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Message |
Jim Rink (Fakeguy)
Registered Member
Username: Fakeguy
Post Number: 81
Registered: 1-2005
Posted From: 24.33.84.95
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 - 8:40 pm: | |
just wondering if anybody has tried this stuff for cleaning/shining the alumunim on a gm. I have heard you must be cautious of some products. Here is the link. All comments welcomed.
http://www.blingmaster.com/id75.html |
FAST FRED (Fast_fred)
Registered Member
Username: Fast_fred
Post Number: 158
Registered: 10-2006
Posted From: 66.90.229.81
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2007 - 6:16 am: | |
The safest to use is the aircraft products as they come in many grades of cut , and you don't want to remove the clear Anodizing.
FF |
John Lacey (Junkman42)
Registered Member
Username: Junkman42
Post Number: 27
Registered: 3-2007
Posted From: 204.49.140.169
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2007 - 10:37 am: | |
Aircraft have aluminum skin made from a material called alclad. I dont know is buse skin is alclad or not. Alclad is pure aluminum bonded to the substrate which is the alloy that the sheet is made of. If one polishes a airplane to look a mirror and goes overboard, the clad is polished off and the skin will not shine as well and it will tarnish much quicker. The same holds if the alclad sheet is anodized. My two cents worth, John |
John Lacey (Junkman42)
Registered Member
Username: Junkman42
Post Number: 28
Registered: 3-2007
Posted From: 204.49.140.169
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2007 - 10:45 am: | |
Aircraft have aluminum skin made from a material called alclad. I dont know is buse skin is alclad or not. Alclad is pure aluminum bonded to the substrate which is the alloy that the sheet is made of. If one polishes a airplane to look a mirror and goes overboard, the clad is polished off and the skin will not shine as well and it will tarnish much quicker. The same holds if the alclad sheet is anodized. My two cents worth, John |
Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
Registered Member
Username: Drivingmisslazy
Post Number: 2024
Registered: 1-2001
Posted From: 208.180.227.132
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2007 - 3:00 pm: | |
The siding on the GM is Anodized Aluminum. It is a chemical process that changes the surface of the aluminum. It is not a clear coating, it is chemically etched into the surface of the aluminum.
If you polish hard enough you can cut thru the anodize to the bare aluminim but it is a tremendous amount of work and then you have a surface that will only stay shined for a few weeks at best.
Richard |
Gus Causbie (Gusc)
Registered Member
Username: Gusc
Post Number: 565
Registered: 11-2005
Posted From: 206.40.238.187
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2007 - 3:51 pm: | |
Like Richard said plus - removing the Alclad will still allow polishing just as well but will corrode on the surface and also into the grain of the Al alloy. |
Jim Wilke (Jim Bob) (Pd41044039)
Registered Member
Username: Pd41044039
Post Number: 233
Registered: 2-2001
Posted From: 208.6.60.4
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2007 - 4:36 pm: | |
Here is the difference between Alclad & anodizing. I dug these off of the internet but I don't have the references. I don't care that much!
"Alclad:
Alclad is a trademarked process. Beryllium copper aluminum alloys provide very high strength. These are the 2000 series alloys like 2024 which are usually used for aircraft. These alloys have a problem because of the copper in suspension in the aluminum there are granular boundaries between copper and aluminum that are rather far apart on the electro scale. In the presence of an electrolyte, like dirty water, they make a small battery and one of the poles becomes sacrificial and corrodes away. This intergranular corrosion is a serious problem with these alloys. However, pure aluminum will corrode, but when it does it forms an aluminum oxide coating that serves as an excellent corrosion barrier.
Someone got the bright idea of coating both sides of the sheet of aluminum with a thin layer of pure aluminum. There is a layer about .001 inches thick of pure aluminum on each side of the sheet."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Anodizing:
The process of anodizing is rather simple. It consists of an anodizing solution typically made up of sulfuric acid. A cathode is connected to the negative terminal of a voltage source and placed in the solution. An aluminum component is connected to the positive terminal of the voltage source and also place in the solution. When the circuit is turned on the oxygen in the anodizing solution will be liberated from the water molecules and combine with the aluminum on the part forming an aluminum oxide coating."
So...the Alclad secret revealed!
