Wire brushing, like any other abrasive cleanup technique (sandblasting, sanding, etc.) is likely to strip off parts of the Brite-Dip anodised layer, will leave you with a textured rather than smooth surface finish, and place you a couple steps behind where you started. If you have improper paint adhesion, then paint remover is what's called for.

At this point, you're probably best to finish stripping the parts by whatever means and then shoot 'em with…I donno, maybe an argent paint of some kind (or have another go at satin black). Whenever you paint anything with any kind of paint, everything has to be <i>clean</i> and <i>dry</i> and <i>warm</i>, or the results will be bad.

You could also strip 'em and follow up on this stuff discussed in this thread. Costly and requires care to use, though.

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I had taken a look at the Killer Krome and it was expensive. I think I'm going to try the semi gloss look again. My first problem started when I mixed two brands of paint. All supposed to be the same stuff but you know how that goes. The anodize is half off the grill so it has to be painted now. That's when I started to think about chrome.
I did end up polishing the headlight trim. You were right, a lot of work but they will look good when done. Progress but with several backwards steps.
Thanks.
Joe

Joe,another thing you should also remember is that the acid dip used to de-anodise the grille in readiness for re-anodising damages the grille more by creating little creators where stone chips may have been. I had a perfectly good grille, all I wanted to do was spruce it up a little, the anodisers followed my instructions, I ended up throwing out the grille, and I still had to pay. A mate of mine over here ( a panelbeater )did his grille up by :-1. Having the grille de-anodised. 2. Puttying up all the little creator holes and finishing off. 3. Preparing the grille as though it was sheet metal (etch,primer etc,etc ) 4. In his case he sprayed it silver metalic the closest he could get to the anodised finish ---- not quite as bright as anodising but looked good. What I'm really getting to is he didn't stop there, he went on to do the bonnet center trim and the grille and headlight surrounds as well finishing off the front end of the car ----something to think about if it's not too late John

John, That's good thinking. I like it. It's not too late. I was trying to tie in the grill and headlight trim but didn't think about the hood trim or the rear deck. Food for thought.
Thanks.
Joe

Joe, I forgot to mention the VALIANT name badge across the front of the bonnet (hood) it too should be done, with the lettering re-done in black. Incidently another reason for de-anodising parts is to work on them, e.g. knocking out dents or sanding out scratches using different grades of sandpaper in readiness for having them redone. By not de-anodising, the hard film of anodising makes things very hard and awkard to work with. Best wishes John

John, I learned about the toughness of the anodize when I sanded down the headlight trim. You can put a serious polish on the aluminum but it's a lot of work to cut through the anodize. I think I'm going to scuff everything up, all the hood trim, grill, headlight trim and tail light trim then decide what color (colors??) to go with.
I don't think there is an anodizer in Maine. It sounds like I would have to ship everything to Mass to get it done so I think that's out of the question.
Thanks again.
Joe

Joe, There is always another option, in this case maybe hang out a little longer and look around for "A better set of parts" to install. To paint all these bits and pieces is going to cost in time and money anyway, the car will look good, but never like it originally did, so why not spend the money on the better parts and save the hassell ??, again something to think about
Best wishes
John

John, You're point is well taken. It has been something I have thought about. In the past everytime I did something to a car, I tried to do it so if the next owner wanted to change it back they could. That being said, I don't think it's in my budget to buy mint grill & hood pieces. I'm thinking of trying either chrome or silver rattle cans and seeing how it looks. Down the road I could pick up pieces and parts and store them for future use. I also don't think the car will be worth a ton of money if I change a few things or not. In my neck of the woods and in my age bracket (old) the general feeling is if you buy a four door, plan on owning it forever. There isn't the demand that there is for a convertable or hard top.
All that is way too serious for so early in the morning. I need more coffee- sorry Dan-hope you kick the habit.
Joe