I have been in the process of trying to polish my saddle tanks. I have a high speed buffer and have tried Mothers and Maguires aluminum and mag polish. Those two only seem to put a shine to it but they just dont seem to get the job done. My truck is a converted Wal-Mart truck so I'm sure it has never seen any polish in its life. I want my tanks to look like mirrors. Right now the have a very cloudy appearence to them. Maybe I need to start with something with some grit to it and work my way up to a paste or liquid?
Have you ever tried Flitz? There's always a guy down at the outdoors show in Harrisburg selling the stuff and I watched his demonstrations a couple times and finally bought a tube of the stuff last year. I could not believe how well it works. I used it on an old Mack Bulldog hood emblem a friend gave me and it made it look like new. Then I used it on some old Craftsman wrenches that my dog had wizzed on the toolbox they were in. They sat in that toolbox for a couple years and were starting to rust up pretty bad, but the Flitz helped bring them back. Here's their website. It might be worth it to give the flitz a try. http://flitz.com
Saw something like ''Diamond shine'' or similar on another site.Guy said it was only available on-line,but was the very best.I'll check.
Adam's polishes
I use turtle wax chrome polish, it comes in a white bottle,same shape and size of a brake fluid bottle. Theres a little bit of grit, but it puts a great shine. I polished the aluminum dump box on my F550 truck, and it looks great.
I have always used Autosol with good results. The key is to use enough to keep the part "wet" while machine buffing, then wipe dry with a clean rag and buff with another clean rag. Brian
Ive actually always had pretty good luck with mother's. I havent really had to polish something that was that cloudy though.
I have taken a D A (orbital body shop sander) to the really pitted,scratched,or corroded parts of a tank. Really works well on ends of the tank where deep pits are usually the worst. Start with 180 on the D A Working your way up hand sanding with 600 wet or dry paper using diesel or kero. as the wet part instead of water
polish I use some stuff that beats the pants off Mothers and anything else I have tried.Its called The Original California Custom Purple Polish. Its a true no rub,wipe it on and wipe it off,no power balls,no hard rubbing.This stuff is awesome.When I buy it I also buy a bottle of de-oxidizer.Wipe it on and wipe it off,then the polish. I have used a lot of different products on my truck,hauling equipment job to jobI am always in the dirt and much and this stuff keeps my wheels looking good.Spray em off,wipe em down and they look like you just polished them again.Its about $13.00 a botltle and worth it.:drinkup
I also use the products from California Custom, very good line of products.:bash
subject I got to agree,the California line of polish is top of the line goodies.I will never again buy any other brand.You can use the powerball,and I have but you just dont have to do that.Wipe on,wipe off.Even a JB Hunt driver could use it.:usa
blue magic aluminum polish or mothers mag aluminum polish..
I used this product for years with great results. Zephyr 40 pro cleaner http://www.iowa80.com/iowa80/shop?method=product&prodid=45484 Works well by hand and if your tanks are like you say a small orbital polisher will work well the 1st time to give you that mirror look you want , and then you can do it by hand any other time. Another great product Iv used as well is aluminum polish by Alcoa, you can pick it up at the local Mack dealer or big rig shop. Both rare great products.
mothers
Those were the exact two that I was using. We just "inherited" 3 ex hd Petes from a company that we own that "forgot" to make a few payments. Finally I get to put the ole corn binder up for sale! I am going to try a few of the products that yall have mentioned. I bought som Flitz on ebay, so it should be here shortly.
I used mothers for years and would wear out my elbows every weekend untill a friend told me about "wicked metal polish". Wipes on and dryes in minutes and comes off just as easy. This wheel is 14 years old.....steve
You need to step back alittle and show us what that wheel is attached to. The pic in your avatar is a little to small.
Ok sorry, Here ya go.....
Very nice ride!:thumbsup :thumbsup
try using two different grit rubbing compounds (i like mothers or turtle wax) use a fine grain and a smaller grain to finnish with and finally then a aluminum polish. the aluminum will pitt and gall and will look dull until u remove the imperfections.
Beautiful truck.:thumbsup One of the nicest driving trucks I ever drove was a 81 Western Star with a 400 Cummins and a 6 X 4 transmission.
Thank you guys for the comments!! She is my pride and joy. '93 star, 450 detroit, ddecII, 18 spd, 20front, 46rears, stearable pusher and about 30,000 on the new motor.
California Custom results I thought that I'd give the California Custom polish a try. The real key is to use the aluminum deoxidizer before trying to polish. Very little elbow grease needed with this system. Here's a before and after.
Looking for an easy way... So how do these "no rub" polishes work on tanks or a alluminum box that has been cleaned with acid?(cleans it but leaves the alluminum with a dull white finish) Has anyone brought the mirror like shine back from that? Or am I just in for a lot of sanding/polishing to get the shine back?:beatsme