Other: 64 Wagonaire side mouldings

[Bob Andrews]

What are the side mouldings on this car made of? I can't tell if they're stainless or aluminum. Haven't taken them off yet. They're a little scratched and dinged, and I'm hoping they can be restored:

[mbstude]

They're Aluminum.

Easy test: All Studebaker Stainless will attract a magnet.

[Bob Andrews]

Bleah. I was afraid of that. Can you do anything with aluminum?

[mbstude]

All I can do is tell you that I don't do aluminum. <grin>

Supposedly there are places that can restore and re-anodize it but, I don't know of any in particular.

[skyway]

You can straighten them with a little patience. You can also repaint, or strip and repaint the flat black. Note that the Cruiser and Daytona pieces are identical but for what areas are painted. I replaced a piece on my Cruiser with one from a Daytona by changing the paint pattern and it has held up well.

[Bob Andrews]

Hmm. I'm not worried about the paint, that's easy to redo. I just wondered about restoring the metal. If Matthew can't, probably no one can!

I guess when the time comes I'll have to clean up and assess each piece and look for replacements as needed.

[R2Andrea]

Those wide mouldings for the '64 and '65 Daytona and Cruisers are clear anodized aluminum. Any damage or repair that breaks through the .0003" depth of anodizing leaves them open to corrosion.
SI has NOS mouldings available for your car.

[Bob Andrews]

I went and took a closer look at the pieces. The only real damage is a metal screw at the tip of both front pieces. I can live with that, but as you say the anodizing has lots of little scratches and is worn off in large stretches.

I did do a little looking online and found this place. Interesting but probably pricey:

http://www.kingoftrim.com/home.html

[Milaca]

Would buffing and then applying a clear coat work?

[Bob Andrews]

That's a thought. First order of business will be to keep my eye open for better replacements. There's no time frame, and when I do get to it it's going to be a driver resto, so I'll ave to limit what I put in. Who knows, maybe somebody'll buy it before I can do anything to it. Currently my fun is gathering pieces for the cars I've got here already. We'll see though...

[StudeDave57]

You'll have to ask Mike what he did to Sweet Pea when he last painted her, as I wasn't there. The trim was NOT removed, but was repainted. He did 'something else' to the trim, but I have no idea what. Whatever it was- she STILL looked good six years later~



just sayin'

[mbstude]

If Matthew can't, probably no one can!

I wouldn't go that far. I can straighten and smooth out a piece of stainless and polish it to a mirror finish, but don't have the equipment to strip, clean, and re-anodize aluminum. It's an entirely different animal.