Aluminum Window Frame Cat 30

[Dana Point Steve]

Hello All,

The beautiful Catalina 30 I just purchased looks great except the Aluminum frames around the windows. I know it sounds petty buy I would like to clean them up. I spoke with a guy who details boats in the marina and he suggested I use 400 grit wet / dry sandpaper. I tried using aluminum polish and it made no difference. Any success stories cleaning these frames? Thanks

 

[jrowan]

There was another recent post on this topic already if U research it, & several sailors tried to use a grinding/ polishing wheel to polish the surface to a sheen. The problem is that aluminum has a natural tendency to oxidize to salt air, which is unavoidable. It will grey out again unles u apply some kind of varnish or wax based sealant over top of the surface after polishing. Another post made a good point that sanding will remove the surface treatment that was applied during manufacturing. Also, sanding will leave metal flakes that can stain your gelcoat, so u need to tape it off underneath the portholes. My 2c.