C2 Rocker Mldg. Scratches

[Donald M.]

The rocker molding on my '67 side pipe car has several scratches that I would like to polish out if possible. Can I use regular (brown) rubbing compound? Will that be too abrasive? Is there a service in FL that will polish out scratches?
I want to preserve the original molding because the new GM replacements are poor quality with wrinkles and creases in the metal at the pointed ends of the "spear"- definately not worth the $160. retail price.

[Rob A.]

Re: C2 Rocker Mldg. Scratches

Don,

I had the same concern on my '67 sidepipe car. The finish is actually "anodized", and to have it refinished as original you need to find someone who can do anodizing, which I couldn't in my area. If you have someone try to remove the scratches, the area they work on probably won't match the rest of it. I just left the defects on mine to preserve the original anodized finish.

[Rob A.]

Re: C2 Rocker Mldg. Scratches

Don,

I had an extra molding which I took to a polishing shop to have the scratches removed. They did a nice job of removing the scratches and polishing it. I sprayed it with Krylon Satin Clear to make it look more like it was anodized. It looked pretty good, but you could see the difference when you held it next to an original one.

[Jack H.]

Re: C2 Rocker Mldg. Scratches

Yeah, the problem with rocker panels is finding a plating shop that does annodizing whose tank is large enough/long enough to accommodate the rocker panels. For a while, there was an NCRS member advertizing rocker panel restoration in the Services section of Driveline Magazine... You might want to take a look there and see if he's still 'turning the crank' on this restoration service!