26 foot long Aluminum Tank - How to achieve mirror finish?

A

ahheck01

New member
I've detailed hundreds of cars, a couple boats, just recently a huge RV, but this is a new one.  My brother works for a trucking company, and needs his 26 foot long aluminum tank back to a mirror shine.


 


I naturally youtube'd this, and there's plenty of guys polishing the gas tanks with a rotary using the edge of a pad made specifically for this purpose.  Very interesting.


 


Wondering if you guys could chime in on process, materials, and how to bid this out.  There are some deep pockets, but I want to make sure I can do a great job for them at a fair price.



What have your experiences been?


 


Photos of actual tank:
 

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That's a wool pad & rotary job all day long. It will look amazing when done though. Use a dedicated metal polishing compound. 
 
Agree with David.


 


As far as pricing. Something like that I would price out by the foot. Personally I'd probably be charging in the range of $25-30 per foot.
 
Flitz does really well polishing out bare metal. They have 3 "Buff Balls" that are really good for this, and I would suggest that they be use: you will need the large one, and probably 3-5 in all. You should plan on getting a large supply of the Aluminum Pre Cleaner from them as well. You will need a fairly large amount of the polish, probably abour 8-10 lbs. (it comes in 2 lb. cans).

The Buff Ball attaches to a drill. Considering the area involved, you should use a corded drill.

Wash the tank in a regular waym then dry. Then grab a section, probably 4-6 sq. feet, and spray with the Aluminum Pre Cleaner. wait about 1-2 minutes, and wipe off. Depending on how bad the tank is, and the desired level of shine, this may be all that you need. If not, spread the Flitz polish on the surface, buff, and wipe off. That will give you your shine.

I have never done anything near that size. I have used it on 1980s aluminum factory wheels after crushed glass abrasive blasting them. After the blasting, I wet sanded them with 400, then 600, and finally with 1000 grit wet/dry sand paper. The process above was used as a final polish. The end result was that you could probably shave using the reflection off the wheel spokes. You wouldn`t need to sand, as all you are doing is taking off oxidation, and maybe some light scratching.
 
Anyway like $30 per foot. So $30 times 26 $780 for the whole thing front to back. Rotary and metal polish. Not sure which one will work so anything probably.


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nuvite works real well for polishing aluminum. costly and a little tough to rub off residuals... but results are fast and pretty.

you can also play with typical yellow and red rouge...

I had experience with nuvite and its my go to if i have to polish aluminum or brass.

edit: geeze.. i got caught in a necro thread.
 
This is one of those jobs you need to price high enough so you don`t think you will get it. Then if you do it will be worth the work you need to put into making it come out great. Get more pads a d gloves than you think you need , eye protection from the black dust sling and if you can find Maas polish for your final finish it`s great.
 
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