Aluminium corrosion cleaner

[zorroz]

So whats the best stuff to use to clean heavy corrosion on cast aluminium? I bought some 'Blitz' aluminium cleaner from super cheap shit but it does nothing. Maybe something stronger? I'd like to remove as much corrosion as possible while motor is still in to make it easier to hit with my little sandblaser.

[LWC82PE]

Try Septone Ali Brite. It wont work if there is paint on the surface though. Beast blasting will work well though. The last Adler motor i did was really bad too and i used the ali brite, then bead balsted the cases about 3 times with fresh beads every time until they came up nice and silvery, then wash thouroghly and fit new bearings etc ready for re-assembly. Ali Brite works best on alloys with no zinc content.

[Marc.com]

if it is all aluminium you can always hit it with oven cleaner. Another way of dealing with it is close up all the holes and get someone to nail it with salt blaster, it will rip the paint off and not leave a bunch of grinding paste behind.

then quick degrease and spray that baby in a quality engine casing paint, I use WAKO which is the original Yamaha supplier. Finish off the deal with a few BRAND NEW casing screws and it will look a bit like this.

[Tim754]

DO NOT put the  Oven cleaner /caustic on any Magnesium or mag alloys.... nasty...been there done that....

[zorroz]

if it is all aluminium you can always hit it with oven cleaner. Another way of dealing with it is close up all the holes and get someone to nail it with salt blaster, it will rip the paint off and not leave a bunch of grinding paste behind.

then quick degrease and spray that baby in a quality engine casing paint, I use WAKO which is the original Yamaha supplier. Finish off the deal with a few BRAND NEW casing screws and it will look a bit like this.

That looks very trick. Was the orginally a DT or MX?

[Marc.com]

yeah maybe I should have said "IF IT IS ALUMINIUM" , I agree magnesium and oven cleaner don't like each other.

It was/is originally $500 MX250.

[Johns]

Hi from Johns:-

On the subject of aluminium cleaners, will Alubrite from Supercheap clean up the carby on my TT500 Yammy suitably for a concourse restoration?

Thanks - Johns.

[LWC82PE]

sort of but not real well as the carbies are a zinc alloy with high zinc content. it will clean the carb, but it will also make it go black because of the zinc in the alloy. the black can be scrubbed off with water and detergent though if your quick enough, but you will still end up with a dull/dark grey finish and it wont be nice and silvery as if you were cleaning normal/plain alluminium. I tryed it on a couple mikuins but though nah, its not giving a good result and went back to good old bead blasting which gives a better finish.

[oldfart]

Try engine degreaser and Truck wash nixed up in the same bucket rips paint off barrels in no time .
Put on a pair of safety glasses and wear rubber gloves . Rips the shit out of your hands
Comercial grade paint stripper is getting harder to buy , I have found a product made by K&H ( rapid paint stripper automotive and comercial strength )  works a treat ........Not too friendly on the body 

[Tom]

on the big pit lids at work made of ally we use a scotch brite wheel on a grinder and it comes up a treat  and if were all out of them i normaly end up hitting it with a scouring pad and hot/soapy water    Tom

[Marc.com]

the problem is not really aluminium cleaning as stripping the old paint and recoating it, you can blast en and paint em in one piece with a little care, salt blasting is safe option. I usually blast the lot, rip the covers and top end off, mask up the bottom and spray with casing paint.

[crash n bern]

Has anybody tried soda blasting? They seem to get good results using baking soda, which is also non corrosive or abrasive and is water soluble. It also doesn't harm plastic, glass or rubber.

[zorroz]

I've used soda blasting on carbies and final finish on bare alloy engines looks great but never used it on heavy corrosion or rust don't know if it would get it all off?