[64speed]

How do you do it? Everything is oxidized now and is looking awful. Also has anyone had any luck getting belt dressing off? I thought it was worth a try but all it did was make a hell of a mess

[Tim john]

Semi truck parts dealers, supply houses, truck stops, etc. sold a product called "Renewsit" that I purchased years ago for the farms tractor trailers aluminum fuel tanks, running boards, steps, stacks and accessories, spritz it on, let soak for a few minutes then rinse off with cool water, worked great. I used it on multiple aluminum items for years and years. Perhaps give it a try on a couple test items and see if you like the results.

Tim john---

[78w72]

Originally Posted by 64speed

How do you do it? Everything is oxidized now and is looking awful. Also has anyone had any luck getting belt dressing off? I thought it was worth a try but all it did was make a hell of a mess

might be too late now with everything assembled & this isnt for cleaning, but what i do & have posted about before for aluminum parts including heads, is to use high heat engine paint clear in a spray can. i use it for all bare metal or aluminum parts like valve covers, intakes, heads, brackets & even brake or fuel lines & bolts that should be natural bare metal. has worked for 12+ years on alum valve covers on one car & 6+ years on intake, E-heads & other parts on another car.

with everything as clean as new & wiped down with brake cleaner or lacquer thinner, spray a light coat, not like you would with a color to get it smooth & good coverage, just a light misting but still fully covered, works great & does not yellow or flake off even in high heat areas like the exhaust ports, but im sure aluminum doesnt get as hot as cast iron heads so that helps in that area. plus its impervious to oil or even fuel if it doesnt pool & sit for too long.

nothing i hate more after building an expensive pretty engine than to have alum parts corrode & turn chalky in 6 months to a year or 2. i see it all the time on friends engines or at car shows etc, thousands & thousands of dollars spent on shiny aluminum parts only to have them look like they were under water or are 20+ years old in a short time.

[roy381]

Originally Posted by 78w72

might be too late now with everything assembled & this isnt for cleaning, but what i do & have posted about before for aluminum parts including heads, is to use high heat engine paint clear in a spray can. i use it for all bare metal or aluminum parts like valve covers, intakes, heads, brackets & even brake or fuel lines & bolts that should be natural bare metal. has worked for 12+ years on alum valve covers on one car & 6+ years on intake, E-heads & other parts on another car.

with everything as clean as new & wiped down with brake cleaner or lacquer thinner, spray a light coat, not like you would with a color to get it smooth & good coverage, just a light misting but still fully covered, works great & does not yellow or flake off even in high heat areas like the exhaust ports, but im sure aluminum doesnt get as hot as cast iron heads so that helps in that area. plus its impervious to oil or even fuel if it doesnt pool & sit for too long.

nothing i hate more after building an expensive pretty engine than to have alum parts corrode & turn chalky in 6 months to a year or 2. i see it all the time on friends engines or at car shows etc, thousands & thousands of dollars spent on shiny aluminum parts only to have them look like they were under water or are 20+ years old in a short time.

I was just checking out the VHT line of high heat clear. They have satin and hi gloss. Which would be preferred for aluminum valve covers?

Thanks In advance

[78w72]

Originally Posted by roy381

I was just checking out the VHT line of high heat clear. They have satin and hi gloss. Which would be preferred for aluminum valve covers?

Thanks In advance

i would prefer satin. i havent tried the VHT but have heard its a good product. i use rustoleum brand engine enamels for color & clear, they work great, easy to find & priced right. the clear is a gloss but if applied thin its not too bad & after a year or 2 of use & wiping down it turns to more of a satin. no paint will stick to cast iron ex ports though. i was surprised it lasted so well on the alum heads, i was prepared to wipe it off if it yellowed or peeled. motor had dyno time lots of drag strip runs & driven on the street quite a bit.

also if your covers are smooth aluminum, you probably need to do 2 medium coats to avoid orange peel, my alum covers are the cast alum from GM performance that say pontiac on them, heads, intake & alum water pump are a cast surface too so a thin coat doesnt show orange peel, but i used it on some smooth parts too like my alum radiator tanks, it applies & levels out very good.

[Formulabruce]

Lemon juice cleans aluminum oxides pretty well, clean with water that has baking soda in it after.

[25stevem]

Belt dressing and a lot of other crap will come off with a product called wax & grease remover which can be had at automotive paint supply locations.

