ripper clean up bare alloy any tips ?

[Moza]

Anyone got any good tips on how to clean a ripper up but not so it's polished

[SteveG]

It's tricky if you plan on doing it yourself.
I've just finished stripping and polishing a Specialized mountain bike frame for my daughter. Getting the paint off was OK but it left a grit blasted finish ! Much wet n dry and no fingertips later it was pretty good and then I attacked it with a tube of Peek metal polish.

I experimented a bit with the finish. When you get to the stage of using 1200 grit paper it's pretty shiny already but has scratches still. Grey Scotchbrite with oil on it will give a grey by slightly lined finish. I tried polishing it with Cif as well which has a similar effect but slightly more shiny.

If you are going to get someone to do it then media blasting of some sort is going to be the easiest option. A place I worked at had a wet grit blaster that gave a nice even matt finish.

Are you trying to replicate the original ball burnished finish or just don't like highly polished frames ?

My Ripper has got gradually more polished over the years. Getting a bare one all those years ago was a good plan as any damage was reasonably easy to sort out.

[hotdog]

Here you go:

http://1800deburring.com/Home.html

[glenboy]

hiya lee
you can use raw alloy wheel cleaner , its alloy wheel cleaner for raw alloy wheels not lacquered , i haven't been able to find anyone who sells it but it exists , also lemon juice is ok for the scaling

[theRuler]

If the frame is already bare, use scotchbrite then autosol to give it a shine.

If not, strip it with the inspector, then do above.

If you want it shinier, give it some brasso.

If you want to make it even shinier, spend ages with cutting compounds and a polisher.

If you would rather dissolve it completely, fill a wheelie bin with water, add a big sack of caustic soda and leave the frame in overnight.

[Rodgy1970]

Check this out  

http://astro.neutral.org/nitric_acid_chemical.shtml

Something like this would do the trick but you have to be careful with stuff like this,leave it on too long and it will pit the alloy.

http://hughcrane.co.uk/chemical/workshop-industrial/hugh-crane-aluminium-cleaner.html

If you don't want it polished avoid using glass paper, rubbing compound, autoglym, brasso even peak as they all contain abrasives and a scotchbrite pad is abrasive too.

If it does end up a bit brighter when you've finished it will soon dull down.

[SteveG]

Some interesting info there, Caustic Soda and Nitric acid look good.

I guess it might be worthwhile getting an even finish on whatever it is you are doing first though, is that right ?

[Rodgy1970]

Some interesting info there, Caustic Soda and Nitric acid look good.

I guess it might be worthwhile getting an even finish on whatever it is you are doing first though, is that right ?

Don't really understand what you mean but if you mean using glass paper or a scotch brite pad on it first then I'd say no.

The finish should be even if you use the alluminium cleaner, it should remove the tarnish and oxidisation and other crap off the top without rubbing off a layer of metal, although it won't remove scratches but they won't be half as noticeable after cleaning anyway.

I think this is the same stuff sold by m and p.

http://www.mandp.co.uk/productinfo/503966/Bike-Care/Metal-Cleaner-and-Polishes/Ali-Brite

I've used this sort of stuff on motorbikes and I reckon it should do the trick, you spray it on, agitate it with a wheel brush or toothbrush to get into the tight spots then hose it off, not letting it stay on for more than about 5 mins, if your not happy do it again.

[theRuler]

Don't really understand what you mean but if you mean using glass paper or a scotch brite pad on it first then I'd say no.

I had to use scotchbrite on my painted ripper.  The paint shifted ok with nitromors, but the etch primer underneath was hard to remove.

Mind you I was going for the shiny look.

Didn't use any glass paper though!

[Moza]

Thanks guys its already bare it just needs a good clean up but I dont want it shiney, Close to factory finish will do.

[theRuler]

Ball burnish it with your own balls.

[Moza]

Ball burnish it with your own balls.

Wont that hurt a little flick gives a huge anount of pain !!!

