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Fuel Cap Refurb again
#120398
25/05/2006 04:15
25/05/2006 04:15
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 7,443
Balmedie, Aberdeen, Scotland
Tartandude
OP
Forum is my life
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OP
Forum is my life
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 7,443
Balmedie, Aberdeen, Scotland
|
In preparation for this I plan to use Saturday to get my coop looking as good as it can be  I intend trying to refurb the fuel cap again, I say again as last time the results were quite disappointing even though I did use this guide. Has anyone else done it recently, do you just leave the nitormors on for ages, what grade of wet/dry sandpaper did you use? (last time I used the finest stuff I could find and it just seemed to scratch the fuel cap  ) Apologies if this should be in the general maintenance section 
Ex 20VT - now something far more sensible'ish... 
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Re: Fuel Cap Refurb again
#120399
25/05/2006 04:28
25/05/2006 04:28
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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When i did mine, i used a metal polish after using the nitromors. I didnt use any wet n dry. Seemed to work fine, just took a lot of work. I had to go down to the local shops and get some elbow grease!
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Re: Fuel Cap Refurb again
#120400
25/05/2006 04:30
25/05/2006 04:30
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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I use wickes stuff and dont let it dry as it seems strnger than nitromorse. You can help things along as well by pouring boiling water over the cap, drying it off quick and putting the stripper on, the heat makes it work loads quicker but big thick layers of it to stop it drying out and DO NOT breathe it in as the smell alone is bad but if it does that to paint imagine what your insides will think of it If i can get my door done satday morn i intend to do this satday afternoon
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Re: Fuel Cap Refurb again
#120402
25/05/2006 16:17
25/05/2006 16:17
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Not done mine, but I once spent 2 weeks polishing a section of a canon from the mary rose. If your are getting scratches on the fuel cap, you need to use finer grades and then metal polish, or you are changing the pads too quickly. To get a mirror finish, try polishing in one direction with each grade of sand paper, ie forward to back with 500 grit and then left to right with 800 etc. That way you can tell when you have removed the previous layers as the layer below is 90° to the one your doing. Eventually the scratches get finer and finer, until you cannot see them. Metal polish is abraisive and carries on where the 1200-2000 grits leave off. You could co mad and use 6 and then 1 micron diamond paste for that max bling effect 
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Re: Fuel Cap Refurb again
#120403
25/05/2006 17:46
25/05/2006 17:46
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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After removing the filler cap I gave it a quick clean then applied Nitromors paint stripper as per the instructions on the tin (5 minute application followed by a 20 minute application).
The paint stripper removed virtually all of the surface scratches but left the chrome looking speckled. It hardly touched the corrosion around the hinge though.
So next I got to work on any corroded chrome and deeper scratches with 1200 grade wet & dry paper. I was surprised how little effort it took to remove the marks. Only took a couple of rubs in most areas.
Next I rubbed in Autosol chrome polish, which as mentioned above is midly abrasive. It felt quite gritty when I rubbed it in so I didn't think it'd take much work to remove the marks left by the sandpaper. I buffed it after one very quick polish and the sratches had already gone. I gave it another application and it was gleaming
The first time I did it I left it at that, but as soon as it rained and dried off the cap got a speckled look to it so I gave it another autosol polish and then waxed it with Meguiars gold class wax. Needs re polishing (with a normal car polish) and waxing occasionally but looks great. First thing my dad said when he got the first proper look at the the car was "the fuel cap's in good condition"
I didn't have the right size screwdriver to remove the lock assembly so there are still some small marks around this area as I couldn't get to it properly but unless you inspect it very closely you can't see anything
All in all, it only took an hour to do.
Pics available if needed
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Re: Fuel Cap Refurb again
#120404
25/05/2006 17:59
25/05/2006 17:59
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Don't get any trouble with marks on mine, it's Pug cossack grey!!
Dave
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Re: Fuel Cap Refurb again
#120405
25/05/2006 18:01
25/05/2006 18:01
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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I've found that once you've removed all the plastic and left them for about 4 years they look like they were always meant to be grey and speckly.
