newbie with questions...

[Annihilator]

hello all, been trolling around for a little bit here, seems like a lot of good info here, so I figured it'd be best to ask the experts

I have just recently started working on a crossbrace for my 01 pontiac grand prix gtp, and was wondering what you guys suggest I do from here...

I have removed all of the black coating off of it with a wire brush (that took forever to get those stupid crevices and imperfection areas)...and have sanded with 50 grit, and 100 grit...I have 220 grit, as well as 800 and 1000, but which other grits should I go buy? Also, do you guys have any suggestions on what to use to seal the metal when it is finished? I have heard zoop seal works really well, and I have some mother's mag & aluminum polish (also heard some good things about this)...but the crossbrace is stamped steel, so I'd like to use something that will prevent it from rusting the longest time possible while still looking good.

also, I know absolutely nothing about polishing wheels, I've been using hand sandpaper + elbow grease to this point. I have a dremel tool (only one speed) as well as an air compressor which I assume would be able to do a much better job than the dremel...

edit - or do you guys think that I should just stop where I am and paint the crossbraces? I don't want to do all of the work just to realize it's going to rust up in a week...

[mpierich]

Originally Posted by Annihilator

hello all, been trolling around for a little bit here, seems like a lot of good info here, so I figured it'd be best to ask the experts

I have just recently started working on a crossbrace for my 01 pontiac grand prix gtp, and was wondering what you guys suggest I do from here...

I have removed all of the black coating off of it with a wire brush (that took forever to get those stupid crevices and imperfection areas)...and have sanded with 50 grit, and 100 grit...I have 220 grit, as well as 800 and 1000, but which other grits should I go buy? Also, do you guys have any suggestions on what to use to seal the metal when it is finished? I have heard zoop seal works really well, and I have some mother's mag & aluminum polish (also heard some good things about this)...but the crossbrace is stamped steel, so I'd like to use something that will prevent it from rusting the longest time possible while still looking good.

also, I know absolutely nothing about polishing wheels, I've been using hand sandpaper + elbow grease to this point. I have a dremel tool (only one speed) as well as an air compressor which I assume would be able to do a much better job than the dremel...

edit - or do you guys think that I should just stop where I am and paint the crossbraces? I don't want to do all of the work just to realize it's going to rust up in a week...

I'd paint or powdercoat it myself, if it's steel. They have powder in "hillbilly chrome" if you want it to look a lilttle fancy.

[thesound]

Originally Posted by Annihilator

also, I know absolutely nothing about polishing wheels, I've been using hand sandpaper + elbow grease to this point. I have a dremel tool (only one speed) as well as an air compressor which I assume would be able to do a much better job than the dremel...

Just out of curiosity, what wheels are you polishing? Not all wheels are created equal. If we could get a better idea of what sort've finish the wheels have to start off with, we'd have a better shot at steering you in the right direction as far as procedure. Would you mind posting some pics?

[Annihilator]

oh my bad, I'm not polishing my wheels, I was talking about the wheel attachments that go on the dremel or whatever tool...should have clarified.

I'm thinking paint on the cross braces as well, since it's stamped steel...

[thesound]

Originally Posted by Annihilator

I'm thinking paint on the cross braces as well, since it's stamped steel...

This is just an idea, but if you're gonna go ahead and paint the crossbraces but still want some "bling" you could go this route:




(Sorry for the crappy pic quality) This is a mild steel tensioner pulley that I polished to a mirror and then coated with Duplicolor Metalcast Red. It's basically a clearcoat that has candy tints mixed in with it. Caswell sells it.

[mpierich]

Originally Posted by thesound

This is just an idea, but if you're gonna go ahead and paint the crossbraces but still want some "bling" you could go this route:

(Sorry for the crappy pic quality) This is a mild steel tensioner pulley that I polished to a mirror and then coated with Duplicolor Metalcast Red. It's basically a clearcoat that has candy tints mixed in with it. Caswell sells it.

I've always liked that look for certain parts. Do you have enough of those parts in service to know anything about the longer-term adhesion and toughness of the coatings? It looks great, but there's not a lot of tooth on that nicely-polished surface.

[thesound]

Originally Posted by mpierich

I've always liked that look for certain parts. Do you have enough of those parts in service to know anything about the longer-term adhesion and toughness of the coatings? It looks great, but there's not a lot of tooth on that nicely-polished surface.

You're absolutely right about the lack of "tooth." Haven't put any parts in service yet as this is the only one I've done so far with Metalcast, but they sell adhesion promoter with this line of paints so it might be safe to assume they took the durability aspect into consideration when they developed it. (Maybe.)

It's funny that you mention this though, because this is actually the "cheap" alternative to a paint that I recommended to the thread's originator, which IS specifically formulated for durability concerns, but the likes of which I can't mention here...