Is your Billet Grille dull? Shine it up! Here’s How!

How Can I Make My Billet Grille Shiny Again?

If you have purchased an aftermarket billet grille for your car, or suv, you may have seen that after awhile the aluminum in your billet grille has become oxidized, and no longer shines as it once has.  This makes your car to look dated, and may not turn as many heads as it once has.  You can make your billet grille shine once again by sanding and shining it.  I will take you through the steps, it is extremely easy, so follow along.

What do I Need To Make the Billet Grille Shiny?

To start, you need various grits of wet sand paper.  You will want to purchase grits beginning at 600, up to two thousand.  As well, purchase some Mothers Billet Polish.  You will want this to buff and polish the billet grille after sanding.  To finish, you will need some terry cloth towels and possibly a micro-fiber towel if you really want to buff some shine into the grille.

Alright, Let’s Make the Billet Grille Shiny!

First step, remove the billet grille from your vehicle.  As you will be sanding the grille, you do not want to unintentionally sand your vehicles paint.  Place the grille on a work bench, or someplace handy that you can do this work on.  Start off with 600 frit sandpaper.  If your billet grille is very cavitied from the rocks on the highway, you can also start with 400 grit sandpaper.  I suggest to use a sanding block for this part of the procedure.  Make sure while sanding to keep your sandpaper and your grille wet.  I find the easiest way is to do the sanding in a sink or out where you can have a hose run over the grille.  Sand starting with the 400 or 600 frit sandpaper.  Doing this will leave the aluminum on your grille with lots of scratches, but doing so will cut out any of the oxidized and pitted aluminum.  Work your way up to 600 grit sanpaper, then 800 grit, then 1000 grit, and top it off with 2000 grit.  By the time you reach 2000 grit, the aluminum on your billet grille should be very smooth and you will have removed all pitting and oxidation.  If not, step back down to the last level of grit you used, and redo the grille.  Once happy with the results, move back forward and on up to the next level of sandpaper you are working with.  Just make sure to always keep the aluminum wet, and your sandpaper wet as well.

Now that the aluminum billet grille is sanded with 2000 grit sandpaper, you should be able to run your hand across the aluminum and feel how amazingly smooth it is.  Get out your Billet polish, and using a terry cloth apply a small sum of polish to your grille.  Work it in with your cloth and make sure you have the polish applied evenly to all areas.  Once you have completed this, use a clean terry cloth or micro-fiber towl and buff the face of your billet grille, in order to remove any left over polish, and to give your billet grille the shine it once had.

Reassemble the grille back onto your car, and you are done.  I have completed this blueprint on my HHR Billet Grille and it went from dull to a shine in under 45 minutes.  This is one of the easiest and best ways to enhance the look of your car.