Tarnished D/A Components

On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 12:19:02 GMT, "John Faith" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

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?

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 said:

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
[email hidden]

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" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

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
[email hidden]

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" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

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
[email hidden]

"John Faith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

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
[email hidden]

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

John Faith said:

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?

Whoops.

You're screwed. You can polish them up if you want, but they'll grow
dull quite quickly. Without protective anodization, Al will dull
pretty quickly with its own protective anodization layer.

So polish away, but realize you'll never again have persistently
"shiny" brakes, without some regular elbow grease required.

Bill Lloyd <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

John Faith said:

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?

Whoops.

You're screwed. You can polish them up if you want, but they'll grow
dull quite quickly. Without protective anodization, Al will dull
pretty quickly with its own protective anodization layer.

So polish away, but realize you'll never again have persistently
"shiny" brakes, without some regular elbow grease required.

Hi Loyd/John/All.

I think provided the Calipers/Derailleurs have not been damaged very
badly with the solvent, with time, and care, they might be able to be
buffed/polished to an even better finish than supplied by the factory
(A Dremel Tool with the right little steel brushes, felt buffing
wheels with polishing compound might be helpful here).

Speaking of factory finishes, IMO, Campy Record stuff doesn't look any
better than Veloce/Mirage Stuff, and this definitely shouldn't be.
For what Campy charges for Record, you should be able to comb your
hair in them. This is certainly not the case, and honestly, Campy is
really skimping on Cosmetic Quality lately IMO. I can remember years
ago, Record, and Dura-Ace-Ultegra looking like Jewels! Campy stuff
now really looks like [censored]. Even thier emblems are just some black
[censored] thats pasted on the surface.

Getting back to John's problem: What one could possibly do, to help
alleviate oxidation with these parts, is coat them with a Poly Car
Sealant, or Carnauba Wax. Either that, or as I mentioned before, spray
them with a clear Spray Paint.

With the Wax/Poly, you should be able to get a few months with them
having a mirror finish if all buffing polishing was previously done
correctly. Mark

John Faith said:

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?

As others have said, you've probably lost the anodizing. You can still polish
these up beautifully, but they'll require pretty regular maintenance to stay
shiny. Don't use steel wool, it has a tendency to abrade bits of steel into the
aluminum and stains and rusts. 3M Scotchbrite is a better choice - available in
a variety of grits, not just the familiar green.

Some old-fashioned car finishes work great on unanodized aluminum. You know the
ones that you aren't supposed to use on clear-coat finishes, them. They take
some work but will end up with a great gloss.

Ron