$50 modification thread

[makenzie71]

It works okay on just about any variety of aluminum so long as you're not going for the extreme colors. Cast aluminum will never look like the bright and shiny red on a Coca-Cola can, but if you're going for basic colors like black or a dark bronze it'll work. You'll never have a sunny yellow engine lol. I got an old dirtbike case/jug/head plate to come out a mottled copper once...that's about as extreme as it gets with cast.

 

[lostsoul74]

well, after this thread I was up late last night educating myself on various acids and results. While many recommend Phosphoric acid as a better suitable rust removal as it seals itself and turns the rust into iron phosphate where as muriatic acid does an Excellent instant job of rust removal but leaves the area exposed to the elements and speeds up the rusting process without proper sealing. However, this may be great in tanks or areas that will be painted, but as far as exterior areas like chrome and such, it would leave it grey and where the rust was it would be black, not the idea situation for anything exposed. Many who recommend muriatic because it removes the rust instantly without elbow grease and leaves the pits shiney metal, instantly apply two cycle oil or something to help seal it. Perhaps later this afternoon I'll try this out on the parts bike I made my earlier trials on. Also know that baking soda nuetralizes muriatic acid for a post rinse after using in a tank. The use of using soda to clean rust is because there is a small amount of deluted phosphoric acid in the soda, but hardly enough to really do anything quick. And your body itself produced muriatic acid in your stomach, so I guess on a funny note, if your flat broke and cant afford the 10 bucks, you could always puke on your bike lol.

Also note that earlier I stated that Muriatic acid was mild, that I dont even use gloves or anything with it, Muriatic acid is deluted hydrochloric acid, depending upon the strength and delution, it could be quite dangerious, so far i've had no issues with the standard plastic jug stuff I buy at home depo.

Also, NOTE: do not store muriatic acid indoors!!!! the gasses themselves leak from the container and can contaminate and rust everything in the vacinity, I have not yet noticed those effects, but was mentioned while reading with some great examples. I've used this on floors and tubs, tiles, etc on the job, and someone else mentioned hte same and the results after cleaning a floor with it was that everything in the room when finished had a coat of rust on it. I will now go put this outside somewhere as a precaution. Never thought about it till now.


For aluminum unfortunately I did not find any ease of care, though i still yet to see if jewlery cleaner does anything. I did find a mention that muriatic acid does remove oxidation but leaves the aluminum dark grey, I did not see that effect on my trial, in the short time I had it on I saw no effects of anykind.

The only ease of recommendation I found to give it that original factory look is blasting with nuts, anything else (sand, bead) is too harsh, shells are highly recommended and does a great job as I have read. Good excuse to pick up a blaster at harbour freight as theyre cheap enough.

Heres a link to one of hte better sites I came across from a guy thats been working on beater bikes his whole life and what hes discovered works and doesnt work.


http://www.thevincent.com/vinpolish.html

 

[Old Colt]

One item about cleaning with acids I do not see mentioned here.
Muriatic acid removes rust and clean metal at an equal rate
Phosphoric acid removes rust at a rate much greater than clean metal, as much as a 10:1 rate.
To me this is very important.

 

[lostsoul74]

Interesting, I have not seen that mentioned in direct relevence anyways, Perhaps those numbers are related to straight hydrochloric acid and not deluted muriatic acid, at least in my case, as soon as sprayed on rust, rust instantly desolved within seconds where as the metal took up to 2 minutes before etching occured.
I know muriatic acid is often used for etching bare metal before priming so i'm definately not arguing with you, but with the deluted store bought stuff i buy at hardware stores, it definately eats rust probably 80 percent faster then bare metal if I had to take a guess at it.
I've heard alot complaints about phosphoric acid taking too long to work, and then you have the whole greying and black effect to worry about if it's something to be seen.
The method I used as talked about above of just spraying it on and rinsing it off within a minute, would of caused no ill side effects with the metal unless left on longer then 2 minutes. The result is nice shiney raw metal where there was rust or pits, you have to immediately seal with something to prevent instant weathering, but for things like chrome and stuff, i'll take that over grey and black oxide.
Again, i'm hardly a chemist and only know of muriatic acid from what has been recomended to me by others in the past adn I've had great results with it, I spent the better half of 4 hours late last night educating myself further on the matter, so I'm by no means an efficiano in the matter, but i would definately prefer muriatic over phosphoric for chrome because i dont want greying or black, kind of defeats the purpose ya know. Actually, since i've got the freetime, i'll head out to the garage now and spray some more on something and then put some oil (i think i'll try engine bright as it leaves a greasy film which i "think" will seal it from weathering), i'll post back in a bit.

