Restoring Aluminum Diamond Plate
 

I recently purchased a boat that came from salt water. The engine room has a number of sections of high gloss aluminum diamond plate # 3003 1/8" some of which have lost their shine and appear quite dull. In talking with various distributors I find that this product is not anodized but just polished. Is there any product available to bring the gloss back? Thanks..

There are plenty of good aluminum polishes out there to pick from. I am old school, Jewlers rouge a old piece of shag carpet and alot of elbow grease..

powerball and a 12pk:eek:

Tried lot's of alum cleaners/polish stuff. This stuff works. Like the previous poster said, jewelers rouge does work. This has rouge in it.
http://www.biokleen.com/proddetail.a...-polish&cat=10

http://caswellplating.com/buffs/index.html

You will find everything you need. I have found that a pneumatic angle grinder or drill works well as they are able to maintain a high speed. When polishing metal, heat is a big factor. If you polish to slow you won't generate enough heat necessary to polish oxidized Aluminum. At a slow speed it will shine up but won't get out tuff water spots, hazing, and deeper scratches. Spiral Sewn Cotton Wheel and Brown metal compound (bought in "sticks") will get most of the shine back. Then hit it again with a clean wheel and a polish like mothers or wenol at slow speed. At high RPM it will fling the polish EVERYWHERE. With Diamond Plate you can skip polishing it with White compound in between the steps I mentioned. Using the White after the Brown will bring out the ultimate shine, but wouldn't be noticable on diamond plate becasue there just isn't enough flat surface to reflect the light, therfore you won't see the small flaws that the white will eliminate. I would suggest hitting it with a good wax afterwards. The wax may dull it slightly but, unless you enjoy polishing the aluminum every other week it is a fair sacrifice. There is also a product called zoop seal (I think that is what it is called) It is a sealer that will protect the polished Aluminum. It too will slightly haze the aluminum, but will protect it and make it maintenance free.

I have polished more aluminum than I care to remember... From machined Cast Aluminum Motorcycle wheels to oxidized Diamond Plate. I have found The Spiral Cotton Wheels to work best. The mothers powerball is good for billet aluminum if good shape, but it simply isn't agressive enough to tackle heavily oxidized aluminum. Below is a before and after pic of my old Victory Vegas. THe first is of the stock wheel and the second is after I finished polishing..

I have the same delima, my 260 has polished diamond plate on the floor in my bilge. It is heavily oxidized and looks like a dull grey paint. I have decided to leave it alone as I know what type of job it is to bring it back.

http://site.activesportsunglasses.co...ity/bike11.jpg
http://site.activesportsunglasses.co...e_06_006_l.JPG

I wire wheeled mine and painted them.

Go to a semi truck chrome shop or truck wash. Get some aluminum brightener. Its actually a acid. We use this on our semi trucks that have aluminum wheels and tanks. Trust me, dump trucks that go off road, mud, lime from quarries, road salt, etc wreaks havoc on aluminum. This acid will help brighten and clean the aluminum. The, get some "lazy mans Metal polish" from the truckstop. This stuff blows away just about every polish ive ever used. Very easy to work with, and really good shine. Slap some of that on a buffer or powerball, and go to town.

Thanks much for all the replies. Very informative! Now I've got to get to work.....

Simi Chrome. That stuff is the bomb

If there is a chrome shop near you, you can probably save your arm and have them electro-polished pretty cheap.

Actually I just saw your in ohio, Give Hale Chrome in Toledo a call, ask for Mike and tell him Robbie told you to call (419) 244-6451