Strip & Polish the Interior? Think Twice!

It's been a challenge to say the least, but we finally got the interior polished and the end caps painted (twice). My marine urethane powder blue didn't survive scrutiny; so we primed and repainted with what first looked to be an identical color. Actually, it was Benjamin Moore Jamaican Aqua and it looks amazing! I wasn't thrilled redoing the perfectly adequate, powder blue end caps, but what a difference! Totally happy with the results, and although it pains me to say it...she was right.

Here's the thing on stripping and polishing the interior: First, think twice...its a BITCH! You gotta either really want it...badly, or be like us and realize you're in too deep to back out. Consider every paint color that you might like before making your decision and if you can't find one that will make you as happy as polished aluminum...think twice! If you're a glutton for punishment, you can get our paint stripping advice from an earlier post, but here's what I've learned about polishing the interior (again, I'm no expert - this is based on our one project):

The paint they used in 1959 appeared to be a 3-part process called Zolotone (?). Whatever the previous owners (PO) added is anybody's guess and we had layers of it! Getting the PO's latex off wasn't so bad, and looking back, I kinda wished we had stopped there. Getting the Zolotone off, especially the initial primer layer, was a nightmare.

The worst part was that once the original primer was removed enough to "polish", the residue left behind seemed to lightly etch the aluminum leaving very shallow, but widespread pitting. No amount of grey bar compound on cotton wheels will remove the etching so you're in for a 6-step polishing process..from ankle height to overhead...sounds like fun, huh? Here's how it went the best for us:

First cover-up! I wore a Tvyek suit from Home depot. You'll need full face coverage since safety glasses, even goggles allow the fine particles of wax compound to spin off the wheel and end up all over your face. Getting it off is tough enough, but remember, you're scrubbing a fine abrasive off of your face...ouch! wear gloves and ear protection as well.

Also, cover your floor and anything else that you don't want tainted with a black, waxy mess that requires mineral spirits and/or Simply Green to remove.

Step 1 - (2) 6" ex-fine (purple) nylon filament wheels at 1800 rpm. Lightly go over the worst areas until you see a uniform finish. Keep the wheels oriented vertically to keep your scratches in one direction, vertical. From here on out, its a process of making smaller and smaller scratches. I increased the rpm at the most pitted areas.

Step 2 - 10" blue airway wheel with 87 Stainless heavy-cut compound at 2600 rpm. This is a large wheel, especially for the interior, but the extra 1" in radius actually helped on the overhead parts. I had my best results by adding a small amount of compound to the wheel then doing a quick "S" pattern on the aluminum from top to bottom of an 18" wide x 36" high work area. This technique pre-waxed the entire area and seemed to add compound at just about the right times as I worked side to side, semi-slowly keeping the wheel in a vertical orientation.

Step 3 - 8" yellow airway with gray primary cut compound at 2600 rpm. This step gives you the first real indication that there may be light at the end of the tunnel. You'll still have clearly visible scratches, but a slight polish begins to appear. By the way, the scratches you'll see will be in a figure-8 pattern. This is due to the vertical motion of the wheel combined with the side-to-side movement of the polisher (you). I picked a narrow working width so that I could rock back and forth while keeping my arms still. I looked like Rainman doing it, but at least I could lift my arms the next day. Also, the more vertical the little figure-8s are, the better off you'll be polishing, and the better results you'll achieve. So work slowly once you get past the blue wheel.

Step 4 - 8" 60-ply loose cotton wheel with gray primary cut compound at 3000 rpm. This thing is a mess, but it gets results. Focus on all irregularities, like rivets, seams, window frames, etc. You'll need to come off of vertical for special areas, like window frames etc. but try to use a rotation that doesn't strip the compound from your wheel and shove it under a seam because it will come out later and it's a mess. Once you've covered the entire area for that session (30 sf +/-), wipe down the entire surface with mineral spirits, especially rivets and seams. Try to get as much of the old compound off of the surface as possible before you change wheels and compounds.

Step 5 - 8" 60-ply loose cotton wheel with white polishing compound at 2400 rpm. Take your time here, and use a wheel dedicated only for white polish. I used three cotton wheels and they are kept in 1-gallon Ziploc bags marked "BLACK", "WHITE, "PINK". The white and pink wheels are easy compared to the cutting wheels, so take your time. This is when the satisfaction arrives because you're actually polishing. You'll notice that those nasty pits and etched areas didn't go away, but they have been polished and don't look so bad.

Step 6 - 8" 60-ply loose cotton wheel with pink polishing compound at 1800 rpm. The compound is no longer visible going on and it seems like you don't need to add it as often. I used this as the final process and didn't do anything afterward, besides wiping the entire surface with a dry micro-fiber towel, and the interior looks great.

I can't say its a "mirror" finish, but its clean, bright and reflective, and we're really happy with it. We may go back once my arms and shoulders heal and try an orbital polisher to see if there is some benefit, but like I said, we're really happy with the results so far.

I posted two pics of the powder blue and two of the Jamaican Aqua so that you can see the difference a slight shift in hue makes. I honestly couldn't tell them apart when we first opened the can of aqua.

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