How to make your stanless steel door sills look brand new

[EMC22]

The stainless steel door sills on the Cayenne were in pretty bad shape, so I started looking for options to bring them back into respectable condition.

This is what they all looked like before I started:

So after some research and a little trial and error as well this is what I did:

Step 1: Wet sand with 150 grit sandpaper:

This is enough to take out even pretty deep scratches, although some may require a little more pressure in the affected area to get rid of)

Step 2: Wet sand with 220 grit sandpaper

For both of the above steps I used Diablo Palm sander sheets that I had lying around.
I wrapped the sandpaper around a sponge sanding block to ensure even distribution of pressure.


If you are very careful and linear with your motion you can achieve a nice “brushed” finish as can be seen in the picture.
I actually did this with the trunk trim (pictures later in the post), but for the door sills I wanted a high gloss finish.

For Steps 3 and 4 I used the Eastwood Automotive Polishing Kit Eastwood Buffing Kit - Paint Buffing Kits - Buffing and Polishing Kit

I also used a Craftsman Pro variable speed drill (running at 2500 RPM)

Step 3: Polish with Tripoli (brown) compound and the large round (cylindrical) buff

I do 4 very slow passes with a good amount of downward pressure, followed by 6 more passes reducing the pressure each time, thus allowing the buff to spin increasingly faster with each pass.
This step polishes out most of the 220 Grit sanding marks, but still leaves a slightly hazy appearance.

Step 4: Polish with White Rouge and the spiral sewn wheel.

I do 2 passes with medium pressure, followed by another 4 passes with reduced pressure allowing the wheel to spin faster each time. This results in a high gloss, mirror finish.:dblthumb2:

For the trunk I wet sanded with 150 to get the deep scratches out, then I polished with brown compound, to smooth it out a little and then went back with 220grit to get the brushed effect.
I didn’t have time to finish it off completely today, but here are some pics in the interim. I should have taken some before pics, but basically this area was even worse than the door sills before I started.

 

[wdmaccord]

Nice work!!:xyxthumbs:

 

[Pureshine]

Great wright up

 

[DetailedByPrecision]

Nice job on that sill. You think we can get away with using any other compound/polish besides the kit?

 

[hernandez.art13]

Nice write up, you could seal in your work. Meg's Ultimate or Menzerna Power lock.

You could even clear coat it. I can't find the picture of the metal truck, but when I asked them how they did it. They said we just clear coated it. Which made sense.

Just my opinion, but you don't want to leave metal just exposed like that. So seal it

Keep it up :xyxthumbs:

Art

 

[hoyt66]

Great idea! I will definitely use this. Thanks!!

 

[57BORNTORUN]

I have done many stainless trim parts for my cars and lots more to do.I use these products as well as the rouges.It cuts sanding time in half.The Trizact bands have a short life span for the money but it does speed the process.

Expander Wheel Alone

Eastwood Company: Search Results for 13115c#inproducts

 

[EMC22]

Nice work!!:xyxthumbs:

Great wright up

Nice job on that sill. You think we can get away with using any other compound/polish besides the kit?

Thanks everyone.

I think it would need to be a hard paste product at least, else it will be spraying all over the place
I did actually try a couple of paint compounds with a 3 inch GG orbital initially (following the least aggressive first - approach) but that was of no use at all given the depth of the scratches.
I think the key is high RPM at 90 degrees to the plane of the surface, and the ability to apply a good bit of pressure.

Nice write up, you could seal in your work. Meg's Ultimate or Menzerna Power lock.

You could even clear coat it. I can't find the picture of the metal truck, but when I asked them how they did it. They said we just clear coated it. Which made sense.

Just my opinion, but you don't want to leave metal just exposed like that. So seal it

Keep it up :xyxthumbs:

Art

Thanks - very good point. I will be adding some sealant this week. Still trying to decide which one...
I didn't want to clear coat it because I know it will inevitibly get scratched again, so I prefer to be able to go back and repair areas as needed without having to strip the whole thing.

Great idea! I will definitely use this. Thanks!!

I have done many stainless trim parts for my cars and lots more to do.I use these products as well as the rouges.It cuts sanding time in half.The Trizact bands have a short life span for the money but it does speed the process.

Expander Wheel Alone

Eastwood Company: Search Results for 13115c#inproducts

Thanks - will take a look.

 

[KillaCam]

Wow impressive. Only one sanding step and the rest used compound? There's no scratches at all even with that aggressive sanding step and no sanding following? I don't have any experience with polishing SS.

 

[vet]

Great job!

 

[EMC22]

Wow impressive. Only one sanding step and the rest used compound? There's no scratches at all even with that aggressive sanding step and no sanding following? I don't have any experience with polishing SS.

