then i water sanded it with some 800. the
pits could easily have been removed as well but i was afraid of getting too
deep.  i blew the area i had worked with compressed air and wiped it off
then hit it with the cyclo and a couple of dabs of f7. the scratches gave up
easily.  i came back with s and it was mirror like. in a couple of hours i
was able to complete the area from the door aft to the window over the wheel
well as high as i could reach.

i know this sounds unorthodox and i wanted to run it by you all before i did
any more to get some feed back.  i know the danger is getting to deep but
that doesnt seem to be happening with the 600 paper.  it isnt heating up at
all either. i also tried a jitter bug but the paper seemed to load up too
quickly. with the da i could run a brush and some air over the paper and it
was like new.

so whaddaya think.

jim graves

ky

53 safari

57 caravaner

59 flying cloud