7/16/05
Polishing the Grille: Day III

I managed to get a day to polish the grille some more. It’s hard to find time to work on the car when we’re in the middle of summer, and there are so many distractions! It really takes a lot of will power to stick to this job, especially since it’s so boring!

Wet sanding each piece to a higher and higher grit sandpaper is as fun as watching paint dry, only with sanding, you kind of have to pay attention. I change the direction of the sanding as I switch to a higher grit, so when all the marks in the other direction are gone, I know I’ve completely sanded the piece with the new grit. If you miss any spots from a coarser grit, they will show up in the buffing process. Once the buffing begins, and you find sanding marks from a grit coarser than 1500, you’ll have to go back and start all over again sanding back up to 1500. It’s best to take your time with this process because this will determine how well the final buffing will shine.

Trying not to go batty, I switched to prepping the grille shell. Last time I was sanding, I had only 600 and 1500 grit sand paper, and was having trouble with sanding out the scratches of the 600 with the 1500, but this week, I picked up some 1000 grit, and all my troubles were gone. I made quick work of sanding the shell, and got it ready for buffing.

The little buffing wheel and flexible shaft I bought from Eastwood seems to be doing the trick even if it’s slow going. It’s a little under powered at 1/8 hp, but I wasn’t sure if I could have handled more power without the risk of damaging the shell. In hindsight, I probably could have handled it, but at this point of the restoration, I didn’t need any mishaps!

Although it’s going to need a few more hours of polishing, the grille shell is starting to show her beauty. I may be bored out of my mind (and you probably are too), but I keep reminding myself that the results will be well worth the boredom!

This may not have been the most exciting post I’ve written, but it marks the 500th entry on my website! I want to take this moment to thank everyone who has been along for the ride these past 6 years, and I look forward to sharing with you the next 500 posts!

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