Removing tarnish from engine bay

[Boostin on you]

My friend had some light rust in his s13's engine bay and I heard muriatic acid removes it. I bought some at ace for like 2 bucks and applied small amounts on the rusted parts. It removed it ASAP. But the thing is after about a day the metal that it was applied to tarnished. Is there anything that will remove this?


I tried a sponge with simple green, no sucess.
So we tried putting a small amount of the muriatic acid again and it removes it asap then tarnishes about 4 - 5 hours later
I tried orange glow and it removed it but I dont wanna waste it and sit there and scrub it down.


anyone?

[Maximamike]

When using muriatic acid it will strip all protecting materials off of the metal(wax, paint, clear, oils, etc). You must protect it with new paint or primer in order for it not to flash rust. If used on aluminum it will cause the aluminum to get stripped bare but then it will oxidize quickly. We use it when detailing big rigs at my shop.

[LA_phantom_240]

Originally Posted by Maximamike

When using muriatic acid it will strip all protecting materials off of the metal(wax, paint, clear, oils, etc). You must protect it with new paint or primer in order for it not to flash rust. If used on aluminum it will cause the aluminum to get stripped bare but then it will oxidize quickly. We use it when detailing big rigs at my shop.

On the polished bumpers and tanks and such?

[MELLO*SOS]

Originally Posted by Maximamike

When using muriatic acid it will strip all protecting materials off of the metal(wax, paint, clear, oils, etc). You must protect it with new paint or primer in order for it not to flash rust. If used on aluminum it will cause the aluminum to get stripped bare but then it will oxidize quickly. We use it when detailing big rigs at my shop.

+1.. Sounds like you're removing the rust and leaving bare metal behind, that gets tarnished quickly because you're not protecting it. Try some primer or a clear, or something similar.

What parts are you using it on?

[Boostin on you]

i used it all over the engine bay, worked like a charm removing all debris and unwanted things, it just flash rusts a few hours later.


Its on baremetal from the firewall to battery box location.
cleaned it super crazy.

so I just primer it and it should be fine?

[SlideWell]

acid is for cleaning chrome wheels and only intended to be left on for a very short period of time before you power wash it off.

[MELLO*SOS]

Originally Posted by Boostin on you

i used it all over the engine bay, worked like a charm removing all debris and unwanted things, it just flash rusts a few hours later.


Its on baremetal from the firewall to battery box location.
cleaned it super crazy.

so I just primer it and it should be fine?

Cool. I've used the stuff to get oil out of concrete and some other misc jobs, it works pretty good.

Yeah you need to protect the bare metal somehow. Either prime/paint/clear it, or throw some clear over if you're going for the bare metal look.

[FRoSt415]

primer is still poreis so it will eventually rust if just left with primer. i would use etching primer on bare metal then us what ever color base you want afterwords.

[Maximamike]

Originally Posted by LA_phantom_240

On the polished bumpers and tanks and such?

Yup, its all aluminum so we just polish it after. It takes off all the hard water stains, road grime, grease, bugs, etc.

Originally Posted by SlideWell

acid is for cleaning chrome wheels and only intended to be left on for a very short period of time before you power wash it off.

Good luck with acid and chrome wheels. Good way to pay for someones wheels if they're not yours.

[Maximamike]

Originally Posted by FRoSt415

primer is still poreis so it will eventually rust if just left with primer. i would use etching primer on bare metal then us what ever color base you want afterwords.

Use etching primer to start and then a sealing primer over it.