In the Buff

Clarence Falk takes serious pride in his ride. The owner of CBF Trucking in Niverville, Man., competes on the National Association of Show Trucks circuit, and prepares for a big show with a crew of two armed with toothbrushes, rags, buffers, and cleaners. “It’s worth it,” he says of the effort to primp and polish his buggy for the judges. “I’m a clean-freak anyway, so this kind of thing comes naturally.”

For general maintenance, Falk says the trick is to clean frequently before the dirt has a chance to build up in the tight places. “A good pressure wash once a week usually does the trick.” He also uses a product called Dry Wash, a sealant that dries to a very smooth, clear finish, preventing the dirt from lodging in the paint, making it easy to wipe clean without getting wet. He’s also particular about the frame paint. “It looks really bad when the paint peels away leaving those ugly rust spots,” he says. “In the spring, I usually take a wire brush to the frame and axles to remove all the loose paint, then I apply another coat over the bad spots. Just sort of completes the job.”

THE RIGHT STUFF

Walk through any truck stop store and you’ll see dozens of brands of polish, rubbing compounds, and various elixirs, all promising the shine of a lifetime. Some are better than others, some are more expensive than others, but picking the best one is like guessing how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

Al Ruttan of Woodstock Transport in Waterville, N.B., uses a brand of polish called Speedy Metal Polish that he says works as well as anything else he’s ever tried. “It’s really a matter of preference,” Ruttan explains. “And how hard you want to work.” He thinks there’s a difference in the commonly available brands, but it’s essentially a difference in price. “And more expensive doesn’t necessarily mean better,” Ruttan suggests. “The name of the game is to get a good shine without killing or bankrupting yourself.”

To get rid of that gray buildup that forms on unprotected aluminum, Ruttan says you should use a polish containing a cutting compound. “It cuts through the oxidation (rust) that forms on the aluminum and smooths out the surface,” he says. “The harder you rub, the smoother and shinier it gets.” And he says you’ll get a better finish using a buffing wheel than you’ll get by hand, with a lot less work.

Speaking of sweat, he says you’ll get your best results when the metal is warm. “The hotter the better,” he notes.

If the corrosion on the metal is severe, Ruttan suggests using an acid-based cleaner on the aluminum. That’ll take the oxidized surface off, leaving the surface of the metal white in appearance. The polish will restore the metallic shine that any driver will see as a reflection of the pride he has in his profession.

To attack the buildup of messy grease that accumulates inside the frame rails near the U-joints and around the steering linkage, Ruttan suggests using a scraper to remove the larger blobs of the stuff, then applying a citrus-based degreaser to the dirty areas.

“Leave it overnight to allow the material to penetrate right down to the metal,” he advises. “Be careful not to get the degreaser into the zerks or the cups covering the ball joints. You don’t want to remove grease from those areas.”

HEAVY ARTILLARY

If you aren’t inclined to spend the weekend with a dirty rag in your back pocket, you can always call in the professionals.

Randy Ogden is a guy with an angle-a clever angle indeed. He runs a mobile polishing business in Calgary called Aluminum by Oggy. You can bring your truck to him, or he’ll come to you. He’ll remove the wheels, strip off the external hardware, and go at the truck with an arsenal of rouges, cutting and buffing wheels, and polish. The full treatment takes four polishers about a day, and costs around $700, depending on the truck.

If the aluminum surfaces are badly scratched, Ogden uses a grinder to smooth everything out, wet-sands the surface to restore the finish, and then goes at it with the jeweler’s rouge. “The aluminum is easy to work with because it’s so soft. It polishes up nicely, but stainless steel is another story,” he says.

Stainless is extremely hard, so it’s difficult to polish. Polishing metal is really just removing a tiny bit of material from the surface, then smoothing it out. “The stainless is an extremely durable material and looks great when it’s new,” Ogden suggests. “But it fades as it gets pitted. And there’s not much you can do once it starts to go.”

The other danger with stainless steel is that it will turn blue if you burn it with the buffing or cutting wheels. He advises caution when polishing stainless steel. “I don’t try to push it too far. If it turns blue, the driver usually turns red.”

Ogden offers these pro-polisher tips for restoring your ride to showroom shape:

* Get the bug marks off the metal with Bug Be Gone, or a wet cloth with a bit of AJAX cleanser on it. AJAX works well on tires as well-it makes them black.

* Use a non-acidic degreaser on the painted surfaces, and Nevr-Dull to remove grease or tar from the metallic surfaces.

* Remove stickers or decals with a hot air gun and a plastic scraper. Metal scrapers or razor blades can damage the metal. The heat softens the sticker.

* For the final treatment, use a terry cloth towel sprinkled with flour and gently rub the entire surface. The fine texture of the flour does a final sanding.

A clean, well-manicured truck says a great deal about the truck’s driver or owner. Of course, you needn’t be fanatical about it. Sure, Clarence Falk has his team of strong-armed men and a box of toothbrushes and metal polishes. But you can still raise a fine shine by yanking out the garden hose and rallying the neighborhood kids for a day of good dirty fun.

SIDEBAR: Pride + Polish: That deep, bright shine doesn’t happen by itself

Serious “pride and polish” types have a bag of tools and tricks to get the heavy work done quickly: bars of jeweler’s rouge and various cutting and buffing wheels. The bars of rouge come in three colors: red, green, and white.

* Red rouge: A coarse compound designed to cut away the oxidized surface of the metal. It also grinds away the bumps and craters formed by stone chips. The first step on the road to rehabilitation.

* Green rouge: A medium-rough compound designed to remove the sanding marks left by the red rouge. Smoothes out the surface even further.

* White rouge: The fine stuff, and the final step in the process. Smoothes the surface right out and provides that deep mirror-finish shine.

* Polishing wheels are usually yellow or white. They come in different sizes and shapes designed to work into corners or flat, smooth surfaces. The wheels are usually mounted on an electric grinder or handheld drill. The speed of the tool is important. If it’s too fast, the rouge will burn and turn into a gooey black mess. Too slow, and the job will take forever. Follow the recommendations on the package, but you’ll need something between 1500 and 3000 rpm.

The white wheel, for applying the red and green rouge, is made with a stiff material designed to “scrape” the surface of the metal. It’s the first wheel you use.

The yellow wheel is more like a buffer. Use it with the white rouge to smooth out all the cutting marks.

Buffing pads are best for the paint or prepared aluminum surfaces. Use them with a low-speed drill (or your hands) to apply the final finished shine.