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Re: Fuel Cap Refurb again
#120406
25/05/2006 18:30
25/05/2006 18:30
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 7,443
Balmedie, Aberdeen, Scotland
Tartandude
OP
Forum is my life
|
OP
Forum is my life
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 7,443
Balmedie, Aberdeen, Scotland
|
Quote:
After removing the filler cap I gave it a quick clean then applied Nitromors paint stripper as per the instructions on the tin (5 minute application followed by a 20 minute application).
The paint stripper removed virtually all of the surface scratches but left the chrome looking speckled. It hardly touched the corrosion around the hinge though.
So next I got to work on any corroded chrome and deeper scratches with 1200 grade wet & dry paper. I was surprised how little effort it took to remove the marks. Only took a couple of rubs in most areas.
Next I rubbed in Autosol chrome polish, which as mentioned above is midly abrasive. It felt quite gritty when I rubbed it in so I didn't think it'd take much work to remove the marks left by the sandpaper. I buffed it after one very quick polish and the sratches had already gone. I gave it another application and it was gleaming
The first time I did it I left it at that, but as soon as it rained and dried off the cap got a speckled look to it so I gave it another autosol polish and then waxed it with Meguiars gold class wax. Needs re polishing (with a normal car polish) and waxing occasionally but looks great. First thing my dad said when he got the first proper look at the the car was "the fuel cap's in good condition"
I didn't have the right size screwdriver to remove the lock assembly so there are still some small marks around this area as I couldn't get to it properly but unless you inspect it very closely you can't see anything
All in all, it only took an hour to do.
Pics available if needed
Excellent write up, pics would be
Cheers
Craig
Ex 20VT - now something far more sensible'ish...
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Re: Fuel Cap Refurb again
#120407
25/05/2006 19:38
25/05/2006 19:38
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Re: Fuel Cap Refurb again
#120409
25/05/2006 20:57
25/05/2006 20:57
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Wow! That looks I would be concerned about the long-term effects of leaving it exposed to the elements though. I wouldn't really want a high-maintenance fuel cap! Has anybody successfully re-lacquered their cap? I'm sure there was some discussion about this on the old forum...
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Re: Fuel Cap Refurb again
#120410
25/05/2006 21:20
25/05/2006 21:20
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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TBH I don't the re-laquering is a good option. Is quite hard to get perfect and will flake again after time.
The polished fuel cap will only need a little autosol every now and again to get shiny.
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Re: Fuel Cap Refurb again
#120411
25/05/2006 21:20
25/05/2006 21:20
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Aluminium is fairly corrosion resistant, it just doesn't llke salt. I'd of thought that the corrosion sets in under the original lacquer when it breaks up a bit. A referb should be fairly low maintence so long as its well waxed. If any corrosion comes back it should be easier to remove a 2nd time.
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Re: Fuel Cap Refurb again
#120412
26/05/2006 01:05
26/05/2006 01:05
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Quote:
Aluminium is fairly corrosion resistant, it just doesn't llke salt. I'd of thought that the corrosion sets in under the original lacquer when it breaks up a bit. A referb should be fairly low maintence so long as its well waxed. If any corrosion comes back it should be easier to remove a 2nd time.
Yep on all those points. Maintenance is easy. Just polish and wax the filler cap everytime you wash the car
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Re: Fuel Cap Refurb again
#120413
21/07/2006 19:24
21/07/2006 19:24
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Robii,
When you used the wet 'n' dry paper, did you use it with water or dry?
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Re: Fuel Cap Refurb again
#120414
22/07/2006 05:50
22/07/2006 05:50
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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get it chrome plated, never need polishing again
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Re: Fuel Cap Refurb again
#120415
22/07/2006 16:59
22/07/2006 16:59
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Quote:
Robii,
When you used the wet 'n' dry paper, did you use it with water or dry?
Sorry, wet, although it probably would have got the job done quicker if I'd have used it dry first, then wet, then polished
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