[Moza]

the bike

[theRuler]

Jealous.

[bobbbbsy]

think you need to be concentrating on the seatpost and forks more ! 

[Moza]

think you need to be concentrating on the seatpost and forks more ! 

Forks have polished up and seatpost add in wanted section. The bike came with alloy bars and seatpost. The rest is how it came from the shop. It was built by the shop with these parts so all the bits are staying but getting some TLC.

[bobbbbsy]

cool, be looking great soon enough! 

[SteveG]

Don't really understand what you mean but if you mean using glass paper or a scotch brite pad on it first then I'd say no.

I had to use scotchbrite on my painted ripper.  The paint shifted ok with nitromors, but the etch primer underneath was hard to remove.

Mind you I was going for the shiny look.

Didn't use any glass paper though!

I was thinking more you would need to sort out any damage first like deep scratches as the acid will only etch the surface. I bought some really evil paint stripper from HMG coatings that made the paint on the specialized frame almost pop off.

[Rodgy1970]

Don't really understand what you mean but if you mean using glass paper or a scotch brite pad on it first then I'd say no.

I had to use scotchbrite on my painted ripper.  The paint shifted ok with nitromors, but the etch primer underneath was hard to remove.

Mind you I was going for the shiny look.

Didn't use any glass paper though!

I was thinking more you would need to sort out any damage first like deep scratches as the acid will only etch the surface. I bought some really evil paint stripper from HMG coatings that made the paint on the specialized frame almost pop off.

No don't do it, you won't be leaving the acid on long enough to etch the surface and if you start flatting off the scraches it'll end up patchy, I'd just leave the scratches and clean it.

[SteveG]

I see, once you start messing with it you loose the original ball burnished finish, something I did on mine the first time it got scuffed unfortunately.

This is it as it is now, bit too shiny compaire with how it was new.  I have re-fitted the DX pedals since the picture was taken and the whitewalls have calmed down a bit !

[Rodgy1970]

I see, once you start messing with it you loose the original ball burnished finish, something I did on mine the first time it got scuffed unfortunately.

This is it as it is now, bit too shiny compaire with how it was new.  I have re-fitted the DX pedals since the picture was taken and the whitewalls have calmed down a bit !

Looks spot on to me and it will dull over time.

A guy in the states had one ball burnished recently and they start off a lot brighter than you think then dull down.

[Moza]

I shall just have to polish it then let it dull down, does anyone know anything about the decal colours ? Ive looked into the frame numbers and emailed Scot Breithaupt

his reply was "It did after i bought out all my contractors & created Scot Industries. . . b4 was mismashed. Sorry C ya" so at first the numbers dont mean a thing or they might do depending on who did the frame.

[kungfunky]

What do you need to know ? about the serial number or decals ?

[Moza]

What do you need to know ? about the serial number or decals ?

I tried to date my frame the number is PK70069 ive asked Scot and he replied with what I posted. The decals on mine are black with pale blue kind of shadowing is that original. Ive only ever really noticed full pale blue decals

[kungfunky]

What do you need to know ? about the serial number or decals ?

I tried to date my frame the number is PK70069 ive asked Scot and he replied with what I posted. The decals on mine are black with pale blue kind of shadowing is that original. Ive only ever really noticed full pale blue decals

Well the good old "How to date a Ripper" debate... There are 2 lines of thought here, firstly I've talked to the OM in person and he confirmed the date stamps were infact random, but lets not forget he's been shall we say "busy"  . Anyway the 2nd thought is this, all 79's were pre serial apart from the ones made in December which were stamped with PK2... now a few people have talked to guys who worked for OM on these bikes and the thinking for the date stamping is this.
There a few other that were specials "team" frames that had unique stamping also.

78 (JUs, BD-III's). No SN's.
79 (RTT,PK, DB-IVs'). No SN till later in the year, started with 2xxxx.
80 3x
81 4x
82 5x
83 6x
84 7x


so based on this yours would be an 84 and also has the correct decals for this.