Bon Ami for polishing????

[sandgrubber]

Newbie dumb question.
I'm in the process of removing all the gunk the PO put on my 1971 Caravel. Lots of fun. I think they spray painted the lower part with some sort of silver paint (maybe using spray cans???) . . . and used something else higher up. Stripper clears it easily in some places and hard to strip, elsewhere. I guess the #1 ingredient in the remedy is patience. I have that.
Next comes polishing. I'm guessing that a rotary polisher plus a gentle abrasive will take off the odd paint flec. I don't really want a high finish. . I just want it to look decent.

I can't see why they charge $30+ / lb for simple, common, substances. In housework I've come to rely on substances like Bon Ami (Calcium carbonate, no bleach) to get grime off of aluminum. The package says "Cleans without scratching" in big letters -- which is believable as calcium carbonate is softer than aluminum. I can get 14 oz of Bon Ami (around a pint of powder) for less than a dollar. Would it work to do a first round of polishing using a paste of this stuff (maybe using egg to make the paste??). . . then work to finer grit if needed?

[xrvr]

Don't use anything too abrasive to scrub with the bonami.. A sponge is good.

[PaulnGina]

I have used Bon Ami on our Avion with good results. I used a simple kitchen sponge damp with water.


PaulnGina
1987 Avion 34W
1995 Ford F250 7.3L PowerStroke

[thesignlady]

You won't be able get up to a bright polish with Bon Ami but more of a luster finish. There are a few people here on the forums that BonAmi their trailers rather than going for the high maintenance polished look. I prefer the luster look but what you would like to see in the end is entirely up to preference. I have a 60's Tradewind that I will BonAmi once I finally get to working on it...

BonAmi will not strip old dying clearcoat off though, you will need to use a stripper first