Refinishing Wiper Arms

[Burdar]

If this has been discussed before please link to the discussion. 

On my Challenger the original arms didn't have any nicks or scratches...they were just dirty.  They cleaned up nicely with just a scrub with 0000 steel wool.  The arms for the latest project need a little more work.  There are a few blemishes that need to be taken care of.  The arms are a dull stainless but the blemishes are brighter.(when something rubbed up against the matte finish it sort of polished the finish)  Any small scratches can be sanded out but how can the matte look be returned? 

My first thought was a light bead blast but sometimes bead blasted parts don't have a uniform look to them.  They can look kind of blotchy.  Has anyone bead blasted theirs and do you have pictures?

[Skdmark]

What about media tumbling them?

I used to machine a lot of stainless and titanium for the medical industry in the late 90s.
We would media vibrate tumble the parts to get uniform finishes.

[Burdar]

Someone will say this wasn't the right way to refinish them but it worked great.

I sanded out the small nicks and then very lightly bead blasted them.  The glass bead is pretty old and probably should be replaced.  New bead would probably be a little more aggressive.  Once blasted, I very lightly rubbed them with 0000 steel wool.  I didn't use any pressure...I just let the steel wool barely tough the metal.  Turned out perfect.  I didn't bast the pivot ends of the arms.  They don't seem to be stainless and didn't want to remove whatever coating is on them.  I just taped them off before blasting.

The replacement wiper blades were too bright/polished for my liking so I bead blasted the blades that came on the car.  I was able to remove the new rubber inserts and install them in the old blades.

[anlauto]

They look great

[Tony 73]

Hi Burdar,
Thanks for the post, am wanting to refurbish my cuda arms and will follow your instructions.
Question about the pivot joint that pushes on to grooved shaft. Mine dirty and couple of marks, did you clean/scub yours with anything special.

Cheers
Tony

[Ifixmycarmyself]

Thank you for the post. The arms look great!!

[dodj]

Tony, to get Burdar's attention, try tagging like.  @Burdar

[Burdar]

I'm not sure what the pivot end is made out of and what the finish is. I'd hate to recommend something and then have someone damage their parts.

I think I scrubbed mine with 0000 steel wool and it removed the slight discoloration from dirt buildup. My arm was all scratched up so if I damaged it, it wasnt the end of the world. I made sure to test the process on the bottom side of the arm so any imperfections werent visible from the top. A-body arms are right out in the open. At least E-body arms are a little more hidden.

Sent from my SM-S327VL using Tapatalk

[Tony 73]

Thanks for the reply Burdar, I got a spare set so test on those.

Cheers for the tip dodj, I might have to get the wife to help me with tagging.

[Tony 73]

Just gave one arm a light glass bead blast and rub with steel wool.

Perfect 

Thanks Burdar