Grinding in the New Year...

Half ot the horn cover polished.

At the Imola fair in September 2011 I found a horn cover for Vespa. I think it's a Vigano accessory.

It was reasonably priced, due to the look of it. Most important, the gem was there, undamaged. 

But like other items made of aluminum, the ugliness is only skin deep. 50 years or so of exposure to oxygen, sun and water had changed the brightness in to a dull greyness.

So this New Year's Day I started resurrect the shine.

First with abrasive paper, at first with the grit range of 280, since there were little or no scratches in the alloy. After that 400, 800 and then 1200 for the last grinding before buffing the cover with a cotton wheel.

A small part of the cover's corner closest to the front shield is missing, about half an inch. We'll see if I'll fix that before mounting the cover on my Vespa GS 150, 1961.

Dull with no shine. 

Half of the the cover buffed.

Pretty much done, some small areas to be addressed.