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Tips for polishing Alpine or Tiger interior column surround.

boss-tiger

boss-tiger

Silver Level Sponsor
Mine was a very dull (and slightly textured) light brown, wet sanded 400g > 600g > 800g which took care of 'dull' and about 80% of the brown (now a dark brown and very smooth). Have a 2" orbital air sander with felt hook&loop pads, tried Amasol metal paste which did help a lot, then tried an auto paint polish. Long story I know, looks much better but I bet some one has a tip or two. ? should these be able to polish into a black finish? Is there something that will make these a rich black without using paint (I would prefer not to paint)?
 
I just use black shoe polish. Works a treat.

More info on other options in a previous thread…

Column cover

I have a steering column cover in good condition, but is faded from sun exposure. What is the best way to fix this? Paint (what kind) or wet sand it down ?
forum.sunbeamalpine.org forum.sunbeamalpine.org
 
Over 50 years ago, I sprayed my S-I steering column surround with black wrinkle paint. It looked okay, but today I spray it with a satin black paint.
Jan
 
I'm with Jan. I use a flat black vinyl paint (Plasticoat Brand). It comes out looking just
perfect and it's easy too!
 
I just used plain old Kiwi, but I don’t think it matters what brand or type you use. Just as long as it ends up penetrating the surface layer, reducing the chalkiness, adding color and buffing to a soft-gloss finish. I also used 0000 steel wool to smooth the surface and remove the degraded surface layer before applying the polish.
 

Repair Bakelite Glove Box Surround

Anyone have a recommendation for what adhesive to use to repair the bakelite glove box surround on our Alpines? Mine broke trying to remove it and I want to repair it by gluing it back together. Any suggestions will be much appreciated. Rick
forum.sunbeamalpine.org forum.sunbeamalpine.org
 
I painted my glovebox surround once. I thought I did a good job with prep (clearly not). But it peeled off after not too long. YMMV.
 
Update - so took my covers from 3/1/25 (1st entry this post), wet sanded further 1200g then 2400g, then using India black ink rubbed into the covers like you would a light wood stain, then quickly wiped off with a paper towel, repeated 3 times, then final 'buff' with paper towel and they great IMO. Picture attached is 5 min after above process. Plan is to let it dry a few days then using a fine plastic polish see if it will shine up a bit more - if not the semi-gloss appearance is 10x better than dull textured brown I started with. Note, you can put the ink on too thick and it sort of dries blotchy so easy does it. To remove blotches I used lacquer thinner on a paper towel to re-blend (easy does it and quickly wipe/dry off). Makes a mess - you will need several paper towels, I went thru several pr of rubber gloves (especia20250314_190952629_iOS.jpglly when lacquer thinner showed up at crime scene). Whole process start-finish probably less than 3 hours (over several days - multiple start/stops/beer/etc.)
 
wanted to add that the ink drys quickly (I should have expected that but did not) - may help you avoid the blotching
 
FWIW, FYI, YMMV, AFAIK, and every other acronym that might be a warning that you might not care, I'm told these old bakelite items were often made with asbestos in them. And sanding asbestos is about the worst thing you can do as far as asbestos risk goes.

Now of course, after all these decades of working around these cars, and sanding all sorts of materials without masks, sanding these things may not make a difference. But if you care, you might want to wear a mask that is rated for it.
 
Update - thanks for health considerations and yes in general the classic car maint/resto probably not good for our health but god has a plan my thinking. So .. being blessed (and sometimes a curse) with multi Sunbeam's, I did a 2nd surround and finished today. Reason I did it was becuase it has always had a small chip the size of a pencil eraser that has always bugged me .. so, what I did was some JB Weld and added he india black ink while mixing up the epoxy paste and used to repair chip. After dry (overnight), light sand with 400g/800g/1200/2500 and you could see the repair but barely. Then did the wipe down with ink entirely and if I did not show you the repaired spot you would not know Just thought it may be of interest also
 
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