How do I keep it shiny?

[mimiandrews]

Almost finished stripping and polishing our '66 Safari. Don't want to do it again soon.

Can anyone recommend some magic elixr to preserve the shine. It would be great if it were easy to apply and didn't need much buffing.

I'll post before and after pictures when I really get to the "after" point.

[tkasten]

I hate to be the barer of bad news. There is no magic and the shine will fade with time. The pics below are 1 - original, 2 - shine complete, 3 - about 1 year later. It still looks pretty good. Up close it is covered with water spots. I figure I will have to repolish in a couple of years. You could have it clearcoated again.

[6PackCharlie]

According to our polishing instructor (Levon) at the Four Corners Albuquerque Restoration Rally, as soon as you put any kind of protectant on your shine job it will take away some of the shine. I put "Dri-Wash" on mine to protect my shine job and found this to be true. He told us not to put anything on the completed job. Just do a touch up polish event when it starts to get dull in several years.

[mimiandrews]

I'm not worried about a slight decrease in the shine that a protectant might cause. I've only polished back to "original finish" and plan to stop there. Others can do the mirror finish thing, and I'll just admire theirs. That's too much work for an old lady, and I've always liked the look of new aircraft aluminum anyway.

Also not going to re-apply clearcoat. Too much prep work to get anything to stick. Peeling clearcoat is not pretty! It was definitely a lot of work to get the old, dead clearcoat off.

Does anyone have a favorite wax? Looking for good protection with easy application and minimal buffing.

In the contest between polishing and camping, I choose camping.