Tarnished D/A Components

[John Faith]

Hi all,

Months ago, in a fit of anal-retentive compulsiveness, I
immersed my Dura-Ace calipers and derailleurs in a citrus
degreaser overnight, looking to totally clean them out,
rebuild, re-lube, and reinstall them. When I retrieved them
from the tank the next day, they'd tarnished an ugly shade
of dark grey, which seem impervious to removal. Does anyone
have any idea of how to remove this stuff, so I can return
them to their former, shiny, gleaming state?

Thanks!

John

John Faith Arlington VA USA jcfaith@earthlink.net

[Guy F . Anderso]

On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 12:19:02 GMT, "John Faith" <jcfaith@earthlink.net>
wrote:

>
>Months ago, in a fit of anal-retentive compulsiveness, I
>immersed my Dura-Ace calipers and derailleurs in a citrus
>degreaser........ Does anyone have any idea of how to
>remove this stuff, so I can return them to their former,
>shiny, gleaming state?

Have you tried Simichrome polish?

[Jim Beam]

i'd be extremely cautious about re-using those brakes. i'm
not sure what's in those degreasers, but look up "stress
corrosion cracking" and check into the agents that affect
aluminum alloys. the tarnishing is that you've destroyed the
anodizing and are eating into the base metal.

John Faith wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Months ago, in a fit of anal-retentive compulsiveness, I
> immersed my Dura-Ace calipers and derailleurs in a citrus
> degreaser overnight, looking to totally clean them out,
> rebuild, re-lube, and reinstall them. When I retrieved
> them from the tank the next day, they'd tarnished an ugly
> shade of dark grey, which seem impervious to removal. Does
> anyone have any idea of how to remove this stuff, so I can
> return them to their former, shiny, gleaming state?
>
> Thanks!
>
> John
>
> John Faith Arlington VA USA jcfaith@earthlink.net
>

[Bike Whisperer]

The degreaser used probably had mild acids in it. They will
begin to eat aluminum if left on too long. I would not be
afraid to use them. The anodizing is just a couple thousands
of an inch thick and mainly for cosmetic reasons. -BW

"John Faith" <jcfaith@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:WkvIc.3326$sV2.25@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> Hi all,
>
> Months ago, in a fit of anal-retentive compulsiveness, I
> immersed my Dura-Ace calipers and derailleurs in a
> citrus degreaser overnight, looking to totally clean
> them out, rebuild, re-lube, and reinstall them. When I
> retrieved them from the tank the next day, they'd
> tarnished an ugly shade
of
> dark grey, which seem impervious to removal. Does anyone
> have any idea of how to remove this stuff, so I can return
> them to their former, shiny, gleaming state?
>
> Thanks!
>
> John
>
> John Faith Arlington VA USA jcfaith@earthlink.net

[Mark]

"John Faith" <jcfaith@earthlink.net> wrote in message news:<WkvIc.3326$sV2.25@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net>...
> Hi all,
>
> Months ago, in a fit of anal-retentive compulsiveness, I
> immersed my Dura-Ace calipers and derailleurs in a citrus
> degreaser overnight, looking to totally clean them out,
> rebuild, re-lube, and reinstall them. When I retrieved
> them from the tank the next day, they'd tarnished an ugly
> shade of dark grey, which seem impervious to removal. Does
> anyone have any idea of how to remove this stuff, so I can
> return them to their former, shiny, gleaming state?
>
> Thanks!
>
> John
>
> John Faith Arlington VA USA jcfaith@earthlink.net

Hi John, Dam! :-( Sorry to hear of your mishap, and thank
you for sharing this info with us.

About all I think you can do now, is to try to re-polish the
parts. Since you already have them broken down, this is
about all you can do:

Perhaps first, take something like 0000 Steel wool, and very
lightly hand polish each part, removing all the nasty
looking coating of drab grey. Then as another poster
suggested, use a high quality metal polish such as
Simichrome, or Flitz, and with some time, and care by hand,
they may even have a higher luster than they did stock. Only
thing is, you probably lost the D-A Emblems.

Also, without the protective clear anodizing, they may dull
slightly over time, and will need a re-polishing.

To keep the high luster, they can perhaps be de-greased
after polishing/waxing, and then a coat of Krylon Clear
Spray over them, then re-assemble. This might look a bit
tacky/cruddy though. I myself would probably re-frain from
coating them with anything, but that's gotta be your call.

Hope this helps you, Mark