Aluminium frame polishing question

[jmacbrid]

I know this is a road frame but aluminium is aluminum on a MTB or road bike, I should be getting this frame in a few weeks I recently purchased it off a member on here. Needed a road bike for an endurance ride in Sweden in six months,

There seems to be corrosion under the lacquer on a few parts on the frame, what is the best way to attack this see picture below.

My thought was just to polish the affected area only and wax that area every few months.

Any help would be a great help of course,

Thanks Jamie

 

[hydorah]

Wierd

That looks like a LOT of corrosion for aluminium to suffer

I've seen very old aluminium marine parts, and magnesium parts that look like that but never the frame on an aluminium bike

Must've been outside for a long time?

Anyway you can polish it and leave it bare, it'll go grey (an oxide layer will form)

This grey layer will resist further corrosion

- Some bikes are finished in raw aluminium

You'll only need to wax it if you want to keep it shiny

Alternatively just buy some clear lacquer in a car accessory shop and spray the polished areas

 

[jmacbrid]

Thanks

What would be the best way to polish it and remove the lacquer from the affected area, if there is lacquer on there of course, looks like there is.

Jamie

 

[brocklanders023]

I used Nitromors to remove the laquer on my old Orange Elite. Polished it back up with Autosol.

 

[RobMac]

Im with Hydorah on this, that top lug looks dodgy
You'll never get a decent polish on that.

.

 

[beagle]

I'd be worried about those lugs, aluminium alloy corrosion can be nasty. But it depends how advanced the corrosion is, obviously.

 

[hydorah]

Doing it properly

There's a good collection of advice in this thread!

You'll need to strip the components off the front end of the bike

Then use Nitromors to remove the left over lacquer from those lugs

As suggested by brocklanders023

Alternatively as those lugs are so rough just sand it off

- I see the fork crown needs attention too

- I'm now prone to thinking that the amount of corrosion on those lugs might be due to their alloy composition, so I would not leave them raw - just to play safe...

Anyway, next you want to explore the safety situation, get yourself gloves and face protection, a stiff brush and a nice caustic oven cleaner

Scrub those lugs untl all the white dusty spidery shizz has gone away

Then take a very carerful judgement on what you've got

I think the corrosion looks superficial, but RobMac and Beagle make a vital point, don't assume it's OK

THEN you are ready to polish, but you have a fairly bad pitted surface so I'd hand sand it smooth

Then use wire wool, then finish with Autosol and lacquer it

Do the same to any lug on the frame

 

[Tazio]

Which kind of lacquer would you use on an aluminium frame? I've heard that if you get the process wrong the frame can oxidise under the lacquer, so how do you make sure this doesn't happen?

All these shiny frames are giving me ideas!

 

[Carge]

Polished it back up with Autosol.

Would you use the "Metal Polish" version of Autosol - or is there an aluminium specific one?

I've got some Rigida DP22 rims I want to give a shine to. Ta!

 

[FairfaxPat]

I use medium fine Steel Wool and soapy water to polish aluminum-my 1991 Funk-works as well as any polish and is cheap!! After polishing, I apply a coat of car wax and it is good to go for another 3-4 months, then repeat.