Please see 1 of 3 aluminum cars, I recently picked up. The body is in bad shape. I attempted to wash (soap & water) and polish with Mother’s. The body is beat up and did not clean up as much as I was hoping. Question: Should I paint the car? How about Rustoleum (?) Metallic or even Tuscan red? Will the body take paint?
Replies sorted oldest to newest
General rules for painting Aluminum
Clean - degrease - sand
Use an etching aluminum primer (such as Rust-Oleum) - Let dry thoroughly (24 hours) and sand
Use paint for metal (such as Rust-Oleum) - Let dry thoroughly between coats
Use Krylon Sealer
Main rule - The cleaner the better!
Brillo soap pads work well to clean aluminum too. The cars seem to have a heavy coat of aluminum oxide, which needs to be scrubbed off. It's not easy to remove, but keep at it and it will yield. Of course deep nicks and scratches in the car body can be a problem as well. Also, is that dome plastic? If so it should be removed and treated separately. Once the aluminum body and corrugations on it are clean, a rub down with 0000 steel wool will make it shine if you want a natural aluminum finish. Otherwise, once the oxide and other crud is off, do a thorough cleaning to remove any remaining residue from the first step. When thoroughly dry and free of dust, primer and paint can be applied. Paint
holds best when the aluminum does not have a high shine.
S. Islander
Access to this requires an OGR Forum Supporting Membership
