Aluminium Pack Refurbishment?

TFG

A2OC Donor
As thread title - has anyone successfully had their Aluminium pack interior trim fittings refurbished? Several parts on mine (door handles, handbrake button, glove box release) are littered with little nicks and generally look a bit tatty.
 
Anything that's pure aluminium can be worked-on to get a superb finish. You start by using ever finer sheets of emery paper. You get to the finest grade (3000 or 4000 grit). Then polish with "Solvol Autosol" The result? A finish that gleams and is just as good as chrome!

David
 
And there, if you can forgive the pun, lies the rub. The aluminium pack trims are a satin finish, not polished chrome. They've been anodised in some way to achieve that finish and taking them back with wet 'n dry is going to wear through the anodised layer. I don't really want to end up having to lacquer them, as it wouldn't feel anywhere near as nice as the factory finish.
 
O.K. You can check if something is Aluminium by seeing if it is magnetic. I have solid, shiny chrome door-pulls on my A2. I'm sure that they could be sourced (from a breaker or dealer?). They do look great! I'd like chrome rings around the speedo and rev gauges. I also use styling strip and chrome tape on my A2. It's surprisingly durable and can easily be re-applied. You could certainly make the glove-box release a lot better! I think that you can get that handbrake button in chrome? I'm going to see what those parts are made-of, myself. I'll see what I can do .... I've plenty of spare parts!

David
 
O.K. You can check if something is Aluminium by seeing if it is magnetic. I have solid, shiny chrome door-pulls on my A2. I'm sure that they could be sourced (from a breaker or dealer?). They do look great! I'd like chrome rings around the speedo and rev gauges. I also use styling strip and chrome tape on my A2. It's surprisingly durable and can easily be re-applied. You could certainly make the glove-box release a lot better! I think that you can get that handbrake button in chrome? I'm going to see what those parts are made-of, myself. I'll see what I can do .... I've plenty of spare parts!

David

the hand brake button is ABS plastic with an aluminium skin which is only about 0.3mm thick and less in places as the skin is extruded over the ABS plastic inner button.
Be VERY careful how much aluminium is removed if you go down the emery refurbishment route as it is VERY easy to brake through the aluminium skin and expose the ABS below

There are no new handbrake buttons of either plain ABS or aluminium skinned available from Audi. hence why I copied and original and produced a 3D printed version.

The Anodising will also make the aluminium much harder wearing, should the emery refurbishment be done the anodising will be removed and as such the aluminium skin will wear and tarnish quickly unless protected e.g. lacquered

cheers,
 
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Oh dear. I've chosen not to see posts by DJ190 due to previous inaccuracies of his being irksome to me and actually quite dangerous in a couple of instances, however, the ignore function of the site doesn't stop re-quotes from appearing, and I see that the advice from DJ is still dodgy at best.

Firstly, please ignore the advice on identification of aluminium by using a magnet - this is utter nonsense. A magnet will only determine if there's iron in the substance you're testing, but an absence of iron doesn't mean that you have aluminium - it could easily be a copper, brass, zinc or even magnesium part (or anything else for that matter).

Secondly, it seems from the first reply that a light sanding is being advised. This will only remove the anodised finish, leaving bare aluminium which oxidises quite easily leaving a dull white-ish finish and as Depronman has said, there's also a very real danger of going through the thin layer into the substrate below (most shiny or brushed aluminium parts are only a thin deposition layer over a plastic base).

The short answer is that there's no real way of restoring the aluminium pack, short of stripping the parts out, sending them away for a new deposition layer to be applied and then re-fitting them. This technique is called metallising and is increasingly commonly used in many manufacturing industries.

I had it done to my wing mirrors a few years ago when I was trying to get the S-car mirror look and it involves spraying several layers of molten metal (usually aluminium) onto a suitable substrate, building up a layer of metal, which can then be anodised and sealed.

Sorry to be a little terse/negative, and I'm glad that the OP has quickly realised that the initial advise was to be ignored. The interchange of chrome and aluminium shows that there is a great deal of confusion on the part of someone and the use of chrome strip isn't to everyone's taste - it's a very 70's thing and quite tacky really to a lot of people, hence not seeing it much.
 
The short answer is that there's no real way of restoring the aluminium pack, short of stripping the parts out, sending them away for a new deposition layer to be applied and then re-fitting them. This technique is called metallising and is increasingly commonly used in many manufacturing industries.

This is closer to the response I was expecting/hoping to read - many thanks. I could tell from the feel and relative 'warmth' of the handbrake button that it's probably not all that it would at first appear to be but I haven't had the opportunity to pull one apart to have a closer look. The interior door handles feel colder, as though they're pressure die castings, the inserts in the armrests look as though they're from aluminium sheet/plate (but could be a plastic IM) and the glovebox handle? Not sure - perhaps a metallised ABS moulding. So there's a mix of underlying materials that are receiving a finishing process to make them look alike. The instrument bezels don't appear to have quite the same fine satin finish but in any event they're by-and-large out of harms way and don't take the knocks the other bits are exposed to.

Can you tell me the name of the company you used for the spray metallising? Vacuum metallising won't be anywhere near tough enough for this application and would in any case have to be lacquered. As I mentioned I want to avoid that as it will feel naff compared to the original Audi finish. Does the spray metallising provide a finish to match the originals as-is, or need further treatment (e.g. special anodising)? I'm guessing that there would need to be some sort of pre-treatment by vapour blasting or a chemical wash to give such a finely-controlled (and beautiful) satin finish. It definitely isn't plain-jane anodising.

