polishing aluminium bullbars

eden

eden

bush bash'n ranga
Joined
Jul 10, 2008
Messages
1,259
Location
Bondi, Sydney-Australia
my aluminium front bar is filthy and i want to give it a good clean and polish. what do you guys use to get that shine back? or do you not prefer a shinny look?
 
Go to one of the auto shops and have a look at all the polishs - they should have 3-4 for metal. Take your pick. Another option used to polish solf metal is fine (0000) steel wool - try it underneath first to see if it dulls too much for your liking. Cutting polish/jewelers rouge/stropping compound on a buffer will also work. Something else to have a look at is all the marine type aluminium polishes (for aluminium boats) as there's heaps. Whatever way you go something to consider is spraying it with clear coat once you've finished - it will keep it looking good for ages and you wont be forever polishing your bar :biggrin:
 
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I just spent an hour or so polishing mine before i put it on ebay, so far I have done all the pipe work, just have all the bar to go. I'm using Autosol metal polish, which you can get from most auto shops, comes in a tube costs around $10. It's coming up really good.
 
Eden, try Mothers. I use the one that comes in a white tin with a red label. It works great.


Regards
Mr Turbo
 
If the bar is really dull to start with, use an acid (hydrofloric?), then get the polish on straight away, you would be amazed with the results. Did this to mine ages ago, and the shine is still sort of there, don't pay much attention to the brumby now.
 
If I ever need to update or replace my bullbar, I'll probably go with the powder coated one next time. That way I won't have to polish it all the time.

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
I got mine done with 'Jet Hot Coatings'. I think that is a trade mark name anyway. They use it on manifolds etc for hot rod and show cars.
Mob at Castlemaine in Vic did it for me. Looks just like polished alloy but still shiny and doesn't seem to chip like PC.
One mistake i made was not preparing the bar first but it still looks good.
 
I came across this site whilst looking for some sort of stainless steel polish to clean up a few knives i got from an op-shop. I've done the handles but just wanted to shine the blades up a bit. I didn't read everything as i found what i was looking for but could be of interest to someone. Just need to find someone up here who uses it so i can get some. Noticed they had a plastic polish/finisher.
www.australianabrasives.com/compounds.htm
 
Hmm - I've never polished mine - the bug spatter seems to hide the shine pretty well :lol:

When I bought the bar (Subaxtreme) it came with a tube of polish - never used it, I'm sure it is in my toolkit "somewhere". I'll dig it out and see if it works, and let you know the name!
 
Don't think it matters what you do with alloy. It only ever looks good for a while. Some sort of clear coat or what i did to mine is the only solution if you want it to look good or have less hassle cleaning it.
 
My mechanic gave me a bottle of purple. It's really easy to use and very effective: doesn't require much elbow grease at all, and the shine seems to last longer than other products I have used.

Give it a go.

https://www.purplepolish.org/page04.html

(it's easy to recognise: it is purple in colour!)
 
I usually use a product called "Mothers" which is quite (actually very) good.

Before

img9578q.jpg



After

img9583s.jpg


I'm due to do mine again, so I might give that Purple Bottle a go this time & see how it compares :)

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
I forgot to mention, make sure you wear some gloves too (I use the disposable surgical ones) :iconwink:
Otherwise your hands will be as dirty & black as, once you've finished :cool:

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
Hi Mr T that bar really comes up good. Autosol was recommended to me and I was going to give that a go. Maybe I should give Mothers a go I use their polish.
Good to see that you have the Roo whistles on your bar too. I fitted these to all my vehicles after hitting the last roo in 2003 and have n't hit one since.
 
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