Just wanted to post my fix for the oxidation problems with the drip rail, door trim/molding. This fix cost less than 20.00 and the results were awesome.

1. Deaden high quality automotive masking tape. (green masking tape)
2. Apply the masking tape to the car.
3. With 2000 grit wet/dry sand paper sand the the trim with water.
4. Dry off the trim and sand again, dry this time.
5. With "Mothers" brand Aluminum polish, polish the trim.
6. Remove the polish with a clean terry cloth rag.
7. Remove the tape and you're done!

This fix took my wife and I about 30 minutes per side and most of that was taping to protect the painted surfaces.

 

I will be trying this very soon as my door trim is in desperate need of some attention.

Thanks for the tip,

 

Thanks for the tip.

 

Awesome, I will try this tomorrow

 

Very cool! Thanks for the step by step. Mine as well as my wifes needs attention and Ive tried everything but sandpaper. 1 Question though... should this trim have a coating on it after this is done? It looks like there's one there now so if that's the case will it corrode/fade quicker? Any recommendations if so?

 

Outstanding! That trim has been bugging me since day one, and I had just written it off.

 

On our car it appeared to be an anodized finish that I did not sand all the way through. If you go all the way through down to bare aluminum you could clear coat the trim while it is all taped up or just use the polish once a month to keep the metal bright. Aluminum is very easy to keep at a high shine with minimal work.

 

Great advise tip - Thanks. Going to do the same over the weekend as the spotty trip has also been bugging me.

 

There's been 3-4 threads on this topic in the past few years here and on some other forums with no real solution that seemed to work for everyone. This may be the answer! It seems like some Jags have aluminum trim while others have the plastic chrome trim. Which one do you have?

 

Mine has the anodized aluminum trim, and should make it clear that this will only work on the aluminum trim. If your car has plastic trim DO NOT SAND IT!!

 

You will not believe the many uses for WD40. One of them is oxidation on aluminum. Simply take a small cloth, wrap around your finger, spray with WD40, wipe the trim, stand back in awe. It took you 5 minutes. I did mine and could not believe the differance. Google, uses for WD40

 

I just did my window trim on my S-type with the WD-40. It looks great now but how long will the deep shine last? I'm just curious. I guess I can apply it as often as I do the armorall on my front lower bumper black plastic cowling. I've tried about everything to get it to stay the deep/black original finish with no luck. The the products I've tried only last a few days.

Thanks for the tip on the WD-40 aluminum polishing.

 

Yourplce92, how long ago did you do this procedure ? I have been using ATF and it looks like WD40 is doing the same. Takes less then two minutes to apply and it has to be reapplied after a car wash or heavy rain.

 

Okay, this is one of my high-horse soapbox issues so prepare to be offended!

Used carefully as joeglow42 recommends, WD40 is probably fine for cleaning anodized aluminum. But I've increasingly come to believe that the use of WD40 around a modern automobile should be very limited.

WD40 is petroleum-based and many plastics and rubbers can be damaged over time by petroleum products. According to the WD40 website, "Polycarbonate and clear polystyrene plastics are among the few surfaces on which to avoid using a petroleum-based product like WD40." That doesn't sound too bad, until you begin to count all the things on a car that are made of polycarbonate (chrome-plated plastic trim, headlamp lenses, plastic parts that require strength or impact resistance, etc.) and polystyrene (virtually any other plastic part in the car, including lamp lenses, instrument cluster lenses, radio & NAV panels, decorative interior trim, etc.).

WD40 is not the best lubricant for virtually any job you can think of. The WD stands for "Water Displacement," and the trace of petroleum oil it leaves behind to displace water tends to not provide much lubricity or durability. If you use it on a squeaking door hinge, the hinge will be squeaking again in a month.

Lithium grease is safer for plastics (and probably rubbers as well);

Dielectric grease is better for water displacement;

Liquid Wrench is better as a penetrant / rust breaker;

Zero-Residue Electrical Contact Cleaner won't leave behind an oily film that can add resistance to sensitive circuits like those for MAFS, O2 sensors and Throttle Position Sensors;

For anodized aluminum I've used a specially-designed polish from Autosol that I really like:

#1920 - Autosol Anodized Aluminum Polish - 75ml Tube

They also make an aluminum protective oil which I have not tried because I haven't been able to confirm that it is petroleum free:

#1810 - Autosol Aluminum Protective Oil - 400ml

BTW, Autosol also makes an excellent rubber treatment that keeps door weatherstrip supple and prevents seals from sticking together in freezing temperatures:

#6501 - Autosol Rubber Care (Gummi-Pflege) - 75ml

My two cents! Let the flames begin! :-)

Cheers,

Don

 

H'mmm, my car has plastic coated aluminum trim. I have tried everything in this forum and nothing works. Thinking of painting it black like a few XJ8s in Japan.

 

WD-40 is a solvent...NOT a lubricant. Mainly used for loosening rusted bolts, screws, etc.
Don't think I'd want to "polish" any good trim with a solvent..

 

I just did it to my trim and then went through an automated car wash with no change to the shine level. This is a trick that I brought over from my motorcycle detailing days. On the bikes giving it a polish with mothers once a month kept the aluminum parts nice and bright for years. Again I didn't go all the way through the anodized finish, just deep enough to reach a level of shine that was acceptable to me and the wife. We just purchased our xj8 out of New Jersey and the trim was horrible. Our s type is a 2000 model but has never seen salt as it has always been a southern car, and it's trim still looks new. While I'm sure the wd 40 trick works for the short term my approach will last through a wash or rain storm and not hurt any part of the car. Even if you have to sand all the way to bare aluminum, aluminum shines when polished.

 

While researching for another thread, I came across this interesting short article at the Popular Mechanics website, entitled "WD40 vs. The World."

WD-40 Oil Alternatives - The Case Against WD-40 - Popular Mechanics

Cheers,

Don

 

Another polish that works exceptionally well is Truck Box Polish ( don't know the exact brand). It is available at Lowe's in the area that the truck tool boxes are sold. I use it on aluminum, stainless and whatever else might come along. On aluminum it produces a very nice shine with a minimum of work. It produces the same result on most other materials I've used it on. It's not cheap--- $14 for a bottle, but it's an essential part of my cleaning supplies.

 

As a teen I used to use fast orange hand cleaner to polish the billet aluminum carb cover on my dads 72 mustang and a few aluminum covers on his motorcycles. It gave a nice shine. Don't know how that would work on the moldings though.