[VAC] Anodizing aluminum & script rehab

["Robert / Susan Harper" <rharper@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Anyone had any experience getting a bright-dip clear anodized finish on
"special" aluminum parts?  I'm thinking specifically of things like name
plates which will be tough to polish if painted. Or around script ... some
explanation required ...

My Globe Trotter script was badly pitted and flaked, and
repairing/rechroming it was too $$$ ($250 quote) so I wet-sanded all of the
chrome off of the face plane (had it off the trailer - a task in itself),
cleaned up the flakes and pits (carbide bur in die grinder and fine scratch
point) and filled the pits with spot putty (used for minor imperfections in
auto body work - more like a heavy bodied paint than bondo). Wet sanded it
smooth, primed with sandable auto primer, sprayed with reflective aluminum
(aerosol from Eastwood),  and top-coated with a clear aerosol (Diamond
Clear) which they recommend for painted surfaces.  They make one for bare
metal surfaces, also. Baked the script in oven at about 175 degrees between
coats, for about 30 minutes each time.
Finished product looks great, but not nearly as shiny as chrome or polished
aluminum.  More the appearance of the etched (or brushed?) background on the
nameplate with the picture of the bicyclist pulling the trailer.  Which will
be OK because ...

I'm going to mount the script and the Airstream nameplate (with the
bicyclist) on a piece of polished aluminum skin (about 8 x 13) and re-attach
it very close to its original location.  If my script repair job fails
miserably from sun and weather, I'll be able to drill out the rivets and
take the plate off from the outside. The 8 x 13 will also cover a world of
corrosion/pits on the skin which had set in around the original script.  So
.... having the 8 x 13 plate and the bicyclist plate both bright dip clear
anodized would seem like a great way to prevent the need to polish around
this painted script in the future.  If it can be done.

When I drilled out the rivets from the bicyclist plate I noticed little
circles of blue under the rivet heads. Paint stripper doesn't affect it. Did
the plate originally have some kind of blue anodized finish, or was this a
reaction between the plate and the rivet heads?

If the clear anodizing will work (and isn't outrageously $$$) I think I'll
do the front/rear Airstream nameplates, too. They are currently bare
aluminum, and I've grown to like them that way ... without the blue.  A
little understated.

Anyone know the alloy used for these original Airstream nameplates?

BH62GT/SC