Alu cleaning

[mercepor]

Hey Lowman,

Do you know what kind of lotion GSXR Master Kent is using on this 560sec?

https://youtu.be/dKxBX-ATfL0



[video=youtube_share;dKxBX-ATfL0]https://youtu.be/dKxBX-ATfL0[/video]

 

[lowman]

"laughs"

yes i do he used my recipe (kidding)

well....i have my own formula that i used when cleaning both my 190e 16v inlet manifold...AND ive been using for years previous on my Ford Cosworths..as i am NOT a fan of painting engine parts like this

I use penetrating oil,mixed with autosol metal polish,and i use a brass brush to rubb this mix into the aluminium...and it does wonders.Penetrating oil really "lifts" out the dirt and debris from the pores of the metal.
Before..when inlet manifold had just been removed from car



Here i have started to work the magic potion into the aluminium


Cleaned






Finished,and ready to go back into the car.Obviously the bracketry has been replated

 

[MB V8]

Nice.

Care to share the amounts of the various ingredients for your magic potion?

 

[lowman]

Nice.

Care to share the amounts of the various ingredients for your magic potion?

there is no specific amount of each..spray on some penetration oil...apply a dab of metal polish..so it turns into a fine blend ...and start to rub it in...it takes some elbow grease also..

 

[mercepor]

Nice! Thx!

 

[lowman]

Nice! Thx!

No problem mister

 

[samiam44]

Very cool-

Do you do your own DIY yellow-zinc plating?

 

[jhodg5ck]

FWIW, Spray9 does an Awesome job of cleaning up alloy/making it look pretty. Does wonders for intake manifolds, tranmission cases etc, etc.. Esp nice when you can run it in an ultrasonic cleaner!

We've been using it to good avail here for 5+ years.

jono

 

[luckymike]

I just use Simple Green. Cheap and effective. Use a spray bottle with water to rinse off.

 

[lowman]

Very cool-

Do you do your own DIY yellow-zinc plating?

unfortunatly i do not do my own plating.I was about to..but i couldnt get my head around "what process" and "what" plating i was going for..as the terms are so confusing.so i just sent it for plating .By the way...a little fun /scary fact..is that the company i sent the parts to,,,nearly lost nearly 80 percent of my parts.,i sent them in two boxes...and when i got them back..i just got 20 percent of the parts in ONE box...and i asked them where the other parts where..and they said..oh oh .yes...they are not done yet..and 3 hours later..they were suddenly done..and on the way in the mail...they didnt have their stuff sorted to put it that way.....which reaaallly got me nervouse at the time..as most of these parts are not longer available..

luckily the story turned out well so to answer your question..i think i will wrap my head around doing plating like this myself..as it is indeed a cool thing to be able to do

One thing though..is that im not 100 % happy with the color..as it is abit to goldish in the color..the longer the parts stay in the bath solution..the darker they get..so..my parts stayed abit to long in the solution.At least they are better looking than what they were
thank you for kind words by the way

 

[JC220]

unfortunatly i do not do my own plating.I was about to..but i couldnt get my head around "what process" and "what" plating i was going for..as the terms are so confusing.so i just sent it for plating .By the way...a little fun /scary fact..is that the company i sent the parts to,,,nearly lost nearly 80 percent of my parts.,i sent them in two boxes...and when i got them back..i just got 20 percent of the parts in ONE box...and i asked them where the other parts where..and they said..oh oh .yes...they are not done yet..and 3 hours later..they were suddenly done..and on the way in the mail...they didnt have their stuff sorted to put it that way.....which reaaallly got me nervouse at the time..as most of these parts are not longer available..

luckily the story turned out well so to answer your question..i think i will wrap my head around doing plating like this myself..as it is indeed a cool thing to be able to do

One thing though..is that im not 100 % happy with the color..as it is abit to goldish in the color..the longer the parts stay in the bath solution..the darker they get..so..my parts stayed abit to long in the solution.At least they are better looking than what they were
thank you for kind words by the way

I had this problem with my Plater’s too. It’s a local place rather than mail order but they have lost items on me before. I do 2 things to combat that now. First is to tie all the small parts together in a string using fine mild steel welding wire. Secondly I also take a photo of all items laid out and print it off. That goes in with the box and the plater’s use that to check off my stuff as being complete before I pick it up.

Hopefully those tips help you too! That’s a nice tip on your cleaning solution I’ll try that too. Usually for stubborn items I use TFR detergent sprayed on neat followed by a stiff brush to rub it in & a steam cleaner to rinse off. It can tackle even the grottiest of Diffs / engines cutting through several mm of grease in one go. I may use my sand blast cabinet now too for fine Aluminium / cast parts cleaning.