At 01:45 PM 9/17/99 -0400, you wrote:
>Well, the great hurricane came through New England last night, ...
>I had planned to do some polishing on the aluminum wheels I finally installed
>on the Tiger. I was going to try a few different compounds I've had kicking
>around the garage for years.
>
>I don't want a mirror finish on the wheels, I just want to clean them up a
bit,
>even out the finish, etc. There are both machined and rough cast portions
>visible. It's probably been a couple years since these had been touched, and
>when I bought them up, the had been sitting outside, covered with leaves,
etc.
>What's good these days for cleaning and polishing aluminum?
>
>Stu
As my elbow grease is low, I have cleaned aluminum wheels with
sulfuric acid (plain old battry acid, available at auto parts stores).
This acid does a good job of cleaning rough aluminum castings.
DO NOT use Hydrocloric acid ( ie pool acid) This will turn the aluminum
black. If you use acid , do it outside with a fan blowing on to assist
in removing the fumes. Rubber gloves and disposable clothing are also handy.
Be sure you have a hose ready to flush the acid off the wheels, and any where
you splashed acid on your self.
After the acid bath you can then proceed with the elbow grease.
If someone is considering acid to clean their alternator, take
care. The alternator housing apparently has zinc or something in it
and the acid may cause the bearing holes to etch out too big.
James Barrett Tiger II 351C and others
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