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Need suggestions on polishing stainless side skirts (1979 Eldorado)

Started by T.Skytte, November 19, 2021, 08:50:38 AM

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T.Skytte

Hi,

The side skirts are looking quite mat and also have some scratches in the areas immediately after the wheels probably from rocks.
I have tried polishing with a small polish-wheel attached to a powerdrill and using some brown and also white rouge but that didn't help much. Tried Mothers Mag and Alu polish which helped a bit but not much, tried #0000 steel wool with and without the Mothers polish. Tried Poorboys Pro Polish, didn't help much.

Do I really need to start sanding? I saw a video of a guy sanding a flat sheet of stainless with like 7 or 8 different grades starting from 120 and ending at 5000 grit I think. How would you do this on a piece that's still attached to the car? would you do it by hand or machine? (I do have a polishing machine).
If hand-sanding, do you go in circles or back/forth or only one direction?

Anybody have some good tips? how do you get that mirror polish?
Thanks!

Best,
T.Skytte
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1979 Eldorado Biarritz

wheikkila

Yes, If you have used all of those polishes with no results then you will have to get more aggressive. what I have are two different air guns. One is for sanding and the other is for polishing. They run at different speeds. Depending on what you have you may have to do both hand and orbital. Unless you have some deep scratches I would start with 220 grit and work your way up. You want to wet sand all of this. For your hand sanding be sure to purchase a flexible sanding block. Be sure to tape around your paint. Better to be safe then sorry.
                  Thanks Wayne

79 Eldorado

T. Skytte,
What are you referring to as "side skirts"? Do you mean the wheel arch trim moldings? I haven't looked closely at the ones on my '79 Eldorado but I know that on some GM cars of similar vintage those are made from Aluminum which would change the ideal polish.

Scott

T.Skytte

Quote from: 79 Eldorado on November 19, 2021, 04:34:39 PM
T. Skytte,
What are you referring to as "side skirts"? Do you mean the wheel arch trim moldings? I haven't looked closely at the ones on my '79 Eldorado but I know that on some GM cars of similar vintage those are made from Aluminum which would change the ideal polish.

Scott

Hi Scott,

Not the wheel arch trim. I'm meaning the 6-7" tall stainless 'plate' that run along the side of the car at the bottom going from one wheel arch all the way to the other wheel arch, i.e. under the door etc. I guess I don't know what they're actually called maybe.   I'm pretty sure it's stainless but I could be wrong.
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1979 Eldorado Biarritz

T.Skytte

Quote from: wheikkila on November 19, 2021, 09:42:00 AM
Yes, If you have used all of those polishes with no results then you will have to get more aggressive. what I have are two different air guns. One is for sanding and the other is for polishing. They run at different speeds. Depending on what you have you may have to do both hand and orbital. Unless you have some deep scratches I would start with 220 grit and work your way up. You want to wet sand all of this. For your hand sanding be sure to purchase a flexible sanding block. Be sure to tape around your paint. Better to be safe then sorry.
                  Thanks Wayne

Hi Wayne,

Thanks for the tip. I don't have any air gun and no budget for one at the moment unfortunately, so I guess I'll be sanding. Would you do obital first and then by hand or the other way around? What will the hand sanding accomplish that the orbital wont? or is the hand sanding just to get into the corners and the wraparound edges?
Yes will definitely be masking!  :o it's got original paint too afaik.

Cheers,
TS
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1979 Eldorado Biarritz

79 Eldorado

Ok clear now. Probably lower trim molding or rocker molding. It's interesting that some of the eBay sellers refer to it as chrome but I don't think it's chrome. Large thin flat pieces will be difficult. Let us know what you try. I would be a bit concerned about doing anything which would make it look worse than when you started.

I haven't had them off my Eldorado but I know the Fisher Body Chassis FSM shows the fastener types. If they really bother you maybe a place which specializes in professional metal refinishing would be a thought.. probably not cheap.

Good luck,
Scott

wheikkila

Yes, the hand sanding is for were the orbital can't reach. I'm not sure if those rocker panels are stainless. Maybe someone can chime in that knows for sure.
                           Thanks Wayne

T.Skytte

I've attached two photos of the panels that I call 'side skirts' .. I guess htey're called 'rocker panels' then?

Also uploaded the pics here https://imgur.com/a/nRwJmJP

I'm fairly sure I read somewhere a while ago that they are stainless like the roof is. And also they look like stainless and not like the chrome bumpers and other chrome. I guess it could be aluminium but again pretty sure I read stainless somewhee but can't remember where.
Would be great if someone can confirm.

Yes am deadly afraid of making it worse...  :o



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1979 Eldorado Biarritz

79 Eldorado

The actual rocker panel is the horizontal part of the car sheet metal which runs under the door. The trim in question is probably called rocker trim molding. It's difficult to know what to call it because the trim continues in front of an behind the rocker panel.

I'm including a photo from my car and a capture from a GM marketing brochure. There's at least the lower piece which covers the rocker panel and it extends to the back of the front fender and then up on the front of the lower rear quarter. There's the part at the bottom of the door and as well a piece on the front of the front fender and back of the rear quarter.

It's not clear in the photo how bad yours is due to the lighting or quality of the photo. I know my capture isn't a lot better but they show a more complete picture. I think I would look for some local professional opinions. It may very well be stainless. The wheel arch trim on some cars around that time was aluminum. Very likely the only way to get yours to look like new would be to remove it and take it to a professional metal finishing place. It's thin and long so there is a big chance of making things worse.

I would also say you very likely won't be happy with what you see once you remove the trim if you go that route. It tends to be an area where moisture and debris can become trapped. I've never had my Eldorado trim off but I did remove the trim in the same area on my original 79 Toronado. To be fair that car had been through several winters but it wasn't pretty in that area. By memory there was a combination of disk-like retaining features and plastic molded large clips. There's also a risk of breaking the plastic ones.

Scott