Polishing Stainless Steel-Mirror Finish

[FLYBOY]

Does anyone know of a good somewhat quicker method of polishing the Stainlees? I am try to get it to a mirror finish and take out all the grain.
So far Ive spent about and hour on each front fender and 2 hours on the roof but it is no where near mirror finish!
By using the 3M pads by hand, not easy nor fun!
Isn't there a air powered tool or something I thought?
Let me know what anyone finds out
Thx in advance.

Flyboy-DCF

[Kerichbe]

According to this article http://jalopnik.com/5459955/you-can-see-yourself-in-a-mirror-polished-delorean it took this person about 40 hours per panel to get a mirror finish. Some areas actually took as much as 4 hrs per square inch. Yikes :wow:

[thirdmanj]

Never Dull, and a corded drill with a buffing pad.

[stevedmc]

I've had pretty good success cleaning my car with dirt and windex mixed together. In fact, I even won an award for it at DCS.

[Jimmyvonviggle]

Does anyone know of a good somewhat quicker method of polishing the Stainlees? I am try to get it to a mirror finish and take out all the grain.
So far Ive spent about and hour on each front fender and 2 hours on the roof but it is no where near mirror finish!
By using the 3M pads by hand, not easy nor fun!
Isn't there a air powered tool or something I thought?
Let me know what anyone finds out
Thx in advance.

Flyboy-DCF

Why don't you get in touch with the owner of that mirror finish D, I think he is from Cincinnati? I don't think doing it by hand is the way to go, definitely go get some power tools.

Keep us posted.

[Nicholas R]

That's correct, John lives here in Cincinnati. He did every bit of it by hand and he regularly says that it was 4hrs per square inch. He said its just something that started and got out of hand. It was something he did in his free time, something to do as a stress relief, and something he thought looked cool.

As cool as it is that he did it all by hand, if you're more interested in the finished product and not the journey to get there, do yourself a favor and use some power tools. There are plenty of ways to mechanically polish the car and get a very similar result in a fraction of the time. John's hand polished car is a reflection on his relationship with his car. I know he's had it since the early eightys, used it as a business commuting car with LOTS of traveling, put several hundreds of thousands of miles on it, rebuilt the engine at least once or twice. Also has some cool mods like power and heated seats.

[Jimmyvonviggle]

Nick, he never polished the bonnet and I am assuming so he doesn't get glare when driving, but how bad do you think it would be if he went this far? I always thought it looked off the fact the bonnet was still grained.

[thirdmanj]

I don't think it would matter if you polished the hood. The drivers orientation, given the angle of the hood to the driver means that light would reflect away. So it would present a danger to other drivers, but not the D driver. Of course it'd be no more dangerous than all the other panels.

[Dangermouse]

Trying to avoid getting an X perhaps?

[FLYBOY]

Does anybody have any real info. on what kind of buffer and what kind of power tools needed to polish the stainless steel to a mirror finish?
And where could I get them at?

[sdg3205]

Does anybody have any real info. on what kind of buffer and what kind of power tools needed to polish the stainless steel to a mirror finish?
And where could I get them at?

This information wasn't real enough?! Polishing itself is nothing special. Finer and finer sandpapers and wet sanding will get it done. Want to add power, get a power sander. Orbital perhaps? Look up polishing.

[FLYBOY]

No!
Read my question!
I already knew that, I was looking for a specific tool I.e flapper wheel or what type of buffering wheel to use and where one can be attained but now I'm just repeating myself.
I've owned my car for 15+ years do all the work myself and seldom do Reach out to the Delorean community and now I know why, how's that for real!

[sdg3205]

No!
Read my question!
I already knew that, I was looking for a specific tool I.e flapper wheel or what type of buffering wheel to use and where one can be attained but now I'm just repeating myself.
I've owned my car for 15+ years do all the work myself and seldom do Reach out to the Delorean community and now I know why, how's that for real!

Gear down big rig! People responded as best they could about 1 in 8500 deloreans that was polished by its owner. Sorry we couldn't be more specific.

[outatym2001]

Unfortunately the Jalopnik article references that old DMC Talk.com web site which is no longer.
Flyboy-DCF
Seeing as you say you have owned a DeLorean for 15+ years I went ahead and performed a search.
Had you said you've never owned a D but you wanted to know how to polish stainless steel I would have simply ignored this thread as it has been asked before.

Below is what I came up with.

Who'd Delorean is this?
http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?2205-Whod-Delorean-is-this

Polishing stainless tutorial or info?
http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?3869-polishing-stainless-tutorial-or-info

Hopefully some one can call John McCarty (I don't know who he is as I got the name from that Jalopnik article) and let him know that some one plans on polishing their DeLorean and needs info on what to use.

