Anyone Restore Original Sill Plates?

[Kirk M.]

Does anyone know of someone who will restore a pair of original 67 sill plates? Thanks.

Kirk

[Tim S.]

Re: Anyone Restore Original Sill Plates?

Guess not!

[Kenneth T.]

Re: Anyone Restore Original Sill Plates?

I have heard that the repros are so close and the cost of a resto is so high that there is no bang for the buck. I have some old ones that will wither on the shelf.

[Kirk M.]

Re: Anyone Restore Original Sill Plates?

Here is the bulleted list of original sills versus repro:

1. Originals have 32 ribs in the black center region, which should be 1/26" wide. Repros only have 28 ribs.
2. Original screw holes should be angled to permit counter-sinking screw head. Repros are not.
3. Some mention of additional metal around holes on underside to permit countersinking on originals. Not exactly sure what that means.
4. No extrusion marks on originals - again I'm not quite familiar with what those would look like.

Seems like a few differences, if you're willing to count ribs. $44.00 versus $200 to restore with clear anodizing. So, $160.00 differential. Is it worth it??

Kirk

[Ron N.]

Re: Anyone Restore Original Sill Plates?



Ron

[Tom L.]

Re: Anyone Restore Original Sill Plates?

2 Questions...What shade of black is used? And what is the best way to remove the remaining black overspray? I would think that this procedure is different from removing overspray from chrome parts (the interrior center console plate for example), they are much harder and resist scratches better than aluminum.

[Alan D.]

Re: Anyone Restore Original Sill Plates?

Ron, was the finished anodize a bright shinny finish??? Need some trim done on my 64, however every product I've seen is a satin finish. Original on my car are Bright - so its been a problem.

[Ron N.]

Re: Anyone Restore Original Sill Plates?

Alan, the anadize finish was bright not satin. Comparted to the repos I got from Ecklers my finish is brighter.

[Kirk M.]

Re: Anyone Restore Original Sill Plates?

2 Questions...What shade of black is used? And what is the best way to remove the remaining black overspray? I would think that this procedure is different from removing overspray from chrome parts (the interrior center console plate for example), they are much harder and resist scratches better than aluminum.

I first used 000 steel wool to knock off a bit of the black paint in the center section and then used an eco-friendly orange-smelling paint remover. It popped each of the black groove tracks up so that I could simply wipe them off. Cleaned with bristle brush, repeated paint remover and I was done. I used a jewelers screwdriver to gently scrape out any stubborn areas of paint. Looks great. Now I just need to get them polished and clear anodized. Still looking for any additional suggestions for people to do that. Does anyone know if Brightworks in Mass clear anodizes aluminum parts?

Kirk

[Joe R.]

Re: Anyone Restore Original Sill Plates?

Hi Kirk:

A friend of mine simply polished his original sill plates himself using a buffing wheel, painted the center section, and installed them on the car with no anodizing whatsoever. These got no deduction duraing several judging events, and the car achieved a Duntov.

As a judge, I'm not sure I could tell the difference between brightly polished bare aluminum and clear anodized aluminum.

My guess is that the un-anodized plates would eventually begin to oxidize, but that is a slow process and they could probably be buffed out again easily.

Once you have polished out all the scratches, you won't want to leave the sill plates on the car for daily driving anyway, so a separate set of polished originals can be among the many items you install on the car only for judging.