Have a few questions about cleaning and sealing aluminum

Discuss anything after that final masking comes off.



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PostPosted: Wed May 11, 2016 11:03 am
I have a motorcycle i'm prepping to hit the road for the season.
The rims and a number of parts are aluminum with a yellow tinted factory clear coat.
For years i've been battling corrosion staining and pitting on thse parts.
Normally I clean them and wax them.
This year I wet sanded the factory clear coat off and wet sanded the corrosion and pitting off the parts to a flat/satin finish.

Before I put it all back together I wanted to seal it again.
From what i've been reading the best way to do this is too use a neutralizing agent on the aluminum to convert red oxides and prevent further corrosion. Then "seal" with a spray on clear polyurethane.

So as far as neutralizing the local autobody shop sold me something called Alodine1200s.
Reading about it seems like this isnt the stuff I need or is it?
This chemical implies that it turns the aluminum yellow or tan... Is anyone familiar with this product that could tell me more?

Because I live in a remote are the local hardware store about an hour away carries Varathane and Tremclad.

Varathane exterior,water born, diamond coat, non yellowing, UV resistant polyurethan is what I wanted.

Ended up with Tremclad clear oil based, non tarnishing, non yellowing, UV resistant, exterior rust paint. It claims it's a non westhering coating for aluminum containing anti oxidants. Other than that it doesnt say what it is exactly... Is it poly?

Then it goes on to say..."not for automotive use, if tremclad aluminum has been applied, topcoat only with same" What does that even mean?!

I read that as... This is designed for aluminum but not for aluminum, use tremclad aluminum instead then topcoat with tremclad aluminum. Idk :p

I think varathane should work as it's a decent exterior clear poly.

Will this tremclad stuff work or the Varathane, or should I just scrap it all and wax again?

I dont have money for fancy polishing and sealing kits (there are non in my area anyway)

After all the wet sanding I just want to seal it from more corrosion.

My last question is: If I want to keep the mat/satin finish should I use a mat/satin clear poly or a standard clear gloss? (Wondering if it has any real effect on the durability and the appearance of the final finish)

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PostPosted: Wed May 11, 2016 6:34 pm
I'm not familiar with those products at all, but since they are single component (i.e. you do not mix them with a hardener or catalyst) -- they are likely not going to be long term durable coatings.

All it means when it says "topcoat only with same" is that it won't tolerate anything painted over it - except more of it.

"not for automotive use" could mean anything. Might be a good idea to give the company a call and find out what they think of using their product on aluminum motorcycle rims.

Your question about matte finish -- any gloss clear coat will be glossy no matter what it is applied over. You'd need a matte flattening agent or a matte clear to get a final matte finish.

Personally I would not touch a job like this. Too much to go wrong, even with the right automotive 2-component (2K) clear coat being used. Can you look into getting the rims powdercoated? They can do them in clear or any tint you want; should last a long time.



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PostPosted: Wed May 11, 2016 7:17 pm
I want to get all the aluminum powder coated at some point but I cant afford it atm.
There wont be much left at the rate its corroding and pitting.
I wet sanded till it looks almost like factory new. All I can afford this year is either so e wax or cheap spray on clear coat. Just not sure which route or product is the most durable. I'm starting to think the ones I bought wont cut it.
Thanks! :)



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PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2016 1:31 pm
I guess I could be a little more speciffic.
I was laid off a while back and the bike is my only transportation atm.
What little money I have is going into bills, bike repairs and insurance so I can get to civilization to find work.

I wet sanded the aluminum looks good again. Just not really sure what to do with it now.
Looking at some other aluminum parts I polished last year they are still in pretty decent shape. Nothing a little aluminum polish cant fix.

So I'm thinking the best course of action for now is to keep the aluminum bare and just wash/wax like I normally do. Then hand polish again later.

Does that sound like a reasonable course of action?

Thanks again!

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PostPosted: Fri May 13, 2016 3:48 pm
Yes, it does sound reasonable. The problem with finely wetsanded or polished aluminum is that any paint product you apply to it is going to have little or no "tooth" to get a good mechanical bond. Couple that with the the high thermal co-efficient of aluminum (almost double that of steel!) and you get a lot of expansion/contraction - and the clear coat will delaminate pretty quickly.

That's why powder coating is a much better proposition.

Polished aluminum will actually be a little less susceptible to oxidation, and if you wax it even better. Lot's of people do this with aluminum rims.



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PostPosted: Fri May 13, 2016 8:13 pm
That's kind of along the line of what I was thinking as well after what i've witnessed regarding the parts I polished last year. Thank you very much! Now I have a game plan.

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