[Skip Fix]

Have heard Alodine works good as a preventative.
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catal.../alumiprep.php

My new shop was so humid water would condense on the engines and in 2 years a lot of my aluminum looks not so nice.

Some "non coated" aluminum wheel cleaners will work also but are mild acid.

[Formulas]

Alodine has to be applied to a pristine surface contamination wise and it has to sit for a short period of time then neutralized,
it is a chemical conversion coating and it leaves a yellow brownish color

part of the process is to do a water brake test you spray water on the soon to be treated surface if it beads up anywhere its not clean enough, also if the surfaces are not equally clean and equal application time the surface coloring will be inconsistent which doesnt matter so much in the aircraft production world as paint is applied after

it would not be my pic for the first thing an eye sees

[gtorich]

Hey 64, you have a pic of your alum heads.............i put these kre heads on in 2010........dont look much different than when i bought them, all i ever used was windex and some alum polish.

Rich

[gtorich]

64 would like to see what your talking about on the heads, found a few pics of mine from 2010............looks pretty much the same as today...........and i dont do anything but throw some polish on them maybe once a year if that.

[grivera]

Originally Posted by gtorich

64 would like to see what your talking about on the heads, found a few pics of mine from 2010............looks pretty much the same as today...........and i dont do anything but throw some polish on them maybe once a year if that.

What polish?

[gtorich]

Grivera..............nothing special just store bought stuff, Mothers mag & alum polish, the only part i put it on is the front of the heads, would like to see a pic of 64"s heads to see what he is talking about.

Rich

[64speed]

The heads have already oxidized and have gotten antifreeze on them from all that overheating chasing. It creates little white spots. The belt dressing is black and tar like and got slung all over everything.

[gtorich]

Originally Posted by 64speed

The heads have already oxidized and have gotten antifreeze on them from all that overheating chasing. It creates little white spots. The belt dressing is black and tar like and got slung all over everything.

64 Sorry to hear about your troubles, can you throw up a pic, just curious what this looks like

Rich

[64speed]

Here you go

[NeighborsComplaint]

I've always used the Eadle One Mag Wheel (not for clear coated wheels) that contains a mild acid. You have to make sure you rinse everything of well. A little scrub with a kitchen scotchbrite on cast surfaces will help. For you satin machined surfaces like the strut shown, cut the scotchbrite in strips and use a "shoe shine" scrub in the direction of the fine machine marks.

The best coating I have found is SharkHyde Aerosol which is made for aluminum pontoon floats and boat hulls. It woks great on the Holley tumble-polished carbs too and is fuel resistant. Wipe down with lacquer thinner and then spray it on evenly. It is not for your exhaust ports on the heads though, you'll have to use VHT clear for that surface and it does yellow quickly.

If you can't get the cast surfaces clean, spray them with a base coat of aluminum paint followed by a spritz of Duplicolor Metal Specks that gives it those reflective highlights and sheen you see in freshly cast aluminum parts. My intake is painted this way. The carb was sprayed with Sharkhyde, linkage and all.

[64speed]

Well a miracle occurred. Mr. Clean magic eraser wipes all this crap right off with just a tiny bit of effort.

[78w72]

for anyone in the future using belt dressing, #1 dont use it unless absolutely needed, #2 apply it very sparingly because it does fling around pretty good. thats why i like the old stuff in the tube that you just put a few dabs on the exposed underside of the belts & spread it thin with your finger, no flinging or heavy build up on the belts/pulleys.

VHT clear should not be yellowing on aluminum head ex ports, its supposed to be higher temp rating than standard engine paint which is what i use on my E-heads 6+ years ago, all kinds of use especially dyno time that would have turned it yellow real fast if it was going to yellow or fail in some way.

good to hear mr clean removed it, paint or lacquer thinner would have probably worked too for belt dressing. if you get the oxidation cleaned up consider masking other areas & using some of the engine clear to protect them from doing it again. from what ive seen oxidation depends a lot on the environment the parts are in, high humidity is worse than dry climates... but keeping them clean & applying polish will prevent it or greatly slow it down too, just need to keep on top of cleaning/polishing or use a clear & they should stay clean for a long time with just light wiping of dust/dirt.

[FrankieT/A]

I had drill my natural aluminum intake for injectors. Handling the intake during the process made a mess of it with handprints and all. So, I came up with the bright idea of running it through the dishwasher. Well that took off all the handprints but the intake came out black. I did some research and all pointed to NAPA Aluminum Brightner. I followed the directions and the manifold looks brand new.