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I am about to start a restore project for my rocker panels and wanted to get any suggestions on the best way to go about this. The RP's are in very good shape, they just have some shallow scratches on the top and a few nicks on the side. What should I use to remove these?
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Re: '63 Rocker Panels
There are two paths.
The first is just strip off the old paint. (IIRC it's thin lacquer, so you can use rags and lacquer thinner). Then mask with thin masking tape and repaint them with a rattle can of Corvette restorer's favorite Krylon Semi-Flat Black or John Deer Blitz Black.
The aluminum is anodized, so the instant you take any abrasive to scatches you will penetrate the surface finish, and they will look worse and rapidly oxidize to a dull finish.
If you want to follow this path the best course is probably have them chemically stripped at a shop, then hand work surface defects with fine paper, have them reanodized, then paint. Success may be spotty because any defects that you miss will stick out like a sore thumb.
Of course, the above is probably going to cost WAAAAAAY more than buying a pair of repro rocker moldings (not rocker "panels").
Depending on your objective, a good stripping and repaint will provide decent appearance to a set that have only relatively minor scratches and abrasion unless you look at them closely. The ends that have been at the front will always be "sand blasted" from debris coming off the front tires, and this area is usually virtually impossible to "fix" on most without sanding the material thickness down to nothing.
Duke
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