Spitfire Mk2 grille material

[RichTeaBiscuit]

Hello, does anyone know what the Spitfire Mk2 grille insert is made from? Want to bring it back to full glory and wondering what's the best method.

Cheers

[Colin Lindsay]

Probably lacquered aluminium, same as the Herald grilles. You can clean and polish back to a reasonably good shine with just Autosol, worked in with an old toothbrush. My Herald versions have lasted years after that.

[Josef]

They’re aluminium. My Mk3 one came up well with metal polish and a repaint of the black bits. 

[NonMember]

Like Josef, I refurbished my Mk3 one (which I believe is the same as the Mk2, while the Mk1 is like a Herald) although I went a bit more aggressive with a bit of blasting to clean off the years of crud, followed by black paint (sprayed) and finally cutting back the highlights to polish them. There's a picture on my old LiveJournal

[RichTeaBiscuit]

On 16/11/2022 at 16:40, Colin Lindsay said:

Probably lacquered aluminium, same as the Herald grilles. You can clean and polish back to a reasonably good shine with just Autosol, worked in with an old toothbrush. My Herald versions have lasted years after that.

Does it have to be an old toothbrush? Can't I just borrow my wife's?