 

[mighty13d]

wow lost, can you throw a couple blank lines in your paragraphs so that it's a little easier to read? lol I don't mind reading it, it just looks like more than it really is all together like that. THANKS!

 

[lostsoul74]

ok, heres some before and after pics within 1 minute of spraying, no elbow grease was added, just spray and rinse off. I also took pictures of the effect of the other bike afterwards without any post finish or sealing, some minor rust spots came back, but on the overall is still 400 percent better then it's original condition, the headers alone in some areas literrally had 1/8-3/16 inch of corrosion on them. They still show some minor pitting, but not bad for what they were originally. On this second test area I sprayed some wd40 on everything and wiped it off to leave a molecule based thin layer of protection that hopefully the metal will absorb and allow protection against the elements. I've left it outside and will take another photo of it in a couple days.
NOTE: The muriatic acid that I purchase from lowes for about 10 bucks a gallon and the same stuff i've used for years on the jobs, states on the bottle that it is 90 percent safer fumes then standard Muriatic acid, and safer to use. I'm assuming this store bought generally available product may be even a more deluted version of hydrochloric acid, and perhaps safer then previous posters using standard muriatic acid. Here is a pic of the bottle, i'm pretty sure the same stuff i buy at home depo too. I will note i had a pretty good cut on my finger which it instantly created a black scab over... kind of neat, i'll have to remember this over using electrical tape on the job... lol.
this pic is a pic of the generally available product i use from box stores:

And here is an example of the trail the other day, remember, these springs and highway bars were COMPLETELY covered in rust, while some very minor rust specs have come back, on the overall, the difference of night and day, this is why i use Muriatic acid over phosphoric acid, if i tried this with phosphoric, they would of turned grey and black, and been useless unless painted. You can also see the headers in the background, these too were covered with rust, you can still see some minor corrosion marks, but i'll with it.

 

[lostsoul74]

And here are before and afters of the trial that i remembered to actually take pictures of this time to try an example and see if i could seal the raw metal afterwards with lubricaining oil which hopefully on a molecule base will help to seal.

And after spraying with the generally available safer version of muriatic acid as sold in big box stores like lowes or home depot. Sprayed and let sit for about a minute then sprayed off with garden hose.

No scrubbing was needed, although it would of helped, and this could also use a second aplication, remember not to let it sit for too long as it will etch and discolor the chrome, that happened to me in a trial where it sat longer then 2 minutes and dried in the sun, left mild discoloration on headlight bizel.

 

[lostsoul74]

And what the final product looked like after a quick second aplication and rinse, dried off, then sprayed with some lubricating oil to help seal from weathering, then dried again only to leave an ultra fine film, may not look brand new, but definately a noticable improvement for those of us with some rattier bikes. I will now let this sit outside for a few days and post back with any results if it came back after sitting in the rain and weather and oil washed off to see if it absorbed and sealed.

Phosphoric acid would have turned everything into black iron oxide, not very beneficial for exterior parts that will not be painted.
Hey... you wanted some cheap tricks under 50 bucks, how about a new looking bike for 10 bucks?? lol



And by the way, sorry if my paragraphs are long.. lol, I took typing class in Jr. high to be with the hot chicks 20+ years ago, now i type 140 wpm, so as fast as my mind thinks it, it's on the screen, sometimes not so good since i dont have time to "think" about what i'm saying.... lol, i dont originally plan on them being long.

Any other ideas anyone wants me to try on this junk bike?? hell, it looks so good now i may just have to sell it... lol

 

[lostsoul74]

hmmm, i dont have any laying around, but i see theres alot of post polish metal sealers available that protect it for 6 months or more. Sounds like an easy fix to the post weathering condition after stripping the rust, fine by me if once a year i've got to spray it down and reseal it again to keep it looking new.

