RE: polishing stainless steel?

[McNeon@domain.elided]

Andrew Watry was wondering if you can grind, polish, etc. to restore Alfa 
stainless bumpers, and the answer is yes. 

One of the stainless rear bumpers on my Duetto must have had one of those 
near-permanent plastic parking stickers on it many years ago. It looked like 
the DPO had scraped it off with a burred paring knife, leaving furrows much 
like the ones Andrew describes.

The restoration process is simple but labor intensive. You start with a 
sanding block and coarse sandpaper, work to fine paper, then begin polishing 
with a series of compounds and wheels. The result, if you're patient, is 
actually better than original. My thusly repaired bumper now lacks some 
waviness that the other one has, probably a result of the stamping process. 

Eastwood Company is one excellent source for polishing supplies and kits. 
They supply good instructions, too. Check Hemmings for their ads.

Bob McKeown
Nashville, TN

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