secret polish??

[sledneck48]

Found the flitz ball works far better than a mothers powerball and lasts a lot longer to

 

[boydo]

always remember you get what you pay for! on the older tunnels it is a little easier because of the foot grips being not as aggressive but it always boils down to costs. i use products not from canadian tire or similar establishments because they are designed to be people friendly and not let the consumer fudge up their stuff. i know,i know you can use them, you will get results but whats YOUR time worth? like chopshop using three powerballs (not to knock you chopshop) but a powerball is 25-30 bucks? so he has 75 -90 bucks in plus polish at 10-40. average it out and your at basically 100 bucks so to spend 2,3,4 hours plus the mess, wearing out the drill and maybe lackluster results?? im not tryin to push everyone into getting it done by me but as a painter laid all these variables out to me you step back and say Hmmmmmmmm.......

 

[crm1000]

for the do it your self guy use mothers billet i used it on my sled and it looks pretty good and it only took me a bit over 2 hours but im still thinking of spending the 150 and asking boydo to help me out:d his work looks fantastic

 

[RT Ryder]

Hey guys/gals, I have an 03 800 summit with a real oxidized tunnel. I have seen some sleds on here that blow my mind how shiney they are. Is there a secret aluminum polish that works the oxidization out and brings the shine in without using a portable wheel polisher. I have tried mothers aluminum polish and hellbow grease, not bad but not good enough. I want a mirror finish, any help with this would be awesome.
Thanks

I have polished my sled as well as many of my friends and I use the electric buffers that I also use on big trucks. This seems to work the best but does take some skill and time. If you would like it done PM me, Im in Edmonton.

 

[SLY]

The guys that know what they are doing use power polishers and clay type bars of cutting compound. It is a real messy job(had some done a few years ago) For $150 sounds like Boydo will do a nice job for you (no, I don't know him) and you won't have to deal with being covered in black grunge from head to toe (don't forget you will also need disposable coveralls, breath masks, goggles etc) I would check a couple of jobs and just pay the guy and you will be happy. you can use your own polish to keep on top of it once it's done as it will need a little "maintenance polishing" If you are really hell bent on doing a "pro" job I think you can buy the materials at Western Star in Edmonton but you will need a power buffer. Good luck and post a few pics when done. We ordered this one polished from CR last season. I had a couple polished and then powdercoated translucent blue but wouldn't do that again as the powdercoat is falling off

 

[Rucky]

I polished my sled using F1 Aluminum Polish. I skipped the coarse and just used medium and fine. Either $20 or $40 at Stahl Peterbuilt on the West end. It works really great, and with little elbow grease I have a mirror like finish. I also did this by hand, IMO Powerballs get pretty pricey, and you'll end up polishing the tight spots by hand regardless!

Edit: This polish is made in Sherwood Park, why not support a local business?

 

[four4all]

That F1 polish you used is actually made by Boydo. I got a bottle of 'fine' polish when I got my sled and deck done.

Small world.

 

[Junior Highmark]

Honestly nothing compares to "Gords" It's just rub on, rub off, rub on, rub off. Extreme shine.
It's the stuff that Rknight111 actually distributes..

The pictures are terrible.. To much of a glare and bad lighting in my garage.
The picture just doesnt do it justice.

 

[Maverick800XRS]

Polishing is a true art, you can have the right tools, the right polish and still get it wrong... don't expect to get it perfect on the first try. If you are going to commit to it, go all out, don't get lazy, this is one dirty and time consuming job... I just recently spent around 5-6 hours polishing mine not to mention the 5-6 hours of sanding i had done a while back before polish. But after all that i got exactly what i wanted, it's pretty much like looking into a mirror now .

After trying mothers and the whole power ball thing, that was a waste of time, money and made a mess of everything with that black residue crap... If you want to be serious about polishing, don't touch mothers or a power ball, use that on your truck/car wheels like it was intended.

