I restored my front grills and I'm happy with the outcome. As I worked to get these pieces looking good I initially thought about painting the black plastic, but something in my gut made me think heat and bug splatter might make the paint look tired after awhile. Through a little trial and error I found wet standing the plastic with a 2500 grit paper was the trick. After I was happy with the look of the black plastic I applied a Griots black trim restorer which really made the black pop.
Wet sanding was also the trick to removing the pitting from the aluminum trim and making it look good. I don't know if I'm correct about this, but my interpretation of the aluminum trim is that it left the factory with a lacquer finish on it so it would continue to look good without having to polish it. I know they do this with wheels in more current times. I believe my wet sanding removed this lacquer so when I polished the metal it actually shined up. I first tried metal polish without wet sanding and it didn't do anything. If one wanted to they could probably re-lacquer the aluminum after the restoration process, but I figured it's not a daily driver so it shouldn't be to hard to keep it looking good. Only time will tell.
Overview of the process I followed:
Prep:
1. Remove the aluminum trim from the black plastic. Take your time. My memory is you just slide the middle connectors on the trim and finesse it off.
2. Clean everything well in warm soapy water. Use the same soap you wash your car with. You'll get excited at how great the plastic looks wet as your washing it and then after it dries you'll realize you have more work to do.
Black Plastic:
1. Inspect the black plastic for any cracks. If anything needs gluing now is the time to do it. I had one slat in the grill that was lose and needed glue. I used the clear JB Weld to clue it. Worked great.
2. Clean the black plastic with something that will remove any oils or waxes, but isn't too harsh. I used Griots
rubber prep. After cleaning with a cleaner let the parts sit for 24 hours so the next time you look at them everything is dry and you have a fresh set of eyes.
3. Assuming the black still looks dirty and dull, get out your 2500 grit sand paper and warm water and start wet sanding all the surfaces. If my memory is correct I had a few spots with scratches or pits where I started a little more aggressive like with 800 grit and then worked up to 2500 grit. How sweet you get it looking is a function of how much time you spend going over and over the part. As I sanded my parts I thought... now I understand why my body shop buddies painting my Coupe said I'd get a better result if I dealt with all the trim parts myself. This task is pretty mindless. If you had a crappy day at work you may find cracking a brew, cranking some tunes and sanding your grill is therapeutic.
4. Once you feel the black plastic is looking pretty good, leave it for a week so you come back at it with fresh eyes.
5. If after a week you still feel all the black looks good, apply your black plastic restorer treatment.
Aluminum Trim
1. To speed removing the lacquer finish which has all the pitting in it, start wet sanding with a more aggressive grit paper. I think I started with a 600 grit and worked up to 2500 for the final finish. Wet sand with the 2500 grit until all the surfaces look smooth. It will already look much better at this step than it did before. Remember if there is a scratch or pit the next metal polishing steps will not remove it. Either chose to live with it or keep sanding. If something is super deep probably best to live with a little imperfection (patina) and not try to sand it all out.
2. Polish the aluminum with a good metal polisher. I purchased a
polishing kit from Eastwood. I used a power drill for my buffer, but if you have a wheel that would probably work best. I watched some YouTube videos on metal polishing that were helpful.
3. Final step - apply a fine metal polish. I used the Griots
metal polish.
Wrap Up
Reinstall the aluminum on the black plastic.
Here are some before and after pictures:
Black plastic after it has been thoroughly cleaned with soapy water, and a scrub brush and dried. Still looks like its just been through a Dakar road rally. I believe the white along the top edge is ancient car wax.
This is the left hand side grill, but I believe this is how the black plastic looked after all the wet sanding. It doesn't look dirty, but the black doesn't pop yet.
Aluminum trim before wet sanding
After wet sanding and metal polishing
Final Result
