380sl aluminum cleaning and polishing
 

I just purchased a 380sl, it had been in storage for several years and all the aluminum trim pieces have a white film on them. I've tried wax, aluminum polish (several different brands) and mild scrubing pads and they still don't really shine and most of the film is still on them. Is there something out there that people would recommend that works great without buffing etc. I'd like to be able to clean these up by hand only, I don't want to have to use a buffer, etc.
thanks

Sorry to bring forth a downer on this, but once the anodizing is bad, either replacing the parts or removing them, removing the anodizing (while removing small dents, etc) and polishing and/or reanodizing are really the only options. Replacing everything adds up to a _lot_ of money, so I removed and polished mine on my 380SL. Just the windshield stuff alone is ~200 new.

Even if you find a polish that removes most of it, that polish will probably remove at least some of the anodization, also.

The white film is most likely aluminum oxide unless it was stored next to a flour factory :).

Did you try Mother's Mag Polish? Repeated applications (let it set for about 15 min before wiping off) over a couple of months should produce a near 'chrome' like appearance. Rag will be black if it's working well.

Good luck.

Do you know if the Mother's Mag polish would be more or less abrassive than jeweler's polish? I know someone who used that on some of his engine parts and it would nearly blind you, it was so bright!

I'm only guessing but I'd say more abrasive just based on where it's used -- outside of car vs. a piece of jewelry. Although jeweler's rouge does come in several grades.

Many years ago, I used to polish the aluminum cases on my Kawasaki about once a month. After a couple of years, other cyclists' would ask me where I got the chrome case covers.:)

I think it was Darkone who did that. His air filter cover was so bright it would put your eyes out if he opened in on a sunny day.