my third spring project done

HOTPURSUIT · Apr 13, 2014

well I am not recommending this project yet, I need to see how this one goes. my gold rocket launchers were faded and beyond polishing. plus I dont like gold. sorry for no before pics but i bet most of you dont need them you already know what faded gold launcers look like. I needed to do something with mine. So I removed the gold anodizing with oven cleaner. it didn't take long maybe 5 minutes, I found out it removes skin in half that time so please be careful if you do this to not to get any on your skin. After the removal of the anodizing the alluminum is dull so I used aluminum polish and then a hard wax, it turned out great !. The part Im not sure about is how long the finish will last or how much maintanence it will need, I will post that, but I'm not too worried about it because if it does become an issue I will just unbolt it and run it down the street to the local metal shop and have it refinished. That will be cheaper than buying all new and repairing the mounting holes in the top

shawnee83 · Apr 13, 2014

That does look nice. I'm with you on the gold finish. No loss there removing it.

Bryan 2530 · Apr 14, 2014

Does it remove the anodizing or just turn it silver?

Can you see the stuff peel off?

HOTPURSUIT · Apr 14, 2014

Bryan 2530":bnubsqtm said:
Does it remove the anodizing or just turn it silver?

Can you see the stuff peel off?

It dissolves the anodizing and you wipe it off with a rag. Just like using paint remover on paint. I used easy off heavy duty oven cleaner. You wind up with bare aluminum.

Megabyte · Apr 14, 2014

The wheels on my collector car are polished aluminum. No clear coat, no nothing.
I keep them bright by using a metal polish from Griots Garage, then applying wax as a protectant.
Now these wheels don't see weather like your rocket launchers do, but polish and wax can work on aluminum.

Stainless might need a machine polish with a wheel and rouge, but once it is done, maintaining it should be easy.
The backing plates that I used on my rocket launchers are polished stainless.