[LEVY]

No!
Read my question!
I already knew that, I was looking for a specific tool I.e flapper wheel or what type of buffering wheel to use and where one can be attained but now I'm just repeating myself.
I've owned my car for 15+ years do all the work myself and seldom do Reach out to the Delorean community and now I know why, how's that for real!

Not very nice!

LEVY

[DMC5180]

I've had pretty good success cleaning my car with dirt and windex mixed together. In fact, I even won an award for it at DCS.

I'm pretty sure that award was for the dirtiest Delorean at DCS-12. Something about Mud and tree droppings all over the hood. That's one way to standout in a crowded room of deloreans.

[Nicholas R]

I have John McCarty's phone number is someone is seriously interested in using HIS method of hand polishing the DeLorean. If you're going to use any kind of tools or need info that you can just find online there is really no reason to contact him. Contact me via PM if so.

[Lance]

I've commenced to polish my 'D' and it is a big job. I started mid-October. Very labour-intensive and almost an impossible task to remove the brushmarks. I've been at it for close on a month and have managed to get one panel almost done; the rear right-hand quarter. I'm using power tools but it still takes time.

Initially I start-off with 150 grade wet and dry, and with the paper wrapped around a sanding block, work at it by hand. I work my way through the various grades of paper finishing with 2000 grade. Then I use a cotton buffing wheel and polishing paste to bring-up the mirror finish. There still needs to be more work done on the rear panel before I'll be satisfied. One almost down .... five to go!! The hood, 'T' section and the lower half of the car will remain brushed.

[Nicholas R]

I've commenced to polish my 'D' and it is a big job. I started mid-October. Very labour-intensive and almost an impossible task to remove the brushmarks. I've been at it for close on a month and have managed to get one panel almost done; the rear right-hand quarter. I'm using power tools but it still takes time.

Initially I start-off with 150 grade wet and dry, and with the paper wrapped around a sanding block, work at it by hand. I work my way through the various grades of paper finishing with 2000 grade. Then I use a cotton buffing wheel and polishing paste to bring-up the mirror finish. There still needs to be more work done on the rear panel before I'll be satisfied. One almost down .... five to go!! The hood, 'T' section and the lower half of the car will remain brushed.

Pictures please!!! :biggrin:

[Lance]

Photo ..... sure! I welcome any comments or advice.

Lance.

[Mark D]

Wow nice work on the mirror polish....that looks amazing.

[Jimmyvonviggle]

I think once the car is polished the wheels will look good "chromed up" as well.

[Lance]

Yes, it's coming-up nicely but a hellova lot of work. I reckon spruced-up wheels should compliment the car nicely when finished. To my knowledge, I'll have the only polished 'D' in my neck-of-the-woods.

[Dangermouse]

I've commenced to polish my 'D' and it is a big job. I started mid-October. Very labour-intensive and almost an impossible task to remove the brushmarks. I've been at it for close on a month and have managed to get one panel almost done; the rear right-hand quarter.

How many hours do you think you have spent?


Yes, it's coming-up nicely but a hellova lot of work. I reckon spruced-up wheels should compliment the car nicely when finished. To my knowledge, I'll have the only polished 'D' in my neck-of-the-woods.

Nice looking car.

Yes, one per continent is about right. :)

[Victor]

Very nice, I like the two tone (upper mirror/lower grained) _ it may be unique too.
I guess I would be scare that some panel/section would curl to be buff like that!
Was that the car that feature on one of the first number of delorean magazine, on the cover?

[Lance]

Dangermouse's question first .... I don't really know how many hours I've spent on the car as I haven't kept tabs on it. Sometimes it might be a gap of three or four days between when I get a change to work on it. At a rough guess, I'd say 25-30 hours. I started on the right-hand door this week and I'd like to get it and the right-hand front guard (fender) finished before mid-December. I don't like driving the car with the polishing partly done, but I feel if at least half of the car is done, then it won't look so odd. One of the disheartening aspects about polishing the car is that there is a time when you feel as if you are getting nowhere with it as the brush marks are very difficult to get rid of. But you have to keep working at it. I find using soapy water has its advantages as I use this in conjunction with the wet-and-dry paper. A four-litre ice cream container filled with a water mixed with a detergent concentrate such as car wash or dish-washing detergent.

Victor .... I don't think there's any danger of damaging the panels. Just need to be a bit careful and not to apply too much pressure when sanding particularly on the roof section of the doors. I feel that the 'two-tone' look best suits my desire. It gives the finish a better contrast, I feel. However sometime down the track I might consider polishing the bottom half but I won't be rushing into it, that's for sure.

