[the496rocket]

I just stripped the paint off my 1960, Im wanting to just have bare aluminum, however the aluminum underneath is real dull and discolored, short of spending 648 hours polishing the aluminum with a buffer, is ther any other way to make it look more uniform and shiny?

I am not going for the mirror look at ALL, just want it to look decent. If the only way is to spend forever polishing and wiping the black gunk off then ill paint it.

 

[SaLtY dAwG]

I don't know what its called but there is something you can wash your boat down with and then buff it out... I went a diffrent direction on my bare hull mud boat a few years back... I used a flap (tiger) disk on my grinder and put a pattern in on my hull... it looks pretty uniform and really made the boat blind on the trailer... I will see if I can dig up a pic for you...

 

[Payphone Jones]

Take her to the Blue Beacon and let the pros handle it........Or just get some Alumabrite and wash it.

 

[CarpCommander]

Take it from someone who would know from trial and error...

Try using an orbital sander if you don't have a high volume air compressor. If you do have a monster compressor, grab a DA (dual action) sander and enjoy. This is about the only thing I can think of that won't remove a ton of material like a flapdisk, and will give you a nice flat, even, uniform finish.

Plus you can play with the different grit pads to achieve the exact finish you want-from dull, to brushed, to almost shiny.

 

[Jepruitt80]

Try alumabright or alumabrite. Not sure on the spelling.

 

[garpwacker]

 

[On-fish]

A fine wire cup brush on a dye grinder will make a cool swirl pattern if you put-it-down pick it up ,over and over.

 

[mudfish]

View attachment 200289

Yep
http://bow.fishingcountry.com/forums/showthread.php?116297-Aluminum-cleaner-leaving-white-residue

 

[the496rocket]

May have to try the Orbital sander, see if I cant make it look decent, right now it looks like crap, if I cant get it to look good i guess ill just paint it black and get some decals to offset the color a bit.. not a huge fan of all black boats

 

[garpwacker]

May have to try the Orbital sander, see if I cant make it look decent, right now it looks like crap, if I cant get it to look good i guess ill just paint it black and get some decals to offset the color a bit.. not a huge fan of all black boats

Then paint it red, or a different color than Black....

 

[CarpCommander]

The orbital sander will do it. Start with some rougher grits at first though, because you aren't removing much material. Post before and after pics.