Pole Shed Find - 1974 R90/6

[b25bsaboy]

Try mixing the silver with pewter 50/50. Comes out a little less bright but the end result is closer to when it was new. ;-P

R 'N B is my secret clean up weapon. And it leaves behind a finish that cleans up easier.

Good evening,

This always a sore spot with me in cleaning the engine/transmission cases in getting them clean. I have several questions before I get on Amazon to order the products.

When you mix 50/50 mixing the silver with pewter with Rub n Buff Silver Leaf, with the cases being ground in with forty years of oil and dirt, do you go directly on the cases or is the cases pre cleaned?

What do you use to clean the surfaces - 0000 steel wool or Scotch Brite.

I have a barn (garage) find a 1972 BMW R75/5 that is absolutely dirty cases. I cleaned the transmission cases with a product for cleaning aluminum surfaces from Shell Buzzy a Canadian icone in the building trades. It does a very nice job, but does not get down to the oil/grease/dirt stains that I want to remove.

 

[happy wanderer]

Good evening,

This always a sore spot with me in cleaning the engine/transmission cases in getting them clean. I have several questions before I get on Amazon to order the products.

When you mix 50/50 mixing the silver with pewter with Rub n Buff Silver Leaf, with the cases being ground in with forty years of oil and dirt, do you go directly on the cases or is the cases pre cleaned?

What do you use to clean the surfaces - 0000 steel wool or Scotch Brite.

I have a barn (garage) find a 1972 BMW R75/5 that is absolutely dirty cases. I cleaned the transmission cases with a product for cleaning aluminum surfaces from Shell Buzzy a Canadian icone in the building trades. It does a very nice job, but does not get down to the oil/grease/dirt stains that I want to remove.

I always start with a good manual cleaning with Simple Green and hot water or just Sunlight Dish Soap and water. This gets most of the dirt and a lot of the grease and oil stains out. Then follow up with WD40 directly on the troublesome spots with scotch brite or a good tough brush and elbow grease. I've never tried aluminum cleaners on engine cases and gear boxes but did use something with muriatic acid in it on some old /5 wheels many moons ago and it worked pretty good. I don't like using acids as a general rule though since disposal is more work I don't need.

After using WD40 which is a solvent I clean again with soap or Simple Green mixed in water.

I mix the Silver and Pewter versions of Run N' Buff together and then add a solvent like paint thinner or lacquer thinner to really thin it down. A tiny bit of this stuff goes a long way. Using an old toothbrush works well to get it into the rough aluminum finish quite well. Do small areas at a time and then buff them with a clean cloth before moving on. Don't try to do the whole gear box or whatever first and then buff. It get dry and harder to buff pretty quickly and you will get an uneven finish. Do the wax on, wax off method and be patient. Rewards await...

I don't have a photo of the outside before starting but for some reason I took one of the inside. Suffice to say the outside was way worse!'


This is after some cleaning with soap, water and slightly worn scotch brite pads so as not to scratch the soft aluminum and then using Rub N' Buff as described above:

 

[nrpetersen]

I do know NOT to use steel wool or any other metallic based cleanser/polisher.

 

[52184]

Rub'N Buff Silver Leaf 76308M

Tha Amaco website shows a Silver Leaf 76370K and a Pewter 76380A but does not show a product #76308m. Is the latter an older product or something completely different?

Best,
DG

 

[20774]

Tha Amaco website shows a Silver Leaf 76370K and a Pewter 76380A but does not show a product #76308m. Is the latter an older product or something completely different?

There's a listing for it on fleabay...also etsy.

 

[b25bsaboy]

I always start with a good manual cleaning with Simple Green and hot water or just Sunlight Dish Soap and water. This gets most of the dirt and a lot of the grease and oil stains out. Then follow up with WD40 directly on the troublesome spots with scotch brite or a good tough brush and elbow grease. I've never tried aluminum cleaners on engine cases and gear boxes but did use something with muriatic acid in it on some old /5 wheels many moons ago and it worked pretty good. I don't like using acids as a general rule though since disposal is more work I don't need.

After using WD40 which is a solvent I clean again with soap or Simple Green mixed in water.

I mix the Silver and Pewter versions of Run N' Buff together and then add a solvent like paint thinner or lacquer thinner to really thin it down. A tiny bit of this stuff goes a long way. Using an old toothbrush works well to get it into the rough aluminum finish quite well. Do small areas at a time and then buff them with a clean cloth before moving on. Don't try to do the whole gear box or whatever first and then buff. It get dry and harder to buff pretty quickly and you will get an uneven finish. Do the wax on, wax off method and be patient. Rewards await...

I don't have a photo of the outside before starting but for some reason I took one of the inside. Suffice to say the outside was way worse!'
View attachment 71495

This is after some cleaning with soap, water and slightly worn scotch brite pads so as not to scratch the soft aluminum and then using Rub N' Buff as described above:
View attachment 71496
View attachment 71497

Thank you for the explanation! This makes perfect sense and that will be on my agenda after tomorrow, as I have an appraisal to do at 1 PM for a 1969 BSA Trail Bike that was recently restored here in Calgary! Will take my front cover as the trail part!