I get the feeling this is a specialised job that a company somewhere can knock out in their tea break, but a prolonged dig on the interweb hasn't as yet unearthed them. Finding the correct search term is all....
 
I used a company called Chromed Up Limited and despite their name, they used to specialise in arc spray metallizing. It seems that they've either changed direction though, because they seem to only offer spray painting now.

Perhaps try this place:

http://www.ctc-powder-coating.co.uk/metallisation/

I've no links with them, but they seem to offer a wide range of options and if they can't help, they may know somewhere that can. When I had my wing mirror caps done, I was advised to remove all seam traces and so they were prepped with 2000 grit paper and taken down to bare plastic. What the company did after that, I can't say, but I got the caps back after around 3 weeks and they were beautiful.

Don't rule out a thin lacquer coat - some of the matt or satin lacquers around are very nice and have a similar feel to the original surface.
 
glovebox handle is solid metal. Armrest pieces are solid metal. I've had them in pieces, it's too heavy to be plastic. Door handles are also solid.

- Bret
 
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glovebox handle is solid metal. Armrest pieces are solid metal. I've had them in pieces, it's too heavy to be plastic. Door handles are also solid.

- Bret
But are they solid aluminium castings, or are they (as I suspect) zinc castings with an aluminium finish to them? Die casting is usually done with zinc as it's cheaper and easier to work with than aluminium. Either way, solid aluminium or coated zinc, rubbing down the part with an abrasive will only serve to wear through the anodised finish, leaving bare metal which will subsequently oxidise.

Removal and re-finishing by a specialist is the only way to get the factory finish back realistically.
 
On the early cars (UK spec at least) the satin aluminium trim elements were an option, priced at £140. My July 2000 price list shows it as an option for all models (even the SE), described as "Aluminium pack, comprising interior elements finished in brushed aluminium". The notes at the bottom of the page go on to say "Elements included are trim rings for the passenger's door armrest and surrounding instrument dials. Interior door releases and glovebox catch finished in aluminium as well as the decorative outer ring for the base of the gear lever gaiter." A bit odd that it doesn't mention the drivers door armrest or the handbrake button.

My July 2001 price list shows "Aluminium trim elements" as standard equipment, even on base models and it's disappeared from the options list.

The problem with refinishing the door handles and handbrake button will be getting the nicks and scratches out. On mine, although they don't go through the finish, they have dented the surface fairly deeply in spots. As you say, the decorative top layer is very thin, so taking the surface back to get rid of the depressions will also remove this finish.

This is all useful information. More thinking and research to be done. Thanks to all for contributing and keep it coming! :)
 
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You know, thinking about it now, part of me wonders if there is actually aluminium on show on these parts, as it's not really brushed is it? It's more of a satin effect and I'm wondering if the finish is actually a satin nickel effect, which is an electroplated finish.

Without access to a metallurgy lab, how are we supposed to find out?
 
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It's certainly not a brushed finish and the Audi price list is wrong when it says so; probably a little licence taken on the part of the marketing department! It looks to me more like a satin 'chrome' (I use the word loosely). That kind of effect is normally achieved by doping the plating bath with chemicals that cause microscopic etching of the surface. There's no lacquer applied, certainly not on the door handles. Nickel's pretty soft, so I reckon you could well be right in thinking that's the top surface. The only thing that makes me hesitant is that some people are sensitive to nickel. I'm not sure if Audi would have used it on hand controls. Anybody got access to a tame metallurgist?!

The Links page on the Chromed Up website is interesting. I've either worked for, or had work done by, several of the companies listed. Most of them are modelmakers or set builders (film industry) and the finishes they require don't usually have to be very tough. Amalgam is a good shout though and I know them well. May give them a call to see if they have any suggestions. The CTC Powder coating site is interesting and it looks as though they'll undertake work for Joe Public. So often these specialist places are trade only so we're denied access to the services they offer.

I've worked with this company in the past and they could almost certainly come up with a perfect job, but they only supply to trade and the set-up costs for jigs etc are eye-watering. Take a look at some of the example photos. They are specialist plastics platers (as opposed to spray or vacuum metallisers):

https://www.dmschromium.co.uk/service/plating-finishing/
 
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Firstly, please ignore the advice on identification of aluminium by using a magnet - this is utter nonsense. A magnet will only determine if there's iron in the substance you're testing, but an absence of iron doesn't mean that you have aluminium - it could easily be a copper, brass, zinc or even magnesium part (or anything else for that matter).

Secondly, it seems from the first reply that a light sanding is being advised. .

Sorry to be a little terse/negative.

In my first reply I did refer to PURE aluminium. I didn't advocate sanding coated surfaces. I agree that using a magnet will not conclusively show that the material IS aluminium .... it could even be coated plastic! It does have some use in showing that a material might have been ferrous-based and had a matt silver surface finish.
So O.K., I was just attempting to be helpful. I would ask that Skipton01 (that's Mike and that sounds so much more pleasant and friendly) just tries to not be so personal and upsetting when responding on the A2OC.

David
 
One thing I meant to ask before I have a go myself and bust something: Is it possible to remove the metal interior door handles from their surround and get them back together again without damage?
 
One thing I meant to ask before I have a go myself and bust something: Is it possible to remove the metal interior door handles from their surround and get them back together again without damage?

Yes, totally do-able, but just be careful and keep the plastic warm - the worst thing you can do is work on freezing cold plastic whilst trying to free a stubborn handle. This article may give you a better insight - it's not for the A2 handle, but the principals are the same:

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a4...ix-floppy-interior-door-handle-2779909/page3/
 
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