Thanks - It was 2 sanding steps (first 150 and then 220 grit) followed by 2 compound steps.
This was my first ever attempt at this and I was also surprised at how workable the material is. It took a while to figure out the correct steps using a test area, but once I had the correct process figured, it was not difficult at all.

Great job!

Thank you.

 

[57BORNTORUN]

Wow impressive. Only one sanding step and the rest used compound? There's no scratches at all even with that aggressive sanding step and no sanding following? I don't have any experience with polishing SS.

It`s one thing doing door sills and another doing moldings.To the trained eye the light reflection tells the story.The quality of stainless (pores) has so much to do with the job at hand.I have rejected some pieces of stainless due to this situation.Sometimes the more you sand the more the defects show.Understand though I`m doing it on 40+ year old stainless.Sometimes I go to 1500 grit before my stand polisher and rouges.I always go with the least sanding grit possible first but it then may require going to a lower grit and start over again.Stainless can be very deceptive through the polishing process depending on your requirements of the end results.Just my experiences as an anal stainless polisher.

 

[EMC22]

It`s one thing doing door sills and another doing moldings.To the trained eye the light reflection tells the story.The quality of stainless (pores) has so much to do with the job at hand.I have rejected some pieces of stainless due to this situation.Sometimes the more you sand the more the defects show.Understand though I`m doing it on 40+ year old stainless.Sometimes I go to 1500 grit before my stand polisher and rouges.I always go with the least sanding grit possible first but it then may require going to a lower grit and start over again.Stainless can be very deceptive through the polishing process depending on your requirements of the end results.Just my experiences as an anal stainless polisher.

Good advice there - thanks :dblthumb2:.

This was 2008 trim, and some of the first testing I did was with various grades of 3M XF paper/sponges.
I would definitely not suggest using any machine sanding process (unless one is an expert) as I think one could easily sand too deep. The soft backing sponge and hand action keeps things a lot safer.

 

[57BORNTORUN]

Good advice there - thanks :dblthumb2:.

This was 2008 trim, and some of the first testing I did was with various grades of 3M XF paper/sponges.
I would definitely not suggest using any machine sanding process (unless one is an expert) as I think one could easily sand too deep. The soft backing sponge and hand action keeps things a lot safer.

Amen to that Brother.Test pieces sometimes are helpful prior to your first attempt even if they are not the same grade of stainless which there are more than one would think for automotive use.

 

[javip2k]

Fantastic! Excellent work and a good write up. Thank you for share :dblthumb2:

 

[artofdetailing]

wow nice job! Ive been wondering how to do this

 

[EMC22]

Fantastic! Excellent work and a good write up. Thank you for share :dblthumb2:

wow nice job! Ive been wondering how to do this

Thanks. Hope it helps.

 

[Vegas Transplant]

I've done my share of Cayennes. Have them in my gallery somewhere. I always wondered if those parts were coated or anodized, not just brushed SS.

I have to admit that you've done well with the coloring of the metal rops: But the math doesn't add up. No offense intended.
Playing devils advocate (as usual), when did you decide to go with the brushed finish...before, or after ordering the kit? Just wondering?

EDIT: what are you calling a pass?

 

[EMC22]

I've done my share of Cayennes. Have them in my gallery somewhere. I always wondered if those parts were coated or anodized, not just brushed SS.

I have to admit that you've done well with the coloring of the metal rops: But the math doesn't add up. No offense intended.
Playing devils advocate (as usual), when did you decide to go with the brushed finish...before, or after ordering the kit? Just wondering?

EDIT: what are you calling a pass?

Thanks. :xyxthumbs:
However I'm not sure I fully understand the question, but I'll answer what I think you're asking in the interim

When I started my research, my intention was to polish everything smooth/gloss.

I actually ordered the polishing kit after doing some testing with a GG 3" orbital and realizing that it just would not work.

Then when I got the polishing kit and tested it, I realized that it was great at getting out light to medium scratches. That was when I started experimenting with wet sanding for the deeper scratches, and noticed that wet sanding over a polished section gave quite a nice finish.

So finally after all the tesing I figured out a process to do both gloss and brushed finishes.

I only did the brushed effect on the trunk trim. The door sills were all done with a gloss finish. I used the polishing kit on both sections, but in different ways.

By pass, I mean one motion in one direction with the polisher accross the surface being worked.

Let me know if I answered the questions.

 

[Vegas Transplant]

Yes Sir. No lingering doubts. I kinda figured you were going for gloss after the GG episode. Not at all surprised that you went for the brushed on the latter.
As you described your "pass", one direction is cutting, and the opposite is polishing. So you would not get full correction using this method, or limited number of passes. If you would have chosen the emory instead of the tripoli, then went with the stainless bar instead of the white, then you would have made more progress. Also, I think you stated using the tall cylindrical buff. If you would have went with the hard sewn, you also would have attained better results.

The bottom line is that the bling you achieved is undeniable. I think that you picked a trifecta.