ok ppl here it is. a step by step to bring out some shine in your old faded and or oxidized aluminum.
hopefully this will be an ongoing learning process for all of us.
please feel free to post comments on how this worked out for you or suggestions on how to make this process easier/better.
it took me approx. two hours on the front fork.
p.s. i apologize before hand for any misspellings, my son spilled some pepsi on my keyboard and the keys are a bit sticky.
what you will need.
1.eye protection
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2.
www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_Us...RAFT&pid=00964876000
those are the sanding pads you need or similar.
3m makes a similar product.(and on the seventh day god created 3m
)
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3.buffing set, i cant seem to find one on the site but its a 8 piece set (1 pad post, 3 different size buffing pads, and 4 blocks of rouge each a different grade). i found them at my local sears for about 14 bucks each.
i found these at my local sears for about 14 bucks each.
you will need more fine sanding pads and buffing wheels depending on how much you want to polish.
the one set of each was enough for one front fork and the crank case.
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4. drill
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5. dremel or other rotary tool with abbrasive pads and polishing pads.
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6. 300,600, and 800 grit sandpaper
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first step
clean it with a degreaser. i use meangreen super. any oils left on the surface will make the aluminum dust stickier then it already is and it makes clean up a p.i.t.a.
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second step
(
DO STEP 2 and 3 ONLY IF YOU HAVE GOUGES. LIKE FROM CONCRETE MEETING A CRANKCASE) starting with the corse sanding pad sand down the gouges until its hardly noticeable but still there. use this pad ONLY on the extremely bad area using circular motions.
i dont have any pictures of this step because fortunatly the forks are in good shape.
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third step
step up to the medium pad and in circular motions starting at the spots you just hit with the coarse "feather out" the scratches until they are no longer visible.
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fourth step
use the fine pad to remove the scratches from the previous pad. good light is a definate plus at this point. (sunlight is best in my opinion)
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fifth step
break out the dremel with the abbrasive pad on it and hit all the tight spots and go over all that you just hit with the fine pad.(they say fine but it still leaves scratches that dont buff out)
Post edited by: mykznme, at: 2006/01/02 23:30;)
Post edited by: mykznme, at: 2006/01/03 00:02
Post edited by: mykznme, at: 2006/01/07 18:21