Cleaned up aluminum

[James Morse]

Top of box had accumulated grime took a while to clean it up, looks better now. Fine dirt accumulates at the bases of the diamonds, pain to clean but probably hadn't been done since it was put in some time after 2012 (date on box).

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I should take a picture of the side boxes on my F-150, whole ecosystem on them, lol, got a nice collection of lichen going

What did you use to clean it?

 

[Shran]

Looks great. I use alumabrite on diamond plate aluminum, let it sit for about 5 minutes and then hit it with a scrub brush. The embedded dirt comes right out. Don't get it on your paint though.

 

[JoshT]

I should take a picture of the side boxes on my F-150, whole ecosystem on them, lol, got a nice collection of lichen going

LOL

Sounds like the whole body on my F-100.

 

[ericbphoto]

I should take a picture of the side boxes on my F-150, whole ecosystem on them, lol, got a nice collection of lichen going

What did you use to clean it?

Reminds me of the guy we met at Badlands this year. He reached down between the fuel tank and skid plate of his Ranger and pulled out a handful of moss. The substantial chunk he removed had little effect on the forest floor he had growing down there.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

The lichen and all started on my toolboxes when the truck was parked for a year or two following my hip surgery. I thought putting it back to more regular use and the stuff would go away, but nope, doesn’t seem to bother it at all that it’s bombed down he highway at 70 mph, rain, snow, everything.

 

[Ranger850]

Did somebody say "lichen".

 

[James Morse]

I tried a bunch of different things, finally what I did is this and I know it sounds ridiculous.
I make Windex out of water and about 15% isopropyl alcohol, with a half drop of Dawn (and a few drops of blue food coloring). I spray this on then scrub around the diamonds with a toothbrush which loosens up the grime, then I sop up the liquid to get most of the debris, and polish it with paper towels, being careful to not leave debris at the base of the diamonds which is where it collects. Kind of a tedious process but working quickly it doesn't take too long, then some places I have to go over a second time, but eventually it all comes off. At the end I spray wax it which probably doesn't do much, but I see water beading up on it this morning so maybe it helps a little.
I tried scubbing with a large brush but it didn't do better and it tends to make stuff go places you don't want.
The WIndex won't hurt paint though, in my experience, it might want to take off wax but no biggie even if so.
I try to get most of the crud off before polishing/wiping because aluminum is soft and if you have a grit there you can scratch it pretty easily. Mine was mostly just real fine black dust that was stuck in there.
Seems to help in the overall cosmetics None of the other things I tried like Noxon or Brassite or hand glaze or anything seemed as good.
3M hand glaze does help a ton with paint though it's safe for clear coat it's just super fine, for that I use soft cloth to polish. It cleans up fine scratches and leaves a nice smooth surface for waxing. I'm gradually doing the whole body; I did the roof which as you might expect was the worst and it really shined it up nice.
Not familiar with alumabrite but will check it out.

 

[James Morse]

I bet you could try carefully hand glazing on the lichen... or Windex? Not sure I never had this problem yet. Must be a way to get it off without scratching the paint.

I'd try various approaches, maybe have a hose handy running slow and rinse it off as it removes. Anyone who's done much of this will know that if you get a clump of grit of any kind you can put a scratch in it, that's why with finer grits you are always wet sanding and rinsing things that way it doesn't happen.

The glaze works really nice on the last coat of alkyd paint I use on the instruments, that's actually why I got it, but it's made for vehicles. After you use it you can feel the difference in smoothness as well as see it.

Edit: maybe bleach but I'd go carefully on a trial spot. I got a replacement seat belt for the '99, it was greasy and grody and full strength bleach made it like new. It won't attack the nylon but gets all the crap out. I guess I simple-greened it first but that worked only so-so and bleach really cleaned it nice, just about 15 minute soak was all it took.

 

[JoshT]

I can only speak for myself, but by the time it gets to that point you no longer care about the paint. At least on the F-100 the paint is too far gone to care about. I might bomb it once a year with the pressure washer and not worry about the rest. Remove some lichen, some paint, some bondo, and some rust. Eventually I'll get to a point I can get rid of most of the rust (replacement panels) and have it painted, at which point I'll try to start washing it at least a few times a year.

Had a little of it on the '99 Ranger, as well as well as a lot of pine pitch and pollen, after it sat for almost a year and a half. Pressure washer knocked most of it off, some more came off with a light scrubbing. Still got some areas with a bit stuck on. Would probably get the rest of with a good scrubbing. I'm also not worried about the paint. I'd say about 60% of it is salvageable and could look nice with a polish and coat of wax. Unfortunately the paint on the hood and roof are shot, pretty certain no amount of cutting and polishing would fix it, and the bed rails were scuffed to primer and metal for a spray in liner that failed years ago.

 

[Roert42]

x2 on the pressure washer.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I bet you could try carefully hand glazing on the lichen... or Windex? Not sure I never had this problem yet. Must be a way to get it off without scratching the paint.

I'd try various approaches, maybe have a hose handy running slow and rinse it off as it removes. Anyone who's done much of this will know that if you get a clump of grit of any kind you can put a scratch in it, that's why with finer grits you are always wet sanding and rinsing things that way it doesn't happen.

The glaze works really nice on the last coat of alkyd paint I use on the instruments, that's actually why I got it, but it's made for vehicles. After you use it you can feel the difference in smoothness as well as see it.

Edit: maybe bleach but I'd go carefully on a trial spot. I got a replacement seat belt for the '99, it was greasy and grody and full strength bleach made it like new. It won't attack the nylon but gets all the crap out. I guess I simple-greened it first but that worked only so-so and bleach really cleaned it nice, just about 15 minute soak was all it took.

I will have to get a picture, it’s gone waaaay beyond hand glazing!

 

[James Morse]

Yeah glazing is really just for finishing paint that's already quite good. It would just make probably a worse mess of things. Sorry about that.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Yeah glazing is really just for finishing paint that's already quite good. It would just make probably a worse mess of things. Sorry about that.

No need to be sorry, soon as I can manage to get a good daytime picture of the vast tundra the top of my toolbox has become I’ll share it

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Yeah glazing is really just for finishing paint that's already quite good. It would just make probably a worse mess of things. Sorry about that.

Here you go, finally got to it…