My truck came equipped with six aluminum tube grab rails of various lengths and shapes. There were an angled pair on the back doors, one on the side door as well as two, two foot straight handrails mounted to the ceiling and a single six foot rail just above the squad bench. These were in fair to good condition, but the clear coat on several of them had been scratched and a few of them had what looked distinctly like dried blood on them. I’d like to think it was rust, but since they’re aluminum, that probably was not the case.
I didn’t want to keep any of the grab rails on the ceiling as maximizing head room was important. I also didn’t really need them on the ceiling, since I don’t anticipate ever being in the module when the truck is moving. The two shorter, straight handles were in new condition and didn’t need any additional work. I’m going to use one as a towel rack mounted to the pass-thru wall, but I haven’t found a good spot for the second one yet. I might use it in Locker A to help step up onto the door jam. I decided to mount the six foot long rail vertically to the side entrance door where it would function as an oversized door handle.
The two back door grab rails were useful right where they were, but did need to be stripped and re-coated with clearcoat.
That left the other angled grab rail that had originally been mounted on the side entrance door. I decided to simply flip it around and use it on the left-hand side entrance wall opposite the fridge. It makes getting into and out of the truck a little easier when the step stool isn’t in place.
To clean them up the first step was to remove the clear coat. For this I used a product called Jasco Paint and Epoxy Remover, which comes in an aerosol spray can. Basically you spray it on, let it sit for 15 minutes, and then use steel wool to rub it off. There were a few tough spots that required a second application and I found the Jasco remover worked better in direct sunlight.
Once the grab rails were stripped and thoroughly washed with soap and water, I went at them with a dental pick to remove the last bits of crud from the seams at the mounting feet. The rails had a brushed aluminum finish which I wanted to replicate while cleaning up the scratches they had accumulated. A bit of research told me this was best done with a burnishing drum, which I found could be retrofitted to my Makita polishing wheel. I promptly ordered a 320 grit drum and got to work. It was extremely effective at eliminating all the scratches and restoring a uniform brushed finish.
The final step was to hand polish them with Flitz Metal Polish. Not sure why, but this stuff worked better on the brushed aluminum finish that the Renegade Red metal polish I had used on the diamond plate.
I also did some research on why you would clear coat aluminum in the first place, since aluminum isn’t going to rust. The main reason is that as grab rails, they would absorb oils from hands and could be easily scratched. Prior to clear coating them I gave them a wipe down with acetone just to make sure they were free of any metal polish and oil residue from my hands.
For the clear coat I chose a product called KBS Clear Diamond Satin Finish. I didn’t want a glossy finish as I assumed that would require more effort to keep clean of fingerprints. This stuff is a little different than regular spray paint, but it was simply enough to apply. The instructions call for it to be applied in several very light coats within a specified amount of time to allow the layers to bond properly. It also required 48 hours to fully cure to it’s maximum hardness. I tried it on a couple sample pieces of aluminum first and it worked as expected. The final finish turned out really well.