Polishing your Ful-Vu-Lite

Paul Steinberg

PCS Life Member President
Staff member
Super Site Supporter
I just started to clean up the Ful-Vu-Lite for the Miller Meteor, and found that they were in worse condition than I remembered. If the following series of pictures, you can see one side that is after it was washed with soap and water. The other side, I started sanding the finish with 3/0 emery cloth, since the aluminum is pitted and badly oxidized. I have heard about some acids that will remove the oxidation, but it won't help the pits, so sanding is the best method. If I were to throw caution to the wind, I might have started with something more aggressive, such as a 240 grit wet or dry sandpaper, and then work my way up to the finer grits. The reason for the 3/0 emery cloth, is because I had it in the garage. It is important to sand in multiple directions, so you don't create any valleys and ridges. Once I have the metal sanded to my satisfaction, then it is onto the polishing wheel using a multitude of different rouges, until I get the finish that I want.
 

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Paul, mine were in the same shape and I used the same technique. I had a good result with Autosol polish for the mirror effect, this product also give a protection against oxidation if it can help!
 
220, 320, 400, 600, 1500 wet or dry, wet with a block. then polish saves a lot of work. but I understand the it's what I got and I ain't going to town one more time today. I did learn after grinding away all day on one that you polish in all four directions also. go around one way then back the other then top to bottom and bottom to top saves a lot of time and polish. but man the finish product is worth it.
 
Finished sanding and buffing the base today. It is much better looking today than it was yesterday. I picked the worse of the 4 to start with, so I would know how well to make the others look, so all 4 would appear finished to the same quality level. This casting has some minor sand cast holes that are too deep to be polished out. This particular aluminum casting doesn't polish as well as some other softer alloys. I did get it polished to a high luster, but unfortunately with these alloys, it is next to impossible to have a mirror like finish. I have yet to add any wax to protect the finish.
 

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That looks good Paul. I suspect that's as good as it ever was originally.

Is your top painted? I've wondered about that, I've seen some painted and some "natural". A friend even had a full set of Ful-Vu's that were painted white, and that appeared to be original (though there's no way to say for sure).
 
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