Colin Lindsay Posted December 12, 2021 Report Share Posted December 12, 2021 I've run out of both enthusiasm and elbow grease this afternoon so have made a half-hearted attempt to clean a very manky Vitesse front grille, but it's fighting back. Autosol has been comprehensively defeated after about three inches worth. Before I hit the local Autofactor shelves tomorrow, anyone got any good ideas for an alloy-cleaning wonder-product that's hopefully simply spray on, rinse off and hey presto gleaming alloy? I was debating alloy wheel cleaner, or is that for brake dust only? Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted December 12, 2021 Report Share Posted December 12, 2021 Suggestion from the internet:- Mix 1 tablespoon white vinegar with 2 cups of warm water in a bucket or use this ratio to make a larger amount, depending on what you are cleaning. Wet a cloth or non-abrasive pad in the vinegar-water mixture and then use it to clean the aluminum surface gently. Maybe worth a try on a small area?. If it works let me know as I have a shed load of alloy to clean! Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulfc Posted December 12, 2021 Report Share Posted December 12, 2021 36 minutes ago, PeteH said: Suggestion from the internet:- Mix 1 tablespoon white vinegar with 2 cups of warm water in a bucket or use this ratio to make a larger amount, depending on what you are cleaning. Wet a cloth or non-abrasive pad in the vinegar-water mixture and then use it to clean the aluminum surface gently. Maybe worth a try on a small area?. If it works let me know as I have a shed load of alloy to clean! Pete Colin, +1 for the above but also try putting the mixture into a sprayer of some kind. I use empty domestic cleaning product spray bottles after thoroughly washing them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted December 12, 2021 Report Share Posted December 12, 2021 or steel wool to shine it up and a nice blow over of wheel silver Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted December 12, 2021 Report Share Posted December 12, 2021 Straight in the dishwasher for me! Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted December 12, 2021 Report Share Posted December 12, 2021 The problem is that the surface layer is aluminium oxide. This protects the rest of the panel as it adheres well, unlike iron oxide (good!) and is extremely hard (bad), so hard that AL2O3 is used as an abrasive! The oxide layer will retain the old oil, grease and road dirt. The oxide may be removed with an acid, so as above, degrease and then try acids of ascending polarity. Citric acid might be a starter, phosphoric or acetic, but lemon juice or vinegar? Forget it. The strong acids are best left alone. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted December 12, 2021 Report Share Posted December 12, 2021 1 hour ago, JohnD said: The oxide layer will retain the old oil, grease and road dirt. Dishwasher. db Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted December 12, 2021 Report Share Posted December 12, 2021 Cant watch, or check at intervals the progress of cleaning in the dishwasher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Taylor Posted December 13, 2021 Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 Nylon bristle brush in a drill or grinder, followed by finer and finer grades of wet and dry, then a bit of buffing chalk on a large diameter buffing wheel. Alternatively, if a job's worth doing, pay someone to do it for you: look up metal refinishers in the Yellow Pages... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Longhurst Posted December 13, 2021 Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 I recall watching one of the many car restoration programmes on TV - maybe Salvage Hunters-Classic Cars - where some oxidised aluminium trim was taken to a a workshop. The expert put some sort of grease (from a stick of the stuff) on a 'linishing' wheel (I think that was the name!) & magic was performed. There may have been a number of grades of either wheel or 'grease'. Not sure if this is available to attach to a home drill set up. I would also add that, from memory (which these days can be a bit erratic), the items were not a corroded as yours! Chris I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68vitesse Posted December 13, 2021 Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 Have used sisal, felt and cotton mops, order of use, with various grades of polishing compound for aluminium and stainless steel. Takes time and depending on the condition of the metal can give acceptable to excellent results using a drill or bench grinder with a rat tail adaptor for the pads. Just a selection of bits I have used. Regards Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted December 13, 2021 Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 Those gills are a nightmare, far too fiddly and impossible to get really good. And that one has corrosion pits/zits to add to the misery. Think I would be paying somebody to vapour blast it, then a spray it after an etch coat. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain T Posted December 13, 2021 Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 The grille has a lot of nooks and crannies so if you have a friendly engineering company near you ultrasonic cleaning is possibly the best way to go. Failing that I agree with Clive vapour blast. I have the same much nicer Mk1 grille on my Mk2 but in good condition! Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted December 13, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 Some excellent suggestions, many thanks team! I'm wary of anything too abrasive, I do have the polishing mops with white and brown polish but too harsh. I also decided against wheel cleaner for the same reason. Autosol hardly makes an impression but I'm worried of spraying something on then watching the entire grille just melt away... Herald grilles seem more robust and much easier to polish. It's now 10.00am, wonder if I can run a two-hour cycle on the dishwasher and get it cleaned out before anyone returns home? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted December 13, 2021 Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 Since I live on a small island it is quite common that people have boats, many of them are made of aluminuim. There is plenty of chemicals available for cleaning them. The sea shells can be a pain to remove so they might have potential. At least they have plenty of colorful warning pictograms on the bottles which looks promising! The one I bought contains a lot of hydrochloric acid. I bought a bottle but I have not tested it yet, so I don't know if/how they work!! Just a thought... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain T Posted December 13, 2021 Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 Colin, try taking it to a commercial Powdercoat painters. Most paint Ali parts and will have a dip they use for stripping and etching the surface. Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted December 13, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 15 minutes ago, Iain T said: Colin, try taking it to a commercial Powdercoat painters. Most paint Ali parts and will have a dip they use for stripping and etching the surface. Iain That means leaving the house.... Currently waiting on a delivery - only two hours late - plus prepping two ceilings for painting. I was hoping for some household / garage solution that I might already have. Tried petrol this morning, no use at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain T Posted December 13, 2021 Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 31 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said: That means leaving the house There's a handy gadget called a phone where you can communicate to others while being some distance away! I thought your post code was blackballed by the postal service? Even if cleaned you will still have to polish out the pits and marks. Perhaps dip, etch prime and paint is the best solution? Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain T Posted December 13, 2021 Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 How about Barkeepers Friend as a cleaner? Failing that I would try a small area of something nasty like Ajax powder but make sure it's completely rinsed off. We used to paste Ajax on aluminium pressings prior to being 5 axis laser cut to try and stop beam shine back which can pit mirrors. Fibre lasers probably don't have the same problem. Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted December 13, 2021 Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 5 minutes ago, Iain T said: How about Barkeepers Friend Colin IS one 🍺 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted December 13, 2021 Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 53 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said: That means leaving the house.... Currently waiting on a delivery - only two hours late - plus prepping two ceilings for painting. I was hoping for some household / garage solution that I might already have. Tried petrol this morning, no use at all. Cilit Bang (limescale) stuff contains acids, so will work in a similar way to the marine ally cleaner above. As will brick/patio acid. Coca cola will too, but very slowly. Dishwasher powders tend to be alkali. great fror degreasing, but less so corrosion. I stil think cleaning and painting is the easiest answer likely to give decent results. Matt black would be pretty cool... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain T Posted December 13, 2021 Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 Just spoken to my mate Simon at Vulcan Powdercoat and he said he has the chemicals to clean the surface and then do whatever is then required, blast, use a special filler etch primer and paint shiny chrome or faux anodised finishes. The upshot is a commercial Powdercoat company could probably help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted December 13, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 43 minutes ago, Chris A said: Colin IS one 🍺 Not recently In fact I can't remember the last time I was in an actual bar just for drinks that weren't connected with a meal; probably York in October. Getting older and the home fire seems to have more appeal...! Not a single bottle of beer in the house, tho. 1 hour ago, Iain T said: There's a handy gadget called a phone where you can communicate to others while being some distance away! I thought your post code was blackballed by the postal service? I thought you were going to suggest a phone app for cleaning it... E-mail is the same however that conversation ended with the same words: bring it down and we'll have a look at it... so in both cases it's not something I can apply and leave while I'm sanding walls, then go back and check progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted December 13, 2021 Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 I`ve used Phosphoric Acid, on Brass/Bronze surfaces to remove Limescale?. Might be worth a few "test" patches on the inner side with some of the suggested products, I know barkeeps friend will remove "rust" stains from Stainless Steel, Sinks etc;. Never used it on Aluminum though. Maybe I`ll try it on the (rather dirty) tread plates?. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted December 13, 2021 Report Share Posted December 13, 2021 Soda Blasting?. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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