Aged aluminum

[Alex]

check around at the local airports and you will find people that specialize in polishing aluminum and have the right equipment to do it right.

There really isn't any special equipment - buffer, Nuvite polishes, and your applicable pads/cloths.

The problem is $$$$. Polishing an aircraft is $$$$$. Polishing an aluminum car is $$$$$. He's looking around 1,500-2,500 to do it; anybody who charges less clearly doesn't know what they're doing and will leave a substandard finish. (or is incredibly desparate for work)

 

[Randy V]

I'd go with Ragrod Randy's suggestion...

The man knows his Alloy....

Blastolene!

 

[40 Bud]

Powder coating aliminum can be tricky. For good adhesion you need a clean none oxidized service. This is difficult to acheive with ali because it oxidizes almost instantly thus reducing the adhesion to the metal.

 

[EGLITOM]

Check this out to protect at least your suspension parts

http://www.gt40s.com/forum/gt40-build-logs/24525-toms-rcr-40-trackracer-19.html#post287395

TOM

 

[Alex]

I've wiped down 1/2 my chassis with acetone (3 bottles for the front half), and doing 4 coats of sharkhide. Then I'll decide what I'm doing (if I see any runs, etc..., I'll remove it).

So far so good though, but need for it to fully cure.

 

[Alex]

2 coats of SH on the front part of the chassis (I stop before the rear crossbeams start).

 

[Jack]

Looking good Alex!

 

[Allen English]

That looks real good Alex....

Great post by the way :2thumbsup:

 

[Alex]

That looks real good Alex....

Great post by the way :2thumbsup:

It seems right now to be a great product. I havn't found any runs or solvent pop anywhere from it drying. I found it when doing my cobra's aluminum (long story short; didn't work that well on polished aluminum for me - it brought out all the flaws in it; brushed/raw is a different story though).

What I've done so far is

- wipe down areas thoroughly with acetone or mek. I wiped down the front half of the chassis 3x, took 3cans of acetone.

- using a cotton cloth (so it doesn't shed and lint), saturate it with the SH and swipe it on. YOu don't rub it back and forth, just 1 pass east to west, then move up a few inches and go west to east (so you're doing slightly overlapping passes heading over the material). On the next application, go the opposite (e.g., north to south)

- it dries in about 2-3minutes; cures fully in about 24hrs. So I'm doing coat-24hrs-coat-24hrs-coat-48hrs-last coat. You could get away with fewer, but I don't want to do this again ever. In a marine environment (depending on 10001 factors) it can last up to 8yrs. In a non-marine environment like we'll see, theoretically it should last 20+yrs as long as you don't drop acetone/mek/thinner on it, or gasolline (and if you, you just wipe the area down with water, then re-apply the SH)

I've also coated my suspension pieces; also, something interesting I found out is that apparently you can coat black oxide bolts (e.g., big rocker bolt) with it so it won't rust.

 

[Dave]

I plan on doing nothing to the bare aluminum in my car. I bet it looks the same as yours in due time.

Btw, any advice about the neighbors dog that won't shut up; unpleasant solutions are favorable.

 

[Alex]

I plan on doing nothing to the bare aluminum in my car. I bet it looks the same as yours in due time.

Btw, any advice about the neighbors dog that won't shut up; unpleasant solutions are favorable.

Could be, could be not, time will tell

I waas studying my cobra rad shroud (t6 6061) and coming my brand new one to one I've had for a year and a half. The older one is a bit darker grey than the new one, but still virtually the same.

The way I look at it is I don't have much to do at the moment as I wait for my next package to arrive next week, so why not do it and see.

 

[Paul Osborn]

Btw, any advice about the neighbors dog that won't shut up; unpleasant solutions are favorable.

Throw a different neighbor's cat in the backyard. You get rid of a cat, start a neighborhood feud between two undesirable neighbors (cat owners being by definition undesirable), and you get to watch the daily drama between them as each come over to tell you how awful the other person is. Eventually one leaves, and your neighborhood gets 50% better.

 

[Alex]

Throw a different neighbor's cat in the backyard. You get rid of a cat, start a neighborhood feud between two undesirable neighbors (cat owners being by definition undesirable), and you get to watch the daily drama between them as each come over to tell you how awful the other person is. Eventually one leaves, and your neighborhood gets 50% better.

Don't do that; cats are cool. Look how cute kitttttah is :heart:

 

[Jack]

How 'bout doggie treats soaked in ethylene glycol. They like the taste..

 

[Paul Osborn]

Don't do that; cats are cool. Look how cute kitttttah is :heart:

Yeah, right. This LINK PROVES how evil these little soul suckers are!

 

[Alex]

Yeah, right. This LINK PROVES how evil these little soul suckers are!

Somebody didn't watch that episode of House where they explained it :laugh:

 

[Doc Todd]

Sorry to bring this back from the dead, but how is the chassis looking Alex? Now that I have secured permission for the build from the Mrs, I am saving my pennies and trying to start planning everything out :smart:. I really want to keep the chassis looking pristine and have considered powdercoating as well as anodizing (no idea if you can have the whole chassis done though). I really want to be able to have it "protected" and then be able to forget about it as much as possible.

 

[Alex]

Sorry to bring this back from the dead, but how is the chassis looking Alex? Now that I have secured permission for the build from the Mrs, I am saving my pennies and trying to start planning everything out :smart:. I really want to keep the chassis looking pristine and have considered powdercoating as well as anodizing (no idea if you can have the whole chassis done though). I really want to be able to have it "protected" and then be able to forget about it as much as possible.

It's developed several rust holes and is rusting through








Actually the sharkhide keeps it looking exactly as it did before. Portions I didn't coat also look basically brand new. If I were to do it again, I don't think I would bother coating it or doing anything other than leaving it as is.

 

[Randy V]

I think that the real key here is that your car has seen zero road miles Alex..

 

[Alex]

I think that the real key here is that your car has seen zero road miles Alex..

I look at some of the aluminum stuff that sits outside 24/7 (e.g., aluminum ladders) and they arn't in too bad a shape (for a 30yr old ladder that's been outside all its life).

I'm not too worried about it - plus the headache it makes for cleanup if you want to weld on the chassis, meh, not really worth it. If I were doing it again, I wouldn't coat the chassis with anything. I'd let it just age naturally.