Think I can polish this?

I really want to do a paint/polish finish on my -7, but i'm not sure I can. Some time back, I took some 400 grit to an area on the side of the fuse to smooth out some scratches taking with it the alclad coating. Will this look OK if I polish it? I've heard that it can have a bit different look to it after polish in those areas.

Yes, you can always polish it, but you are right it will probably look different than the surrounding areas,

I have a polished C-140 and have done tons of reading on the subject. What I have read is that it will not look right, or at least different than what does have alclad. I don't believe I have ever seen it myself, but in my reading it has been mentioned a lot.

Maybe someday I will get a piece of scrap and try to replicate what it would look like just to know.

Mark

If you leave it at a 400 grit sanding job, then, yeah, it's not going to polish out. But why not sand it to a 600, then 800, then 1000 etc first? That'll work out the scratches to a point where a good compound finish (course grit to fine polish) will blend it in?

You can polish out 400 pretty easily using a progressive polish system. I've done it many times. Also, don't be too sure you've sanded through your ALCAD. It takes a bit more than you might think - Unless you really went to town with the 400. I've polished out gouges which occured when I accidentinally drages a section across a work bench with a loose rivet embedded in the padding. The polishing process moves the metal around and ultimately fills and blends the imperfections. You don't really remove material during the polish process.

I agree with Ken and Bob. It can be polished.

Yes, it will polish. There are two catches though, the underlying alloy is a slightly different "color" than the pure aluminum alclad layer, causing a blotchy appearance in some cases. Also, losing the protection of the alclad layer will allow the alloy to corrode, increasing the maintenance required to keep it shiny.

John Clark ATP, CFI
FAAST Team Representative
EAA Flight Advisor
RV8 N18U "Sunshine"
KSBA

http://www.perfectpolish.com/

Yes it will polish just fine with the right equipment and elbow grease.

Look up this web site. There is some great info on polishing aircraft aluminum (and Airstreem trailers). I got this from the Swift forum, some of them start out with a lot worse and end up with incredible results.

I will be polishing my RV-4 when I get it completed.

I've sanded with 400 grit on my Luscombe (leading edge of the gear fairing), and then used progressive grades of Nuvite. In the end it looked awesome.