Center Strip & can painted Stainless be polished?

[gypsy truck]

Well, I think we are getting close to painting the hood of my 53 gmc. there is not going to be much chrome or polished stainless on this beast, so i got to wondering if the center strip of the hood might have originally been stainless steel. (i see them as SS in catalog) When i got it, the entire hood was painted.

My question is do you think the center strip is SS and if so, how easy is it to strip off the paint and polish it? How to, and Is this strip easily removed? I am about 1200 miles from the truck, so just doing some research. Thanks in advance. I am trying to get as much bling back on the truck as possible with as little $ as i can manage right now.

 

[upnorth54]

I'm pretty sure they came from the dealership painted and the stainless strip is just a repop option.

 

[coilover]

Don't think it will be stainless even if on a deluxe cab. Stainless can be chemically stripped with a very strong stripper without hurting it. To paint stainless you can glass bead it or use sugar sand to prepare the surface and then prime with a primer made for a non-porous surface such as one offered by Rustoleum.

 

[ol' chebby]

To remove, look under your hood. There are elongated holes along the center joint on either side. There are metal tabs poking through and bent about 1/8th turn. Straighten them out, the center strip will then pop up and can be gently pried/ influenced out. It probably isn't stainless as that is a fairly recent repop item.

 

[gypsy truck]

Thanks - sounds like we will just be painting over it

I'd like as much shine on it as possible, but if this is not the case, then we will then just be painting it hood color.
thanks for the input.

 

[ol' chebby]

Its only around $65 I think for the stainless piece, looks great on there.