 

[Nessism]

I cleaned some chrome parts using Evapo-Rust and they came out looking really nice. Bike sat outdoors in the rain for a couple of days after that and the rust came back. Basically, once the rust sets-in, the chrome layers are compromised and even if you remove the rust, the metal doesn’t have much protection anymore. Wax coatings should help but you really need to keep on top of the rust since the metal is raw so to speak and will rust easily.

 

[kilog55]

you can get the real good muriatic acid at a pool supply store if you want it but i like the idea of the safe stuff for a few reasons

 

[lostsoul74]

well, after reading what everyone has said on the strong muriatic acid stuff, i'm fine with this all purpose safe stuff i pickup at lowes, works great and instant for my needs, i'd be worried of harming something if otherwise. If this cleans tanks in 45 seconds, i'd be worried about my fingers and everything else if that other stuff worked in 2 seconds ya know... lol.

 

[nisom512]

And here are before and afters of the trial that i remembered to actually take pictures of this time to try an example and see if i could seal the raw metal afterwards with lubricaining oil which hopefully on a molecule base will help to seal.

And after spraying with the generally available safer version of muriatic acid as sold in big box stores like lowes or home depot. Sprayed and let sit for about a minute then sprayed off with garden hose.

No scrubbing was needed, although it would of helped, and this could also use a second aplication, remember not to let it sit for too long as it will etch and discolor the chrome, that happened to me in a trial where it sat longer then 2 minutes and dried in the sun, left mild discoloration on headlight bizel.

Holy freakin Awsome Batman!!! that looks great. Nice work before I sell my Honda I am totally doing that.

 

[lostsoul74]

yea just make sure you seal it with something, the wd40 didnt help much, it came back a bit, but not nearly as bad as before, but i did spray the other half with a chrome cleaner/polisher and it seemed to work pretty good. but i'm sure theres plenty of better more permanent sealers out there, just havnt tried much yet.

 

[bwringer]

It was mentioned above, but I've used Evapo-Rust several times, and it is amazing stuff. $22/gallon at any auto parts or hardware store, so your $50 would get two gallons.

Nontoxic, completely non-obnoxious, and you can re-use it until it changes color and stops working. It's also safe for intact metal, paint, rubber, plastic, etc. -- it removes rust and then stops. Dump it down the drain with no worries, or put it on your flower bed if they need an iron boost (really!). Soak parts overnight at room temperature, or heat the solution to 120-140 degrees (fahrenheit) and strip rust almost instantly.




With this stuff available, there's no need to go out and spray diluted hydrochloric acid on your motorcycle.

 

[lostsoul74]

yea but, why would i want to strip a bike down and soak it when i can just spray and rinse and be done in a couple minutes. just sayin..... and the stuff i use i dont wear gloves or anything, and just spray it off and doesnt even kill the grass.

 

[Nessism]

It was mentioned above, but I've used Evapo-Rust several times, and it is amazing stuff. $22/gallon at any auto parts or hardware store, so your $50 would get two gallons.

Nontoxic, completely non-obnoxious, and you can re-use it until it changes color and stops working. It's also safe for intact metal, paint, rubber, plastic, etc. -- it removes rust and then stops. Dump it down the drain with no worries, or put it on your flower bed if they need an iron boost (really!). Soak parts overnight at room temperature, or heat the solution to 120-140 degrees (fahrenheit) and strip rust almost instantly.




With this stuff available, there's no need to go out and spray diluted hydrochloric acid on your motorcycle.

I was under the mistaken impression that Evapo-Rust will continue to work until it turns to sludge - sort of like carb dip. In reality, it works for a while and then stops. Great stuff but definitely a consumable.

 

[dpep]

My favorite acid was always window pane or blotter. The tab stuff was too speedy.

All right, here's a tip that is hard to beat as far as bang for the buck. Side cover insurance.

Also, if you take your bike anywhere to have work done, get new tires, etc. remove and secure the side covers before dropping it off.

 

[mighty13d]

Also, if you take your bike anywhere to have work done, get new tires, etc. remove and secure the side covers before dropping it off.

That's even better than spending $50 wisely and getting a lot. That's saving money outright!!

 

[po-boy]

Here ya go, $0 and looks kinda cool for you cafe or chop/bob guys. Drilled five 1/4" holes along the marked center line of the levers, then cut off the ball ends and countersink the holes. Still need to sand em' up a bit for that brushed look and a coat of matte clear from the ol' rattle can.