No, my car has never appeared in any of the DMC magazines that I'm aware of although I have written the odd article over the years and I have attend a couple of DeLorean gatherings. One was in LA in 1998, and more recently, Eurofest 2011 in Belfast.

Although a little out-of-date, have a geck at www.ozdelorean.com

Lance.

[Jimmyvonviggle]

Some guy on kijiji who polishes metal to a mirror finish says he will do a DeLorean for $3500-$4000 not including rims.

[ccurzio]

I welcome any comments or advice.

Don't polish your DeLorean.

[thirdmanj]

Don't polish your DeLorean.

:werd:

[FLYBOY]

Now that's some good info.
Started on my right front fender last month
Using power tools and the WolfHead wheel to get rid of the grain but it's a work in Progess
Still takes a lot of time
Keep u posted
Thx Lance

[thirdmanj]

Now that's some good info.
Started on my right front fender last month
Using power tools and the WolfHead wheel to get rid of the grain but it's a work in Progess
Still takes a lot of time
Keep u posted
Thx Lance

Flyboy...http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/18/yga6eryr.jpg

[Jimmyvonviggle]

Is it possible to polish regular steel to a mirror finish? I am assuming you can, but not sure.

[Dangermouse]

I assume so. Think of steel handrails that have been polished over time with thousands of people's hands. The problem is preventing them rusting once polished, I would imagine.

[Jimmyvonviggle]

I was thinking just giving it a clearcoat once I am finished stripping and polishing.

[Shep]

I was thinking just giving it a clearcoat once I am finished stripping and polishing.If you're going to clearcoat it, why not just go with a very high gloss clearcoat? That should achieve a similar effect in a fraction of the time if done properly. Or just get some chrome spray paint and use that.

[Jimmyvonviggle]

I think I will keep it grainy or rough and give it a gloss clear coat. Once there is no snow I will attempt this.

[Ron]

I was thinking just giving it a clearcoat once I am finished stripping and polishing.
I'm not a paint expert by any means but I was looking into painting some stainless and found that prep requires a 50 micron finish if sandblasting and 340-400 grit if by hand. That's pretty rough, relatively, and even then a special primer is required for a good bond...
Sounds like clearcoat would peel off in short order to me...??

[Jimmyvonviggle]

I'm not sure, you maybe right. I'll have to do more research before I commit to spraying the whole car.

[SS Spoiler]

I remember seeing a car at the 1991 DOA vegas show, that was painted stainless grey color. Besides the stainless being painted the mirrors, louver, facias, rubber side trim, and engine cover were painted also. Probably someone tired of cleaning fingerprints. It was from California, of course......

Paul Cerny @2691
Kalispell,MT

[Jimmyvonviggle]

Today I practiced polishing with an extra gas flap. The first picture shows my starting point.

I started sanding with 150 grit and used an orbital sander. This was a mistake as it left scratches that I had to sand out ( pic 2).

I then wet sanded with 220 and 400 sandpaper.

Finally I polished the flap with a polishing wheel mounted on a table top grinder tool. I used a stainless steel compound first and then moved onto a white diamond finish compound (pic 3).

In total it took me about 3 hrs. It's definitely not perfect, and there is still original grain left but it is really light. It wouldn't be hard to get it to a total mirror finish, but this is a nice compromise between the two states.

The conclusion I have made is that it would take patience to do the complete car, but definitely not as hard as I thought. Also polishing really lightens and changes the "color" of the stainless, and I am not ready to go there.

[LordFly]

That's kind of a neat look. Polished, but still grained. Could be a unique look, but it might also look like a half-assed polishing job, hard to say.

[Mark D]

It would be a lot harder to do the whole car in that half polished finish and try to keep it all looking even. I think the reason why it turned out that way was you moved on to lighter grits and polishing compounds too soon before you got the deeper grooves in the grain sanded out. A full mirror polish is going to be much easier to get uniform since the goal is removal of all the grain instead of 50%. When you'd attempt to do the whole car you'd end up with 60% grain in some spots and 40% in others. You'd have to spent a lot more time so it wouldn't look splotchy.

For a mirror finish I would have kept going with the orbital sander at 150 grit until the entire surface was uniform and there are no more directional grains. Then moved on to 220 until all of the 150 grain was sanded out and the full surface was at a uniform 220 appearance. After working through that with the 400 you'll already start to see a matte semi polished look. 400 is where you'll start to see any directional grain you missed come through. Continuing to sand with 400 will take a while but you can get out the remaining deep grain, otherwise switch back to 220 in localized spots and then go back to 400 until it's uniform again. The polishing step at the end should go quickly if you've let your sandpaper do most of the work. I'd probably sand at 800 or 1000 before even attempting to go to polish.

