Aluminum trim finish.........

[fred cook]

I am in the middle of a repaint and interior replacement on my 1980 SC coupe. Since the paint is the Black Metallic color, I decided to change from black to bright on the trim. I have stripped and polished the side pieces that go under the door window, rear quarter window and the trim that goes around the rear quarter window. So now that I have it all nice and shiny (looks like chrome) do I leave it bare, coat with clear spray paint or have it powder painted in clear? The only worries that I have about the powder coat painting is the possibility of the parts being scratched before being painted. If I leave it bare, it will take fairly frequent polishing (chrome polish and an old diaper or t-shirt) to keep the bling.

Thanks for your input.

[fred cook]

Here is an example of the trim that I have stripped and polished. This is the trim for the rear quarter window for my SC coupe. The car is getting a full, glass out paint job in the original Black Metallic color.* The previous owner had done something to the trim to change it from black to a light grey color. Now it will look like chrome. The smudges are finger prints, please excuse.



Trim laying on top of the window/rubber gasket

[drcoastline]

Fred,

That looks great. I am switching my car back to it's original Aluminum and chrome trim as well.

What did you use to polish it?

As for protecting the trim, I read on a few of the polished Fuchs threads a lot of those guys just periodically polish and wax the rims. From what they say maintenance is not the big of a deal.

On my boat I have Chrome, Aluminum and Stainless I generally clean and Polish the chrome and stainless with Never Dull. The aluminum is anodized so generally a washing with soap and water takes care of that. The Never Dull is a treated cotton wadding. It is non abrasive so no harm in using it often. Then I protect the brite work with Collinite Insulator wax. We use the insulator wax on just about everything on the boat. The windshield, fiberglass hull, britework even over varnished wood. It's great stuff. You can even use it to wax your nice shiny paint job when the time comes. The insulator wax was originally developed to insulate electrical lines/connections from arching. It has also been used as a mold release agent.

Personally I wouldn't spray or powder coat your trim.

Thye car and your trim are looking great. Good work keep it up.

[fred cook]

First I sanded the anodized finish off using 80 grit paper. Then, I worked the surfaces with 220, 320, 400 and 600 grit paper. Once that is done, I use a converted bench grinder that is now a polishing station with medium and soft wheels. I use a #2 clay on the medium wheel to start with, moving to a #4 clay once the surface starts to look shiny. Then, when all of the scratches and marks are gone, I move to the soft wheel with a #5 clay that puts a mirror shine on the piece. Lots of man-hours, but it works!

Thanks for the info and suggestions for the trim. I believe that I will leave it in a natural state and try to protect it with wax as you suggest. The worst case scenario would be that the surface gets stained somehow and I have to pull the rear windows back out for a re-do.

[TRE Cup]

Some personal experiences with various options
Full polish is nice, but will take some polish, then waxing to keep the entire car's inventory of soft aluminum trim bright

Bright dip anodizing is a viable option, but you will have to remove all steel parts from the trim pieces, get the parts polished, carefully inspect them for scratches and voids. After getting them all ready, then the bright dip anodize process takes a very short time. Then its the hassle of reassembly with all the steel inserts , aligning the parts and reinstall back in the car. The results can be better than original with the right outfit. Care and feeding means waxing, not metal polish !

Clear powdercoating: Not a bad option providing you discuss with the company , doing it, all the care so you don't capture a scratch under the coating. The channels where the window felts install, on the door trims will need to be taped off so you don't end up with too tight a fit for the felts. Otherwise you can have a window that does not like to roll up! Clear powder coat may leave an orange peel or slightly cloudy finish , compared to the polished or bright dipped. Care and feeding also means waxing, no polish

note about front and back window trims: Its less hassle to get new ones from the dealer, but guess what? they now sell clear coated trim ! the windshield and back window trims come with this very rough looking clear coating . So if you want the same matched look as the door and quarters, you will have to get your w/s pieces polished very carefully, and then go from there

good luck with you project

[Fishcop]

Dave, I'm really interested in the clear powder coated option... do you have any sample photos of the result?

[fred cook]

Just finished putting new seals on the rear qtr window glasses and installed one set of trim. I would not do that job for anyone else for a $100 a window! The new rubber is a pain to get stretched out to go on the glass and the aluminum trim is worse! I weigh a little over 220 lbs and I had to put all my weight on the trim to get it to seat in the rubber. At least all I've got left to do is put one set of trim back on the other window! Putting the assemblies back into the car will be a piece of cake after doing these jobs!

[rw7810]

I polished my trim back to shiny aluminum (previous owner had sanded and painted black - was the rage ) just over a year ago. I have only once used a little polish to restore luster.

[Robert Adams]

Following up a bit on finishing aluminum trim. I'm about to restore my front & rear window aluminum trim and am leaning toward not re-anodizing. The biggest hurdle is the expense and getting it back into place without cracking the finish, thereby allowing the future elements in under the new anodized finish. Here in the northeast weather is somewhat problematic on unfinished surfaces as well as finishes that have cracks in them.
After speaking with several aluminum restoration shops I've been recommended to do one of two things. Their 1st take is to leave the aluminum natural and wax it once or twice a year. Because I will be replacing all the rubber and plan to use vinylex once in a while, they suggested spraying the aluminum with a clearcoat to protect the aluminum from the vinylex. Recommended was Eastwood Clearcoat or Zoop seal. The clearcoat will last many years without much servicing; Zoop Seal isn't quite as hardy. Think I'm going with the clearcoat.

[962porsche]

Originally Posted by fred cook

Just finished putting new seals on the rear qtr window glasses and installed one set of trim. I would not do that job for anyone else for a $100 a window! The new rubber is a pain to get stretched out to go on the glass and the aluminum trim is worse! I weigh a little over 220 lbs and I had to put all my weight on the trim to get it to seat in the rubber. At least all I've got left to do is put one set of trim back on the other window! Putting the assemblies back into the car will be a piece of cake after doing these jobs!

welcome to my world pal !
god knows how many 911's I have done that to over the 35 plus years of owning a shop were about 60 present of the cars we do are porsches ?
if you want some real fun do the rear glass on the targa's . most glass shops will not touch 911 targa rear glass .
then there are the customers that think you nut's when you give them a price to do a job like that . you want how much ?