*This is what you need*
A palm sander that doesn't have suction
A bucket and wash cloth
Very fine emery cloth (this is for those nasty deep scratches)
Assorted wet sanding paper, 600 to 2000, i used 600, 1500 and 2000 with goo results.
POLISH !!! Busch Super Shine Aluminum Polish
A roll of blue shop paper towels
Very soft clean rags (perferably 100% cotton, t-shirts can scratch highly polished surfaces, but still work)

(it helps to have the sled stripped and anything like tunnel stiffeners and foot rests removed prior to sanding or polishing anything)

(I wear doctor type mechanic gloves for the sanding and polishing processes)

This Process is for first time polishes, if your aluminum has already been prepped or sanded before, you do not need to do the sanding part again, rather you would use an oxidation remover to prep the aluminum for polish like never dull or Busch's oxidation wash.

For the running boards where you stand and any small creases your going to have to use some good ole fashioned elbow greese, when i did mine i only needed to polish the larger surfaces and not the running boards because they were going to be covered by my custom running boards - stiffeners.

Step One - Clean the surfaces with water of any dirt of grim before sanding

Step Twp - (Only if necessary !!!) If you have an older sled and you didn't really care about tunnel care and whatnot like i used to, then your going to have some good scratches on your tunnel or maybe you were fabricating some pieces for it and scratched up or whatever the case!!!! you will want to use some emery cloth on your palm sander to clean it up. After cleaning the area just get right at it with the emery until smooth.

Step Three - Put some 600 wet sanding paper on your palm sander and have a bucket of clean water ready to go with your wash cloth. Take your wash cloth and ring it out a little so it's not dripping, then wipe down a small area where your going to start sanding. (you don't need a lot of water, just a film so that your paper doesn't clog, you will know if you have to little, and if there's water going everywhere there's too much and your going to have a big mess ) Now sand the area until you start getting that dark residue showing up on the aluminum, then take your wash cloth just like before and wipe the area down again, repeat until smooth and the area looks even with all the other areas you have sanded with the same sand paper grit.

Step Four - Repeat Step Three with 1500 grit wet sanding paper.

Step Five - Repeat Step Three with 2000 grit wet sanding paper.

You now have removed all oxidation from the aluminum by removing the top layer of metal and made the surface perfectly smooth for a mirror shine.

Step Six - Give the aluminum you are going to polish a good wipe down with a clean dry rag to get ride of any sanding residue or water left behind before going to polish.

Step Seven - It's finally time to start polishing !!!! (this process is used to get best results with Busch Super Shine Aluminum Polish only, it can be used for others but results may vary). Take a sheet of your blue shop towels and fold it up into a small square (fold twice), Put the towel tightly over the lid of the polish bottle and tilt it to the side to get a little bit of polish on the towel, i found doing this twice somewhat close to the middle of the towel works best. Place the towel on the aluminum and place the palm sander onto the towel without any sand paper on it, turn it on and work an area no larger than 1 foot by 1 foot at a time, make sure to get equal coverage over the entire area. Don't rush this step, the longer you do this the better the shine will be. Once the black residue starts to dry up and or disappear, apply 2 more spots of polish onto your towel the same as before and repeat, once you can start to see the shine coming through the polish residue you are getting close to what you want, i found wiping off the residue after it starts disappear the second time and polishing one last time gets the best results, for the third application make sure to refold your towel to get a clean side, don't keep using the dirty side for every spot, this will not get you the shine you want. After the last application wipe the area clean and move on to another part of the aluminum, be careful how you wipe the area, the more you wipe and the harder you wipe with a cloth that isn't 100% cotton, you will scratch the shine more and more. When you look at yourself in the shine or any image, if it is not clear and kind of hazy then your not finished, continue to polish until you get this result.

Step Eight - If you so choose to apply Busch Wax & Sealant to preserve your beautiful job just do so as indicated by the instructions on the bottle.

YOUR DONE!!!! YAY!!!

Now step back and admire that mirror finish!!!
-*When i can ill take pictures*-

Hope this helps, and good luck!!!

 

[Alberta Boy]

Honestly nothing compares to "Gords" It's just rub on, rub off, rub on, rub off. Extreme shine.
It's the stuff that Rknight111 actually distributes..

