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Polish and paint

LettersFromFlyoverCountry

Well Known Member
For those of you with a combination of polish and paint trim:.what is your technique for polishing the aluminum right up to the paint trim without negatively affecting the quality of the paint finish and appearance?
 
Mask

Hi Bob,

I use electrical tape to mask the color as it lays and bends well, then a wide (2"?) roll of blue masking tape past that.
I try to clean the tape edge between compounds as you would seams and rivets. Or just replace it.

Do you find that even the final S compound will dull your paint?
 
AA891724-DB6E-4ACB-A831-0CF91FE6AB33.jpg


This company's purple polish is addictive for use on metal. It should not effect the paint. Call them and ask roger your questions, tell them turbo told you to call. I think you will love there product to polish aluminum. One of the best products at snf. I recommended it to to a local rv8 owner here in Florida and he loved it. Good luck.
 
Second

I second the use of California custom. Does a heck of a job on my spinner. Easy to use and the best aluminum polish I have used. I find that I do have to mask off the cowl. The oxidation and grime that comes off the spinner does leave a black residue on the paint. It cleans off easy enough with mild cleaners. I just tape off with 2" painters tape and get at it./

Eric
 
The oxidation and grime that comes off the spinner does leave a black residue on the paint. It cleans off easy enough with mild cleaners.

That is exactly my issue with Nuvite. I have not found a cleaner that will get the black residue off of the current PPG primered fiberglass, so I am concerned about using a polish/paint decoration.

You are saying that California Custom black residue comes of easily and cleanly from a painted surface?

If so, I will get some for test right away.
 
If the metal is real bad, they have a deoxidiser to use before the purple polish. Very easy to use!
 
Is this comparable to nuvite , or easier to use, my plane is fully polished and wow does it take a lot of hours to bring the shine up with nuvite ,
 
Is this comparable to nuvite , or easier to use, my plane is fully polished and wow does it take a lot of hours to bring the shine up with nuvite ,

like i said, read the comment on the polish, caution: results may be addictive:)
you will be satisfied. talk to roger. tell him turbo sent you. report back here.
P1010778.jpg
 
Is this comparable to nuvite , or easier to use, my plane is fully polished and wow does it take a lot of hours to bring the shine up with nuvite ,

like i said, read the comment on the polish, caution: results may be addictive:)
you will be satisfied. talk to roger. tell him turbo sent you. report back here.
P1010740.jpg
 
Hey, Turbo, I like your winter home on the water but prefer the stilt house. Nothing like fishing from front porch with a beer near by. :)
 
that is the biggest stilt house left on biscayne bay.

this was the sad pic of the day. there is a guy in the cockpit, can believe it. :(
P1010741.jpg
 
What the heck happened to my thread?

It's still alive Bob.
Your question about the paint line on a polished surface is about to be experienced here. I am having the empennage and wing/fuselage bottom painted as seen on a P-51. I don't think it is a big deal, just clean and buff and apply the wax Turbo recommends (I have it on hand)
Will report back in a few weeks, meanwhile am in flight training, 17 landings in a Citabria and moving up to a RV-6 next. As my Citabria CFI commented, it's like going to Carnegie Hall, all it takes is practice, practice. :)
Slowly moving away from zero time tail dragged status....
 
Armed with the suggestions here, I ordered a bottle of the California polish over the weekend and looked forward to its arrival, especially with the possibility of going to Oshkosh and the need to get the entire plane looking halfway decent.

When I got home yesterday evening, it has arrived, so when my wife went to bed, I headed to the hangar ("this polishing thing is a real sickness," she said. Accurately) to try it out on a small area.

I wasn't that impressed. I found it APPARENTLY much more abrasive than, say, NuVite's Grade S, which is the final step. While it provides *a* shine on the aluminum (and there already was one on the metal I was polishing, just not the total mirror, no swirl one I'm going for), it didn't seem to provide THE shine.

I'm going to try it a little bit more.
 
A friend with a Sportsman and I recently washed our planes together. He had some Simple Green. I tried it on the Nuvite stains on my primed fiberglass. Swish. Came clean in an instant.
 
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A friend with a Sportsman and I recently washed our planes together. He had some Simple Green. I tried it on the Novice stains on my primed fiberglass. Swish. Came clean in an instant.

Careful with Simple Green near aluminum, especially lap joints. It's a water-based alkaline solution, which will cause aluminum corrosion if left (or trapped in a joint) on aluminum and not completely rinsed away.
 
I've had more time to test Nuvite v. California Purple polish and I've changed my mind. The latter product is quite good.

However, I would suggest for RVers not to even think about using the purple without using the green aluminum deoxidizer first (step 1).

It's principal job is to maintain an existing polish. Nuvite is still vastly superior for reaching a maintainable polish in the first place. California Purple does not remove small scratches.

So, yes, you'll still be compounding parts of the plane, but I was able to brighten up half the plane yesterday with just the Purple. It's a real time saver and provides a respectable finish.
 
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