Aluminum roof rails

[Dave Avant]

If you have black rails and want aluminum rails, then its quite easy to convert. I took one off and tried to take the paint off to see what it was like underneath. Basically, I think Audi must have aluminum rails, then powder coat them black and charge you £125 for not painting them black when you upgrade.

Heres a couple of pics of mine before and after. The aluminium rails look much better. :D

[Huweth]

Looks great!
I might try the same on my Passat. Why don't you write a 'How-To' for the world to see?

[Dave Avant]

I could do if I get time!!

The hardest part really is taking the interior roof side trims off, then the rails are bolted in through the roof from the inside. :D

[T-Sport]

Thats brilliant Dave Avant !!

What an improvement... I always wished i had the Ali rails when i bought mine..

What did you use to take the powder coating off ?? paintstripper/ wire wool ??

Did you have to reapply anything to the raw alli to protect it from the elements etc ??

[Dave Avant]

I know the result is better than expected, I was expecting to have to them professionally buffed up!!

I used Nitromors all purpose paint remover and used a small paint/wallpaper stripper to get most off. Then I used celluose paint thinners with wire wool to clean off the remaining bits of paint. Then I used a car body paint restorer, in my case I used Autoglym paint restorer, but T-cut or even a wax like color magic will do to brighten up the aluminium. But the rails weren't a matching pair, one had a coating on which didn't come off with the stripper or maybe its the finish that is on the original fit ally rails - its a satin shine finish. The other polished up like chrome, so obviously they would look odd when looking close, so I gave the chrome rail a rub with wet'n'dry sandpaper to give it a matching satin finish, finished it off with a good wax so it wasn't dull.

both are just waxed and have been fine since I did them in December.

definately improves the looks, especially on a black car.

If you get stuck removing the interior roof side panels, let me know, its not too bad once you know what to expect. Takes about 1/2 to 45mins per side to get them off.

[redevo1]

Just bought some Alloy Rails for my A4 Aavnt how do you go about getting the old rails off and new ones on? Any help would be great. Tony