Jim-Bob |
john w. roan (Chessie4905)
Registered Member
Username: Chessie4905
Post Number: 786
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 71.58.48.5
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2007 - 4:51 pm: | |
Try EAGLE 1 Never Dull Wadding Polish. It is readily available in a silver and black can about 3" in dia. and 3" high.Will make the panels look like new, although I don't know how it will hold up in the weather. Wadding in can- just wipe it on lightly, then polish. It does look good.You can get it at many locations. Only reason I used it is that my daughter bought the can for one of her college graphic classes and used very little. Hated to just throw it out when she graduated and didn't need it, so tried it on some panels on a coach setting outside. Sure brightened the panels like new without any serious rubbing.Does not appear to have any abrasives. That stuff you listed said not to use on any coated surface. |
Jeffrey Smith (Greenhornet)
Registered Member
Username: Greenhornet
Post Number: 95
Registered: 12-2006
Posted From: 76.110.47.183
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 28, 2007 - 12:02 pm: | |
Gotta go with John on this one. The Never-Dull works good it is cheap and available almost everywhere from Wally World to The H-D. The stuff you were looking at looks to be just as labor intensive as any other product. I looked at some of the pics on the site and saw the guy polishing his Airstream. The rag was cruddy from rubbing the dirt out. No easy fix with Aluminum. That liquid looks expensive for a 2oz bottle too. using the Never-Dull,once it is done it is not to bad keeping up with it. I had a 62 Airstream and did mine up to the point it shined, my neighbor came over to watch and said, "everyone else on the road is gonna hate you" I asked him why and he said "Yer gonna blind everyone else on the road with the reflection when the suns out!" Twice a year was enough to keep it looking good, It was an all day job on my 20 footer though. |
Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
Registered Member
Username: Drivingmisslazy
Post Number: 2025
Registered: 1-2001
Posted From: 208.180.227.132
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 28, 2007 - 2:16 pm: | |
Was the Airstream anodized or just plain alunimum?
Richard |
Jim Rink (Fakeguy)
Registered Member
Username: Fakeguy
Post Number: 82
Registered: 1-2005
Posted From: 24.33.84.95
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 28, 2007 - 8:20 pm: | |
Hey..thanks for all the info...I want it to look good but not damage it. |
Jeffrey Smith (Greenhornet)
Registered Member
Username: Greenhornet
Post Number: 96
Registered: 12-2006
Posted From: 198.136.32.74
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 28, 2007 - 8:22 pm: | |
Plain aluminum. Originaly they were covered with a clearcoat. Mine was long since deteriorated and was just bare aluminum. It poslished up nice. 22' Safari, neat trailer. |
Douglas Wotring (Tekebird)
Registered Member
Username: Tekebird
Post Number: 279
Registered: 10-2004
Posted From: 71.59.75.212
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 28, 2007 - 8:37 pm: | |
Cheapest and least labor intensive: Boiled Linseed Oil
next least labor intensive: Flitz
Tested 6 products on a well weather 4104 panel. |
john e grabe (Johned)
Registered Member
Username: Johned
Post Number: 2
Registered: 12-2007
Posted From: 70.56.24.211
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 31, 2007 - 8:15 pm: | |
There is a professional product used by the guys that clean U-HAULS. I bought a gallon from a chem supply house for 8 bucks. You dilute it 15 to one. Wipe it on and let it sit for 5 min and hose it off. All shiney and all done. Check with an auto detailer...they buy it by the 5 gallon pail or can send you to the guy that sells it. No magic here, it is hydrochloric acid and a couple others just as nasty in great dilution. Works really good and after you finish with the rag and hose you can decide how much more effort you want to put into it. I put in zero after that first use and I am considered anal. Faced with all the work you are considering, can you afford to not try this?
Good luck,
John |
john w. roan (Chessie4905)
Registered Member
Username: Chessie4905
Post Number: 794
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 71.58.48.5
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, January 01, 2008 - 12:23 pm: | |
Jeebus, I wouldn't try that stuff on a 4104 unless it was dead dull or in rough shape, maybe before refinishing. You'd loose any anodizing that was left and have streaks. Try the eagle one first, as it would be easy and cheap to try on a panel. |