[Jimmyvonviggle]

It would be a lot harder to do the whole car in that half polished finish and try to keep it all looking even. I think the reason why it turned out that way was you moved on to lighter grits and polishing compounds too soon before you got the deeper grooves in the grain sanded out. A full mirror polish is going to be much easier to get uniform since the goal is removal of all the grain instead of 50%. When you'd attempt to do the whole car you'd end up with 60% grain in some spots and 40% in others. You'd have to spent a lot more time so it wouldn't look splotchy.

For a mirror finish I would have kept going with the orbital sander at 150 grit until the entire surface was uniform and there are no more directional grains. Then moved on to 220 until all of the 150 grain was sanded out and the full surface was at a uniform 220 appearance. After working through that with the 400 you'll already start to see a matte semi polished look. 400 is where you'll start to see any directional grain you missed come through. Continuing to sand with 400 will take a while but you can get out the remaining deep grain, otherwise switch back to 220 in localized spots and then go back to 400 until it's uniform again. The polishing step at the end should go quickly if you've let your sandpaper do most of the work. I'd probably sand at 800 or 1000 before even attempting to go to polish.

I would have to agree with you on this. It would be a nightmare to keep it uniform looking throughout the car. When I was sanding with the orbital sander and I noticed how badly I was screwing it up, I went to the wet sander. But your right I would have to really sand the heck out of it to get the original grain out. Good points.

[Mark D]

Yeah to get to a mirror polish it's going to look much worse at first before it gets better. The graining is pretty deep so that first round of sanding to get through the directional grain is going to be the most important. If you move on to lighter grits too soon then you spend forever trying to work out any of the deeper stuff that was missed.

If I'm sanding by hand the trick I use is to always sand across the existing grain at a 45 degree angle. If your original grain lines are running vertical keep sanding at a 45 deg angle until all the vertical lines appear to be gone. Then when you move on to your next grit sand 45 deg off from your previous grit until all of the grain lines are now in your new direction. This method allows you to see when you've removed all of the deeper grain from the previous round of sanding.

[SS Spoiler]

Another trick is to polish the hardest to reach sections first. Keeps you from getting discouraged to soon. Is it also true if you get the stainless too hot it will change it's properties, and cause it to rust?

[thirdmanj]

Another trick is to polish the hardest to reach sections first. Keeps you from getting discouraged to soon. Is it also true if you get the stainless too hot it will change it's properties, and cause it to rust?

We talkin' alchemy here?

[Jimmyvonviggle]

Another trick is to polish the hardest to reach sections first. Keeps you from getting discouraged to soon. Is it also true if you get the stainless too hot it will change it's properties, and cause it to rust?

I don't think heating it up with a sander will change the properties of the metal causing it to rust. There are only two ways stainless steel rusts and that is the original batch doesn't have the right balance, or you brush your car with a steel wool pad leaving behind metal that will rust (of course correct me if I am wrong).

[Mark D]

If you weld stainless you'll introduce contamination and carbon into the steel which can cause it to rust. The solution is to passivate it afterwards which releases some of the impurities and forms an oxide film layer on the stainless.

Heating up stainless if you're using a grinder or cutoff wheel can sometimes have a similar effect as welding, but it's usually with lower grades of stainless. 304 has a high percentage of Chromium/Nickel so it has good corrosion resistance.

[SteveyP]

Just a quick thought on this topic, but has anyone covered their DeLorean in one of those full body vinyl wraps yet? I saw a Mini Cooper covered in chrome look vinyl recently and it did look very smart. You could achieve that mirror finish far more easily by getting some specialists in to wrap your DeLorean. Also you wouldn't be altering the surface of the stainless steel, therefore (potentially) not de-valuing the car. And also (as a side effect) it acts as a protective layer, so no more scratches.

:smile:Steve

[Dangermouse]

DMCH wrapped a couple of cars or possibly the franchisees

One was done in the Gulf racing colors, iirc, at DMCF

One was done in conjunction with "The Hundreds" in black, I think at either DMCH or DMCCA

And the DMCH stage III car has a black graphic wrap.

No metallic ones that I am aware of.

