Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Brooklands Roadster bonnet and cowl question.

I'm considering the purchase of a Brooklands Roadster. It came from the factory with a painted bonnet and cowl. They were offered with polished bare aluminum as an option. I would like advice on how to remove the paint without staining or damaging the aluminum and the best polishing technique. TIA

The polished bonnets and cowls had extra work done at the factory, before being polished by experts.

The painted bonnets did not get that treatment, You may be able to remove the paint without damaging the surface, although this in itself will be a challenge. You may then find areas around the louvres which need levelling and polishing from base stretched aluminium. Look at some images of bare louvred aluminium to get the idea.

If you really want to attempt this at home, start with the cowl.

Thanks Dave, good to know!

You will probably be able to achieve close to the look you want if you respray the bonnets in a chrome wheel paint. This will have the advantage of no stripping which as Dave has said will probably cause more issues than a sane man would want to deal with. And it will be a lot more easy to live with than polilished aluminium! John V6 might be someone who could enlighten you as to living with the polished alloy as he had that very car. I know he repollisht his for his son's wedding and it did look Wonderful.

Personally I have had to strip and polish alloy items etc. and have always found issues which cause endless effort to remove, Sheet easier than castings for staining but nevertheless time consuming to the point of wishing I had not agreed to do it! The brook lands edition does look very smart though and were I sitting choosing a new one I would inevitably have chosen the polished alloy. Look at the Mercedes Benz chrome paint and see what you think!

- how about trying a chrome wrap ?

The added advantage is that, if you hate it, you can just peel it off....

James

I think it would be hard. I hand polished a spare wheel cover I bought unpainted.
Maybe someone like VSM could help but removing the cowl is a mission in itself.

I'd go with the chrome wrap suggestion above, it's very impressive if professionally applied and no future tarnishing to polish out

That's an interesting thought. If I end up purchasing the car, I'll certainly look into it.

Thanks John, great shots of your son, his new bride and your lovely Roadster. Were you happy with the car and are there any particular problem areas that I should investigate during my pre-purchase inspection?

VSM? Found it.https://www.morganspecialist.com/VSM_2011/Welcome.html