Restoring/Protecting Audi Polished Aluminum Sport Mirrors

[markiteight]

Hi All,

I have a pair of polished aluminum mirrors from a B6 (2002-2005) Audi S4 that have some minor pitting and a slightly cloudy finish. I'd like to restore them as best as possible but I'm not sure where to start. I can't tell if they're clear coated or not, and I can't find that answer anywhere online.

Anyone have experience with these? I'm less concerned with the minor pitting and more interested in addressing the cloudiness and also giving them some sort of protection to maintain the finish. Here's a couple pictures that hopefully illustrate what I'm up against. Apologies they're not the greatest, they were originally taken to illustrate something other than the housings themselves.

https://i.imgur.com/9k4fu5z.jpg?2

https://i.imgur.com/xugAxUd.jpg?1

Thanks,
Adam

[Eldorado2k]

Take a small amount of polish or compound on a microfiber towel and rub the metal.. If it turns the towel black, then it's bare polished aluminum, and a metal polish can/should be used... If it doesn't turn the towel black then you shouldn't use a metal polish.

[markiteight]

Take a small amount of polish or compound on a microfiber towel and rub the metal.. If it turns the towel black, then it's bare polished aluminum, and a metal polish can/should be used... If it doesn't turn the towel black then you shouldn't use a metal polish.

Thanks. I'll give it a go when I have a chance. Just one quick question: when you say "small amount of polish or compound" do you mean a metal specific polish/compound or does it matter?

Thanks,
Adam

[Eldorado2k]

Thanks. I'll give it a go when I have a chance. Just one quick question: when you say "small amount of polish or compound" do you mean a metal specific polish/compound or does it matter?

Thanks,
Adam

It doesn't matter. They'll both turn the towel black the same way if it's bare aluminum.

[oneheadlite]

If you’re worried about having your test spot stand out, you could always tilt (or remove) the mirror glass and do your test spot on the inside (or at least the less visible inside edge) of the housing.

I sure would think those would have some sort of coating on them, otherwise you’d think you’d see a lot more of them in the wild looking much worse. But that’s only my speculation. Looking forward to hearing what you find, and seeing how they turn out!

[Eldorado2k]

I think they're going to be plastic chrome...

[markiteight]

I think they're going to be plastic chrome...

Nope. They're real metal. This is Audi we're talking about, not GM. ;-)

A friend of mine made an interesting suggestion: test continuity. If there's resistance, it's bare metal. Open circuit, clear coat. I broke out my multimeter and gave it a shot. Open circuit. To confirm I rubbed down an inconspicuous spot with polish and there was no color change. They're clear coated.

@oneheadlite: that's a good suggestion and I had considered that, but I decided against that idea because there's a good chance they didn't bother to clear coat the inside of the housing, leading to false results. I'll test the interior surfaces when I disassemble them.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

[Trip]

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/showthread.php?t=107119

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Autogeekonline mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=87407)

[Trip]

^ Same mirrors that were on my brothers car, I hit them with a black foam pad on my Dewalt rotary. Cleaned up fantastic. Used HD compound and coating with Polish Angel. That's the only part that still looks good since I did his car. He loves the carwashes

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Autogeekonline mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=87407)

[Eldorado2k]

Nope. They're real metal. This is Audi we're talking about, not GM. ;-)

A friend of mine made an interesting suggestion: test continuity. If there's resistance, it's bare metal. Open circuit, clear coat. I broke out my multimeter and gave it a shot. Open circuit. To confirm I rubbed down an inconspicuous spot with polish and there was no color change. They're clear coated.

@oneheadlite: that's a good suggestion and I had considered that, but I decided against that idea because there's a good chance they didn't bother to clear coat the inside of the housing, leading to false results. I'll test the interior surfaces when I disassemble them.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

I'll let you have that dig. Lol. [emoji4]
I just thought that would be an odd place for them to decide to take on the extra weight of solid metal.

[markiteight]

I'll let you have that dig. Lol. [emoji4]
I just thought that would be an odd place for them to decide to take on the extra weight of solid metal.

Hehe. It's not like Audis are particularly svelte. The only reason Audi uses a lot of aluminum on some of their cars is to prevent them becoming so heavy they collapse in on themselves and form small black holes.

The mirror caps are definitely metal, but I can't imagine they're aluminum...unless they came up with some sort of alloy composed of aluminum and depleted Uranium. Each cap weighs almost 800 grams.

[brettS4]

The S4s of that era also suffered from steel uprights in the front suspension that added about 400 lbs over the aluminum version. So another two pounds in the mirrors was a drop in the bucket. But man, those mirrors are worth it when you see them on the car.

[Eldorado2k]

Please tell me that car has glass headlights... If not, then none of what they did makes sense. Lol.

BTW, my 97' Cadillac has glass headlights that'll never haze up and need restoration, because GM doesn't cut corners when building Cadillacs. Lol. [emoji23] J/k, but my headlights really are glass. [emoji57]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171028/b099764834ce7d12207d2fa1be92901e.jpg

[markiteight]

The car the mirrors are going onto (a 1995 S6 Avant) does have glass lenses. The car they came off of (2005 S4), doesn't.

https://i.imgur.com/VL01nV1.jpg?2

However all 2000 and later North American market Audis have plastic lenses, just like everyone else. Mercifully some E-Code headlights continued to come with glass lenses post apocalypse, but they're becoming harder and harder to find.

That being said the two m.y. 2000 Audis in the family both have original headlights, have never been restored, and are showing minimal fading/discoloration. It's not like Audi was using some magic U.V. proof plastic because I've seen plenty of V.A.G. products from the same era with badly faded lights, ours have just had above average care.

[markiteight]

I finally got around to tackling the caps this afternoon. I started with Megs #3 (because that's what I had on hand) followed by HD Speed topped with 845. The results are mixed: the cloudiness in the finish is gone but the new, clean, shiny finish makes all the dings and stone chips show a lot more.

Before:

https://i.imgur.com/vYMKZ7b.jpg?2


After:

https://i.imgur.com/a1OV2h7.jpg?2

Apologies for the poor pictures. It's really tough to photograph polished surfaces and get the desired results with a phone, especially when the light changes between before and after shots.

Here's a closeup showing the pitting/rock chips:

https://i.imgur.com/VPuNqFV.jpg?1

Again photographic technology and talent lets me down. That image makes the damage look a lot worse than it really is, but needless to say the surface is far from perfect.

I have a feeling that the Megs #3 may have been a bit too gentle for this task, but I'm wondering if there's any compound that could actually address this, even partially. If I could get rid of just some of the imperfections it would be worth the time/effort.