Oxidized, pitted, old aluminum-what to do?

[Capt. Tobb]

I am trying to clean up the aluminum on the bridge, any ideas on what to use? I have been told that compounding will do the trick. What about alumabrite? I did try some in a few areas and it did not seem to do much. Thanks...

 

[MikeP]

I have used a lot of produc†s on Al in good condition that did an excellent job of polishing - any of the products sold for that purpose work fine. HOWEVER, for badly oxidized/pitted Al I learned the method many years ago...

I did a lot of work on old english bikes which all had Al chaincases, timing covers, tranny cases, etc. I tried to polish them with simichrome, flitz, all the polishes but nothing worked at all. Then a guy told me the "trick."

Forget the polishes - they won't work (I had figured that part out), you use sandpaper! You start with the lightest grade wet or dry paper you can - 400 will usually be course enough, sanding in one direction, then continue up the numbers to whatever gloss-point you want - 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000. At 2000 you're almost at mirror finish and Al polish will make it that way. You can stop at any level that gives you the finish you are seeking.

But...be prepared to sweat a lot!

 

[luckydave215]

The side cases on British bikes are bare aluminum. The aluminum on you bridge is anodized aluminum.
If you sand off the anodizing, that now bare metal will corrode like it's trying to win a contest, just like the bare aluminum cases on British bikes do.
The only real solution is new anodized aluminum. ($$$$$)

 

[MikeP]

Dave is right, of course - I hadn't thought about the ANODIZED part. If you sand it off/polish, it will be very difficult to maintain in that state on a boat. So it either needs to be replaced/reanodized or, if you do sand it, polished VERY frequently!

 

[Paul45c]

The side cases on British bikes are bare aluminum. The aluminum on you bridge is anodized aluminum.
If you sand off the anodizing, that now bare metal will corrode like it's trying to win a contest, just like the bare aluminum cases on British bikes do.
The only real solution is new anodized aluminum. ($$$$$)

Agreed. If you were prepared to chase that alum that had all the finish sanded/polished off of it constantly, anodyzing or no you could keep it nice. BUT, that's a lot of work and it's constant. I think your best bet is to get yourself one of the penetrating rub-on sealers like Woody Wax or Rupp Alumaguard. I'm more fond of the Alumaguard. It's slightly heavier in consistency and will last longer than the Woody Wax. Best of all, both of these products require no polishing. You just moisten a rag with it, wipe it on, and instantly the old cloudy pipe looks rich & shiny. You'll get a few weeks of it looking really nice, and then it's time to do it again, but since you're only wiping lightly and not rubbing & polishing, what's the big deal?

BTW, on the Woody Wax (if you go that way), DON'T use the 2nd part that supposedly catalyzes/seals the 1st part...it'll go back to looking cloudy right away on anything but perfectly polished aluminum.

 

[67hat34c]

Dave is right, of course - I hadn't thought about the ANODIZED part. If you sand it off/polish, it will be very difficult to maintain in that state on a boat. So it either needs to be replaced/reanodized or, if you do sand it, polished VERY frequently!

A sure sign that Mike is having too much Cervesa

 

[Starman]

We removed all the aluminum on Boss lady .

The aluminum around the brow of the flybridge will be replaced with 1" oval, solid back 316 stainless rubrail.

It comes in 20ft lengths for about 15.00 a foot

If you get a stainless rail, make sure it is 316.

The 304 is harder to bend and will show rust.

 

[Boss Lady]

The best cleaner/polish for aluminum that I have ever used is called Diamond Brite truck box polish. It is made for natural un-anodized aluminum. It will not remove pits or corrosion. You have to mechanically remove heavy oxidation by sanding or steel wool to get down to clean aluminum. After you do this stuff is real good at keeping it that way. I use one of those powerball foam buffing pads and an electric drill on my billet aluminum stuff.

I got rid of all the aluminum on Boss Lady, but if you are looking for a good polish I would try this brand. I get mine at Lowe's. Here is a link http://www.dawsbetterbuilt.com/bbt/polish.html

 

[bobk]

A friend who is a jack of all trades on boats told me he sands, uses a chromate primer then out board motor paint and has good success. Did it on some angle iron moldings on mine a couple of weeks ago, but of course have no idea of how it will hold up.

Bob

 

[thoward]

I used Shelia Shine with good results. Most of the tower looks good now but there are some bars that are so far gone they may never come back. I will try Woodys on some other areas to how it works and I will post here.

 

[Jim_n_Naples]

Woody wax with bronze wool will remove all of the crusty oxidation and make it very smooth without disturbing the finish. The Tiara we bought had very corroded tower, riggers and seat base. I am on my 3rd bottles of woody wax and it is worth every penny. The initial shine will go away after a few weeks but it is a snap to freshen it up. It is also great on plastic, The Cat displays had years of fiberglass wax built up around the gauges and this not only cleaned it but made it look like new. Dry hazy gelcoat will also benefit from the woody wax then I use Collinite paste wax to seal it.

Paul45C ..."""BTW, on the Woody Wax (if you go that way), DON'T use the 2nd part that supposedly catalyzes/seals the 1st part...it'll go back to looking cloudy right away on anything but perfectly polished aluminum"""

I did the same thing and had to bronze wool all the sealer off, it made it look terrible.

 

[Rickysa]

Borrowed this from the 31 Bertram site:

"Spent the last couple of days polishing the aluminum fittings on my Release fighting chair. Anodizing was shot, pitted and dull. Disassembled the chair and started playing with polishing methods. Long story short, take the anodizing off with acid, then sand it with about #320 wet/dry paper down to where all the anodizing is gone. WD-40 is a good lubricatnt for the sanding. Then use Flitz metal polish with #0000 steel wool, then buff it with a orbital machine with a towel bonnet. Mirror finish. Plan to finish it off with Poly-Glow's Aluma-Glow clear hard coating.

The 0000 steel wool and the Flitz does the trick for the mirror finish

If onboard, use bronze wool or a stainless brillo pad"

I haven't tried it, but thought I'd pass it along...

Rick