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Posted by: Aniel
I have a few aluminum dump bodies and whenever they get dirty I throw some acid on them. ZEP makes a brightener that you can get. This stuff is strong though, and it will kill the shine on the aluminum, but it takes off any stain guaranteed. I wouldn't recommend touching that stuff with your hands either. I once wet sanded a hood with that stuff thinking it was water and I almost lost all my fingers, no joke!
Posted by: lordmik
Aluminum brightener from Napa Auto Parts. It's around $7 a spray bottle. Worked great on aluminum wheels and helped quite a bit with the orange/red mud stains on the engine cases.
Posted by: MADPOWER
if your able to polish the metal....why dont you try like a 1200-2000 wet dry sandpaper..then re polish...just a sugestion...
Madpower
Posted by: TxDoc2
I some diamond plate aluminum with what looks like waterspots. I have tried Flitz Metal Polish, Mother's Mag and Aluminum Polish, Eagle One Aluminum Cleaner and then Eagle One Aluminum Polish and even though this helped, they are still present. Any household products or mild acids, etc. that may work will be appreciated.
Posted by: TxDoc2
I will try the "jeweler's rouge". I have access to copious amounts of the fine (red) and the yellow (more abrasive), but never even thought of that. Good idea.
They are not really "pitted" areas. It is not rough if you run your fingernail across it. It appears to be a surface phenomenon. It is not a major discoloration. But, appears as it should come off.
I appreciate the help Ven-you are in VA. Are you close to the NSA headquarters?? ;)
Posted by: TxDoc2
Oh, somewhere up there in Virginia, they built a "secret" building and I when I posted that, I thought it was the National Security Agency. Huge building, many dollars and is was such a "black" project that the people who voted for the funding did not know what it was when they were shown pictures of it! Thought you may have hacked them for the info :)
You might try some diluted "Simple Green" and a little "Dawn" dishwashing liquid mixed with water. I'll have to check on that with some fems who have more of a knowledge base on that than myself.
Posted by: VENOMOUS
Get some jeweler's rouge(super fine), white rouge(little rougher) and there's a few more but I don't remember the names of them but jewelers is the finest with white being not far behind. I got it at Home Depot and it's a polishing compound of sorts. It works best with a Dremel tool or a polishing wheel on a drill but can be hand rubbed if the need be. I used it to polish all the aluminum intake, valve covers, a/c pump, p/s pump, throttle body, etc, etc on my Mustang and it worked great. It comes in a tube much like a tube of caulk but a lot smaller at about 6 inches long and about 1 1/4 inches around. You won't have any problem getting that thing cleaned up and shining like a mirror with this stuff.
Posted by: VENOMOUS
TxDoc2 I'm not sure what you mean by NSA and I'll probably feel like a fool once you tell me and I remember. No problem for the info, that is what we all like when it comes to helping each other out. Believe me when I say that I'll always have some questions as to what to do or to get everyones oppinions. I know the rouge polished the heck out of my machined surface aluminum parts I polished. You got a cure for the mud stains that are so hard to get off of my quadrunner. Pressure washer won't cut them and when it's 20 to 30 degrees outside my hands don't appreciate using the old sponge and pail of soapy water. No matter how much I clean it there's always some part that didn't come clean.
Posted by: VENOMOUS
TxDoc2 if you mean a large facility built into the side of the mountain where all the hush hush activities go on. That place isn't too far away at maybe 40 miles if that and it is near Waterloo. My moms friend and her father worked there years ago. It's also one of the places where the President and is family are to go in the event of a war or national disaster that puts a threat on the President. I rode by a few years ago and it is indeed a large place and in the middle of nowhere basically. I guess I'll try out the simple green tomorrow since it is in need of a bath but I sure wish there was a way to get it clean without having to scrub it down cause even scrubbing it doesn't get it all the way clean.
Posted by: Dune_Scooter
Try looking at a truck stop for some aluminum acid. I know we used to use it, but cant remember the brand, to clean headache racks on our trucks. After a winter of salt and road grime, we were able to get them to shine like a mirror again. Another trick you might want to try is using a carpet scrap to polish with. Its abrasive, yet it wont scratch due to the fiber in the carpet being kind of soft. The acid will turn the aluminum milky, but boy does it polish up good after. good luck.
Posted by: HondaHunter
I've personally never known anyone to get those type of pits out short of industrial polishing. and I've been around fabricating shops the better part of 20 years.
Posted by: HondaHunter