[FLYBOY]

Ok I started this thread and finally got around to actually starting this undertaking
And I know two people in this thread offered numbers for "how to" (both have done it already)
And wanted the contact info. That they previously offered- although it's been months I was hoping to get
In touch with them.
I believe one was lance
I started polishing by hand and I am about 14 hours in on the left front fender which I know I need double that but I am wondering If I'm going about the wrong way or I'm not using the right materials. Because it looks good as in showroom luster Reflection good but no where near the mirror finish I'm trying to achieve.
And I still have small scratches?
Any help with those individuals who previously offerd those numbers would be appreciated,
It's just been awhile before I finally had time to start the job

[FLYBOY]

The other owner was Nicholas R.
He said he had John McCarty's number
From Cinny -although I don't think I'll even get it that shiny.

[Dangermouse]

Or you could just buy that one that is for sale in Hawaii and save your self a lot of work :tongue2:

[FLYBOY]

I know-right!
How much does he want for it?

[Dangermouse]

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?8570-Really-shiney-Delorean-for-sale-in-Hawaii&highlight=hawaii

It ended at $14k, but don't know if it sold.

[FLYBOY]

Well finally started with 600 wet and dry sand(After10 hours or so)
My big mistake starting with something to coarse (that took a couple hours to
Get out those scratches)
WOW what a difference! Just when I was about to give up.
Now I know I can get to what I want-I don't think I want the total
100% mirror finish (don't have that kind of patience) but I think I can get it to about 75% to 80%
Of that which was my goal anyway.
Polished with a great reflection!
Now on to 1200 and then 2000 grit then polish, then one fender will be done
Already started on the other one and it's starting to look great too.
T panel is already removed and that's will be #3
Hope to have it completed by DCS Ohio, I'll be driving it.
Not as hard as I thought just takes a lot of patience, but it'll
Get there.
I welcome any suggestions or comments, also I can post pics if someone tells me how?

[Dangermouse]

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?5877-How-to-add-photos-from-your-computer-to-a-post

[FLYBOY]

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?8570-Really-shiney-Delorean-for-sale-in-Hawaii&highlight=hawaii

It ended at $14k, but don't know if it sold.

Sold for 13K

[Jimmyvonviggle]

Here's some of flyboy's polishing .

[sergeiepp]

Electrolytic plasma polishing machine provides a mirror surface for 5 minutes on stainless steel. Here are examples of works http://pvdcoaters.com/product/category/epp
I will try to help you!!!

[mr_maxime]

After realizing I was using ceramic abrasive sandpaper I contacted 3m about polishing stainless to a mirror finish. This was their response


Dear Max Chamberland,

Thank you for contacting 3M where we apply science to life.

Polishing to a true mirror finish is a job for a professional.

I would suggest contacting a local metal fabrication shop.

Please feel free to contact us by phone if you have any questions at: 1-866-279-1235.

Again, thank you for contacting 3M where we apply science to life.

This completely pissed me off. I told them I was using the pro grade line and wanted if they had any recommendation for stainless, ie another line with more suitable abrasive. I mean what the hell kind of response is "let a professional do it" I'd understand if it was a safety thing, but its just polishing metal.

[Michael]

Thank you for contacting 3M where we apply science to life.

Polishing to a true mirror finish is a job for a professional.

I would suggest contacting a local metal fabrication shop.

Please feel free to contact us by phone if you have any questions at: 1-866-279-1235.

Again, thank you for contacting 3M where we apply science to life.

TRANSLATION:
We don't want to be responsible for you messing up, leave us alone.

[mr_maxime]

Figured that but it's still ridiculous considering they don't know what I'd be messing up and couldn't cause harm.

[Nicholas R]

After realizing I was using ceramic abrasive sandpaper I contacted 3m about polishing stainless to a mirror finish. This was their response



This completely pissed me off. I told them I was using the pro grade line and wanted if they had any recommendation for stainless, ie another line with more suitable abrasive. I mean what the hell kind of response is "let a professional do it" I'd understand if it was a safety thing, but its just polishing metal.


Figured that but it's still ridiculous considering they don't know what I'd be messing up and couldn't cause harm.

If I were you, I would respond back saying that you own a metal fabrication shop and are looking to expand your capabilities, which is why you're reaching out to them. After all, they apply science to life.

[mr_maxime]

Sadly, I snapped back quickly because it seemed really insulting. I don't think they will respond.

Nicholas, if you can somehow get me in contact with the guy that originally mirrored his car I'd be thankful. I'm doing it by hand since I dont have a garage or access to tools and I'm kind of loss on removing the grain. I'm wet sanding at a 45 degree angle with 100 grit aluminum oxide paper on a rubber sanding block. Despite what *every* non delorean owner is telling me will happen, it is not creating scratches that I cannot remove. It still takes a massive amount of sanding to remove the original grit. I read on jalopnik that he had started with 400 grit which seems absurdly fine.