Topic: Detailing rocker moldings

[MustangAndFairlane1867]

The long rocker moldings that attach under the doors of my '65 Mustang fastback are in surprisingly good shape, but they need cleaning/painting and I'm not sure how best to go about detailing the raw aluminum.  I want to do that part of the project before I mask everything and spray a new coat of black (semi gloss?) in the "valleys" of the moldings.  Any suggestions would be helpful and thanks in advance.  Ron...

[rrenz]

that aluminum has a "clear anodize" of sorts on it which will prevent you from doing any kind of polishing without stripping it all off. Your best bet is to just repaint the black. I have a nice set of originals also and began to restore them however its a pretty big task. From the sounds of it your better off sending them out. Personally I went with a reproduction set and was ok with that since I do drive it occasionally.

[Bob Gaines]

that aluminum has a "clear anodize" of sorts on it which will prevent you from doing any kind of polishing without stripping it all off. Your best bet is to just repaint the black. I have a nice set of originals also and began to restore them however its a pretty big task. From the sounds of it your better off sending them out. Personally I went with a reproduction set and was ok with that since I do drive it occasionally.

+1. The similar to clear anodizing is called Brite Dip anodizing and is a process that not too may companies do. It is widely used in the automotive industry for shiny aluminum parts . Regular clear anodizing will dull down the sheen of a shiny aluminum part. Many platers say they do it but simply do clear anodizing so be specific and be careful if trying to get it done. Surprisingly many platers who do anodizing aren't familiar with the Brite Dip process.  You will find that it can be prohibitively expensive on a long rocker molding part compared to even buying a NOS part of the same thing . There are listings of companies that do the Brite dip  it in Hemmings motor News under services. I think the repro parts have the Brite Dip anodizing done (commercially in large batches it is less expensive) .

[MustangAndFairlane1867]

Ryan:  Thanks for the reply.  It sounds like you know of a place that restores these (you said "send them out.").  Can you let me know their name and contact info?  The painting part seems fairly straight forward with a rattle can, but the masking is probably labor intensive.  Does the black paint appear to be semi-gloss to you, or is it more of a flat black?  Thanks, Ron.

[MustangAndFairlane1867]

Thanks, Bob.  Good information.  I think I will try my hand at it if it's that expensive to have it done elsewhere.  Ron

[rrenz]

I dont actually. That isn't something I've looked into. However I'm sure someone will chime in that has had some experience. Personally I would do a semi gloss. The masking shouldn't be too bad. Perhaps some half inch or quarter inch fine line would work well.

[67gta289]

I know a guy here in Michigan that does it.  I've had him do some 69 wheel lip and 67 fastback deck lid moldings, and they turned out absolutely beautiful.  I've given him 3 sets of 67-68 rocker panel moldings, but during the prep (first step is to sand them down) he discovered so much road rash that I ended up scrapping them.  I bought them for $10 per pair so no big loss.  Now I'm gun shy.  The point here is that if there is little to no road rash they can be done and will turn out nice.  The guy that I uses knows the guy that does the anodizing and gets special treatment that someone walking in the front door won't get.

[67gtasanjose]

I know a guy...(who knows a guy...) The guy that I uses knows the guy that does the anodizing and gets special treatment that someone walking in the front door won't get.

"friends with benefits" (though not of the typical mainstream variety!)

This is what this Forum is all about! Helping Others!
I'd have messed my project up beyond all hope of ever having a semblance of "correctness", had I not joined up here!
Nonetheless, I am stuck with my mediocre workmanship and talents

[RichandBen]

I know this is an old thread but I am steadily working my way through Forum sections, saw this one that piqued my curiosity, did a google search and found this:

https://aerospacemetalsllc.com/what-is-bright-dip-anodizing/

The web page lists the Military Spec. number, which probably has useful information in it as well.