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cleaning aluminum?

For the Al cast parts w/ texture like the intake hat/manifold, turbo comp housing, etc., the acid based wheel cleaners (intended for cast Al wheels with all rough/textured surfaces) will disolve the oxidized, dull Al off the outside & brighten things up. They'll also somewhat etc. machined smooth surfaces which usually looks worse.

Glass beading is the easiest & produces the "newly cast" Al look very consistently. Of course the parts will again slowly oxidize just as they did from when the vehicle was new.

If have an adequate air compressor & a little space, the cheapy Harbor Freight blast cab that goes for ~$200 on sale is a decent workable cabinet. Once you get the capability to abrasive blast & power coat old parts, you get hooked. I think Barry's been working the heck out of a budget blast cab he got a while back.
 
SmithvilleD said:
For the Al cast parts w/ texture like the intake hat/manifold, turbo comp housing, etc., the acid based wheel cleaners (intended for cast Al wheels with all rough/textured surfaces) will disolve the oxidized, dull Al off the outside & brighten things up. They'll also somewhat etc. machined smooth surfaces which usually looks worse.

Glass beading is the easiest & produces the "newly cast" Al look very consistently. Of course the parts will again slowly oxidize just as they did from when the vehicle was new.

If have an adequate air compressor & a little space, the cheapy Harbor Freight blast cab that goes for ~$200 on sale is a decent workable cabinet. Once you get the capability to abrasive blast & power coat old parts, you get hooked. I think Barry's been working the heck out of a budget blast cab he got a while back.
Click to expand...
hey thanks.
where would i be able to get that stuff?

No harbor freight up here but i been thinking of getting a blaster.
 
bison said:
hey thanks.
where would i be able to get that stuff?

No harbor freight up here but i been thinking of getting a blaster.
Click to expand...

This would be the type of cleaner I'm talking about. In the earlier post, I meant to say these products etch the surface (not etc.). So if applied to a polished, rather smooth Al part, they'll etch the surface & might well make it look worse.

http://www.eagleone.com/pages/products/product.asp?itemid=1001&cat=5006

If you have "as cast" rough Al parts like the inner fin sides on the turbine style wheels in the bottle label's picture, these mild acid cleaners will brighten those surfaces by dissolving some of the dull gray oxidation off.

The rub on engine parts is they're often also stained w/ oil/grease in places so just using these cleaners often leaves an uneven surface color where there where oil/grease stains.

Glass beading seems to be the method that most always makes parts look new regardless of stains/oxidation. Here's a good source to check out top-notch blast cabinets. I get most of my consumables (nozzles, etc.) from TPTools.

http://www.tptools.com/
 
Try this stuff. Its called Smithbrite. Its an agressive metal polish. Good for copper, Aluminum, SS, chrome and all shiny metals really. Picked it up at the local peterbuilt dealer and lemme tell ya... this stuff works:devil:
 

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If your going to put tomatoes on it then get some peperroni and cheese to. Close the hood and bake at 190*
 
I wonder how Semichrome holds up to all the newer products. That was all I used back in the day with my custom bike. Took some elbow grease, but it worked well and laid down a protectant film too.

Ahh...crap...I don't think it would work on castings...maybe with a wheel.

The tomato has me wondering though...
 
Speaking of foodstuffs, I remember now a mythbusters episode where they used pieces of chocolate to polish the bottom of an aluminum can. Suprisingly, it came out too an almost mirror finish. But I do believe it took a few hours... nonstop... and alot of chocolate...
 
Mothers makes a polish very similar to semi-chrome.It would work on the ip. I used it on my aluminum slot wheels with a powerball on a drill.
 
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