20' 1974 Sceptre Windshield Frame Restoration HELP !

[ssscotty]

Greetings, I am trying to restore my windshield frames back to its original aluminum finish. they were painted by the previous owner. what is the best way to remove the paint ? and how do I keep the aluminum looking good ? I appreciate any tips. thanks.

[flyingfrizzle]

Originally Posted by ssscotty

Greetings, I am trying to restore my windshield frames back to its original aluminum finish. they were painted by the previous owner. what is the best way to remove the paint ? and how do I keep the aluminum looking good ? I appreciate any tips. thanks.

I polished mine with jewelers rouge and a polish wheel on my side grinder. A variable speed grinder or air type will work best. The frames are coated with anodized coating or clear coat of some type so you will have to cut threw it to get them to polish out. if your were painted the coating is probably sanded off prior to paint any how. I would use air craft paint striper to remove the paint and any coatings on it they polish it up. You will have to remove or replace the plastic corner trim strips or tape them off good before polishing or the wheel will melt them back. Also the front will be glass but some side windows are like a polycarbonate that may get damaged from the paint stripper so be carful unless you are replacing those as well. It will look good when done but it takes a lot of time. A tone of time. Any oxidation will come off easily but the scratches or gouges will still show unless you really work them out. You can see in the pic below where the oxidation is gone but the scratches still show up, even more once cleaned up with the wheel. If your frames are in good shape it will turn out better. Just remember once you polish it you either have to clear coat it or repolish it up every few months. With out some type of coating it will not stay shinny long. The pics were from when I first started, it took a long time to finish a frame. Don't have any pics of one done but they look much better than the ones started below.

[ssscotty]

thanks for the reply. i guess i will wait till the fall to start that project. seems to be very time consuming, but i think its worth it to bring them back classic. plus the paint the previous owner used is scratching off and i don't want to keep touching up. i also want to change out my hull vents, i have seen them in metal finishes, any ideas on where i can order them ? thanks again for the help, this is my 1st classic seacraft and i am addicted.