The pictures are terrible.. To much of a glare and bad lighting in my garage.
The picture just doesnt do it justice.

Sorry to burst your bubble dude but that shine is nothing compared to wha the professionals (boydo) do... you will always have that "haze" in the do it yourself kits... when boydo does it, it will look like a mirror... minus the haze... when you see what boydo looks like after he finishes polishing you will know that it was worth every penny!

 

[powder junkie]

i will second excatly wat alberta boy said.

 

[TPOWER]

i took 2 of my sleds to edmonton on way to mexico for a 150 polish ea and when i returned to pick up i was impressed, i know i could not mirror finish it for that. not sure if it was boydo or not my guy is cameron. i just attached couple pics i had on phone poor lighting and cell pics.

 

[hair-str8-back]

I dropped my sled off at Boydo's place on wed.afternoon and at 9:30 the next morning he called and said it was ready to be picked up. He did an awesome job, great shine and i didn't have to lift a finger Tks Gord

 

[flabbajabba]

Picked up our 2 XP's from Boydo's Wed he was half way done hair-str8-back's
sled. I got to see a little of what it takes to get that shine, best money I spent, he puts a lot of work into it. I got nothing but compliments at the hill(rode Allen Thur) lots of people asking where I got it done. Pasted out his number I think he is going to get busy :d

Thanks again Ian (Boydo)

 

[pirate01]

Hey guys/gals, I have an 03 800 summit with a real oxidized tunnel. I have seen some sleds on here that blow my mind how shiney they are. Is there a secret aluminum polish that works the oxidization out and brings the shine in without using a portable wheel polisher. I have tried mothers aluminum polish and hellbow grease, not bad but not good enough. I want a mirror finish, any help with this would be awesome.
Thanks

Yeah its called magic mix truck stops have it i think traction has it even fort garry. the chit works

 

[polarice]

That F1 polish you used is actually made by Boydo. I got a bottle of 'fine' polish when I got my sled and deck done.

Small world.

i doubt boydo makes it he uses it but doesnt make it this is copied from one of his posts
f you want good hand polish use F1 ultimate metal polish. there is three different grades to it, fine medium and coarse. i use the medium all the time on everything i polish wheels,tanks,checkerplate,stainless parts,tunnels,decks...you get the point! if you have badly stained aluminum (like doesnt look like aluminum, brown,black or dark grey colors) use the coarse first, then move on to the medium for a final polish. the medium is great for removing small scratches, water spots and stains. the fine is a great quick clean up polish for anything metal. its a little less aggressive than the medium but works awesome compared to the regular store bought products. it has more "giver" in it!
you can purchase this at many big truck dealers in town and misc. other stores everywhere. call sapphire at 780 435 3222 they are my distributor for it in edmonton. or get me to polish your tunnel or deck (or whatever needs some shine) and i can sell you some then. and also the fine and medium have a wax sealant in them

 

[flabbajabba]

i doubt boydo makes it he uses it but doesnt make it

When I picked up my sled he said he made it. I would guess he has it made for him. But I think its "his" brand.

 

[boydo]

to all out there, yes i make the F1 ultimate metal polish. my company name for polishing is summit metal polishing check the phone number, its mine (yes the address is wrong) I use to do polishing full time, but now i am in the excavating/trucking/equipment moving industry. i still polish almost every week but when im 50 i need a job thats not so physically demanding! so on that note call me for polishing or Kirian Excavating and Transport for excavating,water and sewer, general dirt, gravel, clay work or anything you can imagine done with trackhoes,loaders,bobcats,dozers, dump trucks and trailers and a 53 foot 50 ton sliding axle tilt deck trailer. i think i covered everything i can do! did i mention i make hand polish?....yes, yes i did! lol!

 

[powder junkie]

F1 must be good stuff cuz the guys we've had in the past come and polish our trucks all had F1!! kodos boydo.

 

[boydo]

Hey powder junkie, you make sure to call me in the spring about your big iron, dont make me cranky!!lol!!