Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Is it possible to polish galvanized fenders to a brighter luster? If so, what is the best way to do it?

Will polishing the fenders destroy the rust preventive quality of galvanization? If so, can I counter that by spraying some clear coat or something else?

Thanks.

tvlawyer wrote:Is it possible to polish galvanized fenders to a brighter luster? If so, what is the best way to do it?

Will polishing the fenders destroy the rust preventive quality of galvanization? If so, can I counter that by spraying some clear coat or something else?

Thanks.

Hello Larry

Galvanizing fenders, trailer frames is done mostly in huge tanks where the parts to be galvanized are soaked to get the coating on. If the galvanized pieces are buffed or polished this indeed does reduce or even completely destroy the protective coating that the entire galvanizing process gives. I know in Canada as well as in Europe and Scandinavia this procedure is very common.

I would definitely find other fenders. Or galvanized parts can be painted by slightly sanding in order for the paint to adhere.
On our future Lil Swan tears our frames are galvinized and powder painted which gives a very good rust preventative as well as a nice color.

Hope this helps a bit.

Also the Kit rebuild we are doing at the moment, the frame has been beadblasted, galvanized as well as powderpainted.

I would consider having them bead blasted and powder coated. I liked the look of mine too and considered doing it in clear, but in the end settled on black to match my top, but either way, it seals it, so that might work for you!

If you prime them properly, you can paint them. Polishing them is kicking a dead horse, IMO. You can try it, but I don't think you will get the kind of results you want.

CD

Zinc, the metal used to galvanize, is a pretty active (easily corroded) metal. That's why they use it as it is "sacrificed" to protect the base metal. So, if you polish it (which may or may not produce the results you're looking for), it's going to corrode and dull quickly again.

As others have mentioned, you'll remove a lot of the protective zinc when polishing.

I vote, with the others, to paint them after cleaning and using a proper primer intended for galvanized surfaces.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Gus

What Gus said about the zinc being a sacrificial coating. Also note there are two kinds of galvanized steel: hot-dipped and electroplated. Plating will be smoother and a much thinner coat; I definitely wouldn't do much polishing on it. Hot-dipped is when the steel is literally dipped in molten zinc--leaves a somewhat rough coat but is much thicker.

Hot-dip galvanizing was the craziest job I've ever had. You dip the stuff in a water-based flux bath before going into the zinc (temp. about 840 F). Any remaining moisture causes spattering and sometimes fairly violent explosions. Over 20 years later and I'm still sporting scars.

Best,
Tom