Cleaning a Custom Classic 6061 brushed aluminium squonker

I have a brass CC squonker arriving next week (I hope), so I thought I had better shine up the sibling in readiness

The aluminium has a tendency - for some people/in some climates? - to tarnish where there is skin contact, leaving dark, dirty-looking areas.

At this stage it's something like 5 weeks since I did anything other than occasionally wipe the CC over with a damp cloth. I take this mod everywhere - it had multiple fine scratches and you can clearly see where my fingers rest near the squonk hole:



The first step is to use grey Scotchbrite pads (ultra-fine 7448) to refinish the brushed surface and remove those fine scratches. The grey pad sheds very fine grit, so put it on paper towelling and then then move the mod across it, always moving in the same direction as the original brushed finished.

It's looking better already:



Now it's time to get out the Simichrome polish (bought mine from Amazon, but they now say it doesn't ship to Australia) and start adding a bit of shine.



For that special finishing touch, some Renaissance wax for a real shine, and finally a fresh wick and a dab of something (NO-OX-ID "A Special" in my case) where the lid meets the body etc.



And now I feel as though I should have invested in white cotton gloves:

 

is the simichrome abrasive like brasso? i may have to get some if not

 

I think you'll find that all polishes are abrasive to some degree ... else they wouldn't work

 

Thats purrrrrrty.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

 

brasso is a bit scratchy

tooth paste is good

 

I use California Purple for my Trumpy

And @btobw ... looks great

 

Great job there btobw[emoji106]

 

I'd agree that all polishes are abrasive to some degree. If I rub the Simichrome against the lines of the original brushing, you can see it (but rubbing with the lines restores the finish easily). I think it is a very fine abrasive.

Just looked up California Purple: "Purple Metal Polish contains asuperior abrasive along with Hi-tech cleaners and sealers to SAFELY CLEAN,SHINE and PROTECT all metal surfaces WITHOUT SCRATCHING!"

 

Makes the Trumpy all purty

 

Simichrome doesn't claim to be non-abrasive, but like the Purple, it does say it leaves a protective film.

I found that, with no treatment, the Al tarnished within a couple of days.

I already had some Renaissance Wax; the wax alone definitely helped. I then bought the Simichrome, and, using the method above with both Simichrome and Ren Wax, found it went weeks without needing maintenance.

I would say this time I will do a weekly touch up shine, but that sounds a lot like famous last words

 

Bwahaha. After all that ... I just dropped it for the first time ever!; it bounced off a screwdriver on the desk onto my mouse and keyboard, acquiring some new scratches along the way.

Another quick polish and most of the new scratches are gone.

I'm reminded of why I'm quite happy to be driving a 15-year-old car. When I got in the car yesterday, I noticed a brand new dent - it was down to shiny metal where someone had clearly opened their door into mine. I just shrugged and drove off

 

I need a good polish.... preferably not from you tho mate....

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

 

Autosol would also work and is about $8 a tube

 

I looked at Autosol, but it confused me. There is the metal polish: "The Autosol Metal Polish formula polishes: stainless steel, chrome, brass, copper and many more.", but then there are also three different aluminium polishes/cleaners, a gold & silver polish, and many more. That just left me wondering, "Can I use the metal polish on aluminium? If so, why do they have specific aluminium polishes? If not, which one is best for this job?"

Too many questions

 

Autosol is more abrasive (slightly more?) than the others listed though, but it's good too. I've used it on my brass mods

 

I swear by autosol
On polished or brushed mods but most of all on exhaust tips