How to strip and polish a brand new side cover.

[SA14]

Posted in the "what did you buy today?" thread but thought I'd open a specific how-to thread here for forum usefulness and accuracy.

Quick story; I casually asked at my local Suzy dealer if they could get the aluminum side covers and they said sure! Price was decent (only $135 for this one) so I ordered both and got one the other day and the other is coming next week.

After a short thought and some advice I'm going to strip off the clear on this one and then polish it and ceramic coat for protection. I'm not quite sure what the best and safest way to remove the clear coating is. Any advice? I want to polish it as much as possible and can do that but paused at the idea of removing the clear coat without sanding. I know what to do once it's off (I polish other things for a living) but don't want to damage the aluminium in the process. My first thought is to gently rub it off with thinners and a soft scourer. I can recover from the scourer scratches but is there a good safe technique (don't mind if it takes a long time - it's happy work) or is paint stripper/remover the only way? I can use cloth to agitate and wipe it away but it's harsh so I'm stopping for tips.

[Big Phil]

I do t understand why you would polish a brand new cover. Fit the new one as is and polish the old one surely?

[SA14]

I do t understand why you would polish a brand new cover. Fit the new one as is and polish the old one surely?

Fair question, because starting from a new one makes polishing much easier and doesn;t destroy the sharp lines like sanding and polishing the old one would. Plus I'm not a huge fan of the casually brushed aluminium look when a little bit of shine makes them look a lot better. They're already nodding to the olden days when things were chromed or polished.

Mine are very pitted and although I was willing to improve them as best I could the ability to start with a fresh set is too tempting and my fingers will thank me.

[Snapey]

and my fingers will thank me.

You might not know this but these days we have machines like Dremel's and polishing buffs. All your fingers do then is flick a switch.

[SA14]

and my fingers will thank me.

You might not know this but these days we have machines like Dremel's and polishing buffs. All your fingers do then is flick a switch.

Never ever heard of a dremel and what are these buffs of which you speak? One slip with a dremel and the part is ruined. I know this from experience so I hand sand and polish everything including the stuff I polish for a living. But thanks. Sarcasm is appreciated in the spirit in which I chose to receive it.

[Mick_J]

Paint stripper will remove all the clear lacquer without damaging the cover in any way.

[froudy]

Paint stripper will remove all the clear lacquer without damaging the cover in any way.

+1 for the Nitromors paint stripper method.
Just bare in mind that due to Elf and Safety gone mad, they're removed one of the chemicals in it now which makes it virtually useless.There are better ones on the market apparently

[SA14]

Paint stripper will remove all the clear lacquer without damaging the cover in any way.

I'll grab some at the local chunnings store, whip it off and get to work shining it up.