So I bought this late model all aluminum motor out of a wreck and in the accident, the battery was crushed and the motor completely covered with acid. A fair amount of time has p***ed and the motor is covered with white aluminum oxide and dry ed acid. I'm wanting to paint this motor anyhow so where to I go from here? One possible answer is to clean as much as possible off with a wire brush and then coat it with baking soda and pressure wash. Any one have any experience with this problem or have a suggestion?
after the baking soda/wire brush i'd be tempted to try some of that rough cast type mag wheel cleaner on it
ZEP Manufacturing makes an excellent, strong aluminum cleaner called Zep-alum. It's the best aluminum cleaner and prep that I've ever used........ www.zep.com ....Mike
You probably have 2 situations. Bare aluminum like the block/heads, and the tins which likely have a coating even if they're not "tin". Bare aluminum, scrub it with soapy water and you're good. Soap is a base and tap water isn't neutral pH anyway. Just be sure to keep it wet for a half hour or so to make sure the water fully wets anything dried in the pores. I think your wire brush plan is WAY overkill and likely to generate problems when you mechancically roll oxides and contaminants under the surface. If corrosion blooms still exist, hit it with an acidic brightener. Bare aluminum wheel cleaner or something of your own making. Many common cleaning acids work great. Use scotchbrite with the acid for worst-case. (Wear goggles too!). Rinse alot. "neutralizing" with soda will only dull your surface. The solution for ugly spots created by acid is more acid! For coated stuff, even powdercoated, hit the spots with buffing compound and you may be able to avoid stripping/recoating. Keep the acidic brightener off these coated surfaces if you go that route. You'll probably find a fine mist of road oil has protected most surfaces. Oil is an effective mask for acids. All these commercials for metal cleaning products have created a smokescreen, removing oxides from metal is very simple stuff. And not all oxides are bad, and many will return anyway with time, so banishing them completely during a cleaning can be an exercise in futility. good luck
I recently acquired and am rebuilding the only T-Bucket in existence, with a Rick Santos built '64 Corvette 327 and a John ****era designed and fabricated, all billet suspension. The rod set in storage for 20 yrs.. Because of aluminum's porous composition, it had a lot of oxidation and stains on the billet. An old timer advised me to make a paste of baking flour and water and cover the billet. It worked. It actually absorbed the oil and other **** that had penetrated the alum. You might try it. Not a lot of water, as it might reactivate the acid to much.
I dunno Fiddy. John ****era was quite the craftsman. Traditional... no, but he built some amazing stuff.
The "B" word is Verboten here. In your profile it shows you haven't made any friends yet. With talk like that you never will....
You can't say billet around here or everyone freaks out. Even if Lil John put it there. Even if it's used in the context of a technical example. It's some kind of reflex action that apparently doesn't involve the thinking portion of the brain. Kinda like we don't call engine adapters billet. Even if that's kinda what they are by what modern billet's context. Cause they're also a cornerstone of traditional rods and rather than have an intelligent discussion, we react to it like when Frankenstein sees fire. AAARGHH Billet Bad!!! AAARRGGH!
no joke , billet just hasn't been the most popular word to use around here. however , i am interested in seeing more detailed pictures of your John ****era built front suspension. i'm sure it is a work of art. loose the word billet when you do and you will be fine
Lil John as much as we on the H.A.M.B. love him is generally regarded as the father of the Billet car thing. He did it because he could go to the metal yard and pick up blocks of aluminum for a low price and carve his own pieces for less than he could buy similar ready made pieces or weld them up out of steel. As cool as genuine Lil' John stuff is the rest of it is not considered H.A.M.B. friendly by the majority of folks here. Back to the subject at hand. I'd think that one would need to neutralize what residue acid might still be on the engine parts before proceeding with the cleaning and prepping for paint.
azcowbo....i checked out the pictures in your album. Lil John certainly gave his mill a workout with that one with IFS and IRS based on a Jag rear end. you have to credit his workmanship , but not my style.
How about a fabricated nonferrous component? This thread is about cleaning aluminum...any kind of aluminum. Jeez some folks....well you know
I get the point,ha1 being the arizona newbie, i will change the name to santos/billet "non-ferrous t".
I am a newbie, but i got the point (about 38 times), not to use the "b" word on this channel. I will now refer it to the "santos/****era hand-fabricated non-ferrous t"
I got the point (38 times) not to use the "b" word on this channel. From now on i will refer to it as the santos/****era "non-ferrous t" actually it is a pain , because evertime i look at it cross-eyed it gets a scratch or a ding, and i am a big wrench and hammer farm boy.
As muc as your T is cool in its own right because of who built it it belongs on here as much as child ****. Its NOT traditional.
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