How to polish an aluminum fuel tank

**Hotrod20** · 02-01-2010, 10:19 PM

Hi team, anyone ever Polish an aluminum fuel tank? I have a special request to detail a race car and then come across a square aluminum plate fuel tank in the trunk.

Measurements are approx. 20 x 22 x10. This is for the Detroit Autorama a few weeks away. I've just completed the engine "detail and paint" by hand.

Could a DeWalt DA be used on this tank with metal cleaning compound to make it shine up like a mirror? thanks.

**sullysdetailing** · 02-01-2010, 11:13 PM

I would use his system. It works great Wolfgang Metal Polishes clean, polish, and protect metal, aluminum, chrome, stainless steel polish, Airstream polish, trailer polish, aluminum polish,

**jlb85** · 02-01-2010, 11:25 PM

Where are you located?

Depending on what state it is in right now... assuming it is not mirror polished from before, you may need to use sand paper to smoothen it out first. Then polish with the biggest tool you can get in there

The most aggressive metal polish I have used is P21S polishing soap. Follow up after with any metal polish, like Meguiar's or Blue Magic (OTC).

Originally Posted by Hotrod20

Hi team, anyone ever Polish an aluminum fuel tank? I have a special request to detail a race car and then come across a square aluminum plate fuel tank in the trunk.

Measurements are approx. 20 x 22 x10. This is for the Detroit Autorama a few weeks away. I've just completed the engine "detail and paint" by hand.

Could a DeWalt DA be used on this tank with metal cleaning compound to make it shine up like a mirror? thanks.

**Kurt_s** · 02-02-2010, 02:35 AM

One of my friends used a spare, clean piece of carpet that he attached to a rotary polisher or drill, then used One Grand Metal 300 Polish to clean up the aluminum diamond panel on a Fire truck with great success.

He said that the aluminum panel looked awesome for months. It was cheap and effective. I bought the polish to clean my 5 qt copper cooking pot, stainless cookware and the stainless exhaust tips on my wife's car. The exhaust tips look great and the copper pot is my next project.

Alternatively, the video using the Wolfgang metal polish looked like it would work nicely.

Good luck!

**Hotrod20** · 02-02-2010, 05:31 PM

Auto Lavish, We are in the Plymouth, Novi , Northville MI area. Pampering rides for the auto enthusiast. Everyday rides, classic, muscle, Sports, Hot Rod and High end vehicles.

HR 20.

**oldmodman** · 02-13-2010, 04:14 PM

I am going to assume that a fuel tank is similar to an intercooler reservoir in material.
To polish mine I started with 240 grit sandpaper to quickly remove several deep scratches. Then progressed to 600, then 1500, and finally 3000.
After that I used a compounding pad with SIP, followed by a finishing pad with Adams metal polish. A lot of work but ended up with a nearly mirror finish.
By the way, I used the exact same technique on my stainless exhaust pipes. Worked great.
And I used a PC for all of it.