polishing the end plates on old MSA,s

Lee Dassow · Post by **Lee Dassow** » 17 Feb 2013 10:47 am

Fellow Steelers,
Can the end plates and other polished area's
on the old MSA'S be buffed up with some kind of
compound, or drill motor with a pad or something
to get that lustre back? LEE

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 17 Feb 2013 11:04 am

This is the best stuff available today. California Custom. Be sure and get the aluminum Deoxydizer and the Purple Polish. In very short time, they will have your parts as shiny as their condition allows. If that's not enough, buffing will be required. A drill motor, or a home benchmount buffer is good for smaller parts like keyheads, changers, etc. But for pig parts like endplates, the buffing wheels are just to small, and don't have enough power. You get results that are streaky. I take endplates and pedal rack bars to a pro. Not too costly.

http://www.californiacustom.com/ourproducts.html

You put on the deoxy, and put the polish right over it. Wait a few minutes, and wipe it off. No rubbing, no buffing. One short step. An endplate takes about 5 minutes. The Deoxy is really the key step. It's a big step forward in polished aluminum care.

Lee Dassow · Post by **Lee Dassow** » 17 Feb 2013 12:06 pm

Thanks John,
I think you told me that before, I will order some. LEE

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 17 Feb 2013 12:24 pm

Lee,
Have you got a Mack Truck dealer nearby? That's where I got mine. Saved a few bucks too.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 17 Feb 2013 12:27 pm

Maybe give these guys a call?
http://www.commercialtrucktrader.com/fi ... Make-MACK/

Jim Curtain · Post by **Jim Curtain** » 17 Feb 2013 4:25 pm

Simichrome,newspaper, elbow grease works good, can be purchased at motorcycle shops.

Lee Dassow · Post by **Lee Dassow** » 17 Feb 2013 4:33 pm

John, Theres a Freightliner dealer about 2 miles from me. I'll swing by there tomorrow, but if they dont have it I'll order It from california custom. For the two containers and shipping it comes to $35.00 dollars. Not bad If It does the job. LEE

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 17 Feb 2013 4:39 pm

They will do the job for a long, long time,,,, as well as polish up all kinds of other stuff. I saved $3 a bottle, and no shipping, by buying at the local Mack dealer.

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 17 Feb 2013 6:23 pm

They can definitely be buffed out, see the MSA Classic I have for sale here on the Forum. I used cotton wheels on a power buffer. It's fairly expensive getting started, it's time consuming, and it's EXTREMELY messy, but the results are nice. If you're only doing one, it would probably be best to find someone else to do it for you. You can do a web search and find dealers that have all of the supplies you need, and there are also lots of instructional videos available.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 18 Feb 2013 9:27 am

DW,
I have two bench buffers. They work really well on smaller parts, but all that territory on the endplates? I kept getting streaks. I sanded out all the nicks, up to 1200 wet/dry. Took them to a shop. The guy's buffing wheel was about a foot wide! And man! Did he lean into his work. No streaking. He also told me that sanding up to 600 would have been enough. Took him no time to do the plates and rack. I think he charged me $30/40. It was worth it!
JB

Add; You can use all the older products, like Simi, Nevrdull, Maguiare's, etc.. They all work. Just not as well. And the time and elbow grease involved is considerable. The Cali products are newer tech, and are effortless. And their M-Ron Glass wax is incredible. #1 Carnuba. I rub the lacquer out with Meguiare's Professional Swirl Remover 2.0. This removes all airborne contaminants that have stuck to the lacquer. It is very gentle and will not remove the patina of age, or damage the finish in any way. Then on to the M-Ron!. Look at this old beater Tele. The reflections of the grass make it seem as if you are looking through the guitar!

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 18 Feb 2013 9:42 am

I never used anything finer than 600 grit with a small, high speed sander. Instead of water, I use WD40 with the wet or dry paper, a tip I read somewhere a long time ago and it works well. My buffer runs at 3400 RPM, my wheels are 1 1/2" wide and I use two, one for course and one for fine compound. Before using the fine, all of the course compound must be removed, I use Berrymans brake cleaner for this. After the fine compound, I do the final polish with Mothers mag polish. It's a lot of work, and I really lean into those parts at first, the hotter they get, the easier the material smooths out. For the final polish, I don't use a lot of pressure.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 18 Feb 2013 9:55 am

DW,
sounds like yours are a lot more powerful than mine. I think mine turn at 1750. Maybe I'll start looking for a new motor. Can't get wheels that wide on mine either. Don't be breathin' that WD!

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 18 Feb 2013 11:02 am

I do wear a respirator if I'm going to buff for more than a couple of minutes. One other tip I read somewhere, I have an old box fan that I sit beside the buffer stand and point it out the door of my shop. I tape an air conditioner filter to the back of it with duct tape all around, and it's amazing how much fabric and buffing dust it collects. Every half hour or so, I run the shop vac over the filter and it gets most of the stuff out of it. I keep extra filters for when they get too dirty for the vacuum to work.

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 18 Feb 2013 11:09 am

Now all of my secrets have been exposed.

David Higginbotham · Post by **David Higginbotham** » 18 Feb 2013 3:57 pm

Now all of my secrets have been exposed. Smile

I think you scared everyone into not taking on these tasks Darvin!

It sure let's everyone know how much work is involved in restoring these old classics. The Bud and MSA you've listed recently show the quality of work of a perfectionist as they are both incredible so say the least!

But John and Darvin's willingness to help show what kind of people we have here on the forum

Lee Dassow · Post by **Lee Dassow** » 18 Feb 2013 8:06 pm

That SHO-BUD looks real nice John. LEE

Joe Babb · Post by **Joe Babb** » 19 Feb 2013 5:38 am

I've been working on polishing up the aluminum parts on an old Fender D10. It looks for all the world like there are pin holes in the castings and the metal is not responding well to my efforts. Anybody had experience with this sort of problem?

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 19 Feb 2013 6:02 am

YES. The Sho Bud Super Pro I sold a couple of months ago had lots of "bug" holes in the casting on the LH end plate. The more I sanded, the more they showed up. I finally just buffed it out anyway, and the holes were not noticeable unless you looked really close. Some of the other parts had occasional holes that showed in them, but there's just not much you can do about them. MSA's aluminum parts are machined from solid stock, so you don't have that problem with them.