Cleaning Oxidize Aluminum Castings...

Can anybody provide some simple ideas about how to clean up my old cast aluminum ****** bell housing so it looks like new again.
The humidity and moisture in the air while just sitting my shop has caused it to go all powdery on the surfaces.

I tried brushing it off and you will in the pic's attached it still looks pretty ordinary.

I hoping there are ideas out there that can be just done at home with simple processes.

 

Gl*** bead it.

 

we've got some acid stuff at work that is made for restoring aliminium wheels, works great. just spray it on and hose it off, the wheels come up like new. i'll see if i can get the name of it for you tomorrow.

 

Thanks sounds good, I look forward to knowing the name.

 

Soda blast it, it'll look like brand new castings

 

Try an S.O.S. pad with some water.

 

Id Walnut blast it.

"Nevr dull" and some 0000 steel wool works good but takes some time.

 

Flame away but I clean em up and use Castblast on mine. It looks like new.

 

Agreed, then the problem never comes back.

 

Once it's blasted clean, spray a coat of clear enamel on it....

 

I'm also curious about other methods as I have a set of Aluminum heads that I need to do.

 

I bead blast mine and powder coat them.

I did the cast iron bellhousing from a Ford truck in the cast auminum powder just for grins. I like the way it turned out even though the surface is very rough. It looks good from the engine compartment.

This thermostat housing is a stock cast iron Ford unit.

 

Another fan of gl*** bead blasting

 

I like to vapour blast aluminium, the process sort of peens the surface and it comes out smoother and more resiliant.

 

I feel some type of media blasting will work best. After you can apply Metal Prep from PPG to help protect/prepare for paint.

http://www.tcpglobal.com/autobodydepot/itemdetail.aspx?itemno=PPG+DX579-QT

 

Sodium Hydroxide will take the oxide right off and is fairly safe to apply. It is a caustic not an acid you will need to wear chemical gloves and a respirator in a well ventilated area.

About the easiest way to clean aluminum, just spray or flow it on, you don't need to soak it or dip it. Let it sit about 15 minutes then hose it off really well.

Heres a link to where I get mine. This is already pre-mixed at 50% and ready to work. I usually dilute mine another 50% but it is not neccesary.

Do not leave it on too long or your part will be toast.

http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/sial/415413?lang=en&region=US

 

What is "Castblast" and where do you get it?
Dave

 

"Castblast" is a spray bomb type of paint there , D O M................................I think the last I bought was at Advance Auto Parts..................................Been a couple of years.

 

If you like the way it looked before you might try spraying penetrating oil on it, let it sit a while and wipe it off. I've used WD 40 and the stuff in the red and black can (OK, PB Blaster) and it works real well on light corrosion. I'll bet Gibbs will too.
Larry T

 

Believe it or not, I get pretty nice aluminum parts using mineral oil and some super fine steel wool. It isn't as easy as spraying it with something and rinsing it off, but if you have a six(twelve)-pack and some time to kill, it's not a bad way to kill an afternoon in the garage.

 

I used some of this stuff years ago after fine sanding / prepping a lot of AL parts to be anodized. Works wonders. I'm sure it's a common as rain around metal working shops. Hose it off and it's clean as a whistle. Stay upwind, and eye protection might be a good idea.

Also, Eagle has (had?) a spray bottle mag wheel cleaner that worked like a more dilute version of the stuff you mentioned, and it cleaned up the outer machined rims on my Torque Thrusts to look like new and didn't effect the gray paint. Gary

 

x2 on the Eagle One aluminum wheel cleaner. Good stuff. Smells kind of good too. I spray it on, scrub it with a nylon brush and hose it off. It's always worked well for me. You definitely want to wear safety gl***es though. It would not be good to have that stuff splash in your eyes.

 

Eagle brand mag wheel cleaner for non coated wheels. it will turn it white as snow. once it is rinsed real well and dry give it a quick soaking with Lemon Pledge it will keep it from getting nasty again for quite some time.

Damn Saxman you beat me to it.

 

Get it blasted and powder coated it will never get bad again. I do my aluminum intakes and they never have to be cleaned again.

 

I've never tried the Lemon Pledge tip. I'll have to give that a try.

 

I do it to engine parts all the time, you have to make sure the acid/cleaner is well rinsed off and you should let it set like over night before you get the parts hot.

My buddy machined a clock out of aluminum for his mom in '96. We doused it with lemon pledge and it sat in a damp ba*****t for over a year while they were getting into their new house, a quick wipe with rag and it looked just like the day it came from the machine shop. it still looks like new.

 

^ Good to know. Thanks PnB!