sanding aluminum

["BLAHH"300!!]

remember awhile back i asked if you could sand aluminum
and if it would rust or not? i was thinking about painting it..
well the other day i got bored and went at it-
i got some fine grit papper in a long roll- tore o off about 2 1/2 foot and pulled it back and forth around the bars of my bumper nerfs and grab bar- .. then got an electric sander nd went to town.
the nerfs on the outside edge were scratched the front had little nics all in it,, and the grab bar was wasted- but all three are as smooth as a babbies- (*cough*)-hey leo-
the grab bar is what i'm happy about most though- it was all scratched from where i first learned how to walk it- but now it looks as if it's never touched the ground- ____smooth____
it was dull before now it's shiney- did one half first and compaired side- looks good man- if your loomy's not chrome
do it man- it's not going to hurt it and it'll look 10 times better

decided not to paint

[Pur Pony]

i just installed durablue front spacers... while everything was off... I sanded my spindles and calipers.... then polished them.... they are to a "chrome" mirror finish now- they look bad a#@!!

[Clay]

My quad is stripped down for the winter, i guess ill have to try this. I want it to look as trick as possible.

[max400EX]

rule of thumb: if a magnet sticks to it, its steel and will rust, and if u sand it, put a clear coat of paint.

If no magnet stickage, its aluminum and it won't rust

[Clay]

Could somone please post some pics of this, and some techniques? (grits of sandpaper, wet/dry, etc etc.) thanx alot.

[300eXTraILRyDeR]

I never sanded aluminum But i do use my dads buffer and just polish it, alot easier i would think.

[crday98]

Originally posted by crhye250r
Could somone please post some pics of this, and some techniques? (grits of sandpaper, wet/dry, etc etc.) thanx alot.

use a medium grade for the rough stuff then a fine grade.then use a brillo pad until it starts to shine then polishing away for a chrome-like finish.i don't remembet the actual of grade i used the first time but i ended up using those foam sanding pads(blocks) and got the same results and they were alot easier to use than paper.they are definitely less torture on the fingers too.you can get them at wal mart.

[Pur Pony]

It depends how rough the aluminum is to start with. The more rough it is the lower grit(60+) to start with... then go to around 150-.. sand smooth, then to around 400- sand smooth..
The 1000-1500- once its super smooth... buff with an aluminum polish and or rouge.
there is an awesome polishing sight on of my friends has on-line... i have to find it- ill post

["BLAHH"300!!]

i'm always looking ,adding ,,taking away,, stuff on my bike
to make it look better-

what else could i do to make it a little shineyer- from stock parts i mean- what about that ugly (edit) headpipe that came with that d.g.- it's all rusted up looks horible-
is there no chamging that fact- i hit it too when i sanded the rest of the stuff from the first post- but you know it still looks like pooh- anything i can do to change that??

[300eXTraILRyDeR]

well about your headpipe. I would get some silver or black high temp. exhaust or grill paint. it would look nice i would think.