Hey, I was washing my car today and I decided to clean my engine covers/bay as well, as I was cleaning I noticed that I could not get the salt stains off my polished plenum cover. I haven't cleaned the engine bay since the beginning of winter (Nov. 07). What I think is that the plenum cover gets really hot and the salt water that gets kicked up from the road and onto my cover has bonded the salt when the cover cools.

So in short How do I clean this up? (i tried hot water on a cloth but that did nothing)

Here are pics:

 

try some brasso...or never dull...never dull takes the salt right off of my wheels

 

one of those should work fine good luck

 

Cool, cool, those products would be found in the waxing section of an automotive store correct?

 

yeppers waxing and/or polishing

 

or most hardware stores and even some grocery stores
Brasso is a well known liquid metal polish designed for Brass but works on many things
There is also Silvo for other jobs- like your silver

 

If you can find it, I would suggest Autosol. I picked it up years ago and it's the best metal polish I've ever used.

 

Its polished aluminum thats uncoated. You will have to continually polish it on occasion. Id get a mothers powerball and the aluminum/billet polish and use that every now and then

 

x2

 

Should I use brasso first and then the powerball? Or will just the powerball do the trick w/o the brasso?

 

Just use the powerball and the billet/aluminum polish. Do it every time you wash the car. It will only take a min or 2 and will look great and remain that way

 

What do you use, Billet? Where can I buy this because I have polished alluminum parts and just now I noticed its dulling. I dont think thats whats causing my rpms to drop under 750 but its next on my list to clean up.

 

All found in most auto parts stores.



or



or

 

Nah man - polish it with wenol and you'll see the pores on your nose.

 

Ok, I used this polish, I got rid of the small imperfections but it did not take the salt off at all (I cant even scratch it off with my fingernail). Any next steps I should take?

 

did you use it with the powerball on a drill as the applicator?

 

No, but I probably rubbed the plate harder and faster than the powerball. I think this stuff is for maintaining the surface and keepin it shiney but I need something industrial that can remove fused salt stains from the plenum.

 

the aluminum is oxidizing. Try the polish and something like 1000 grit sand paper. Keep at it. Or you are going to have to use more aggressive polish in 2 or 3 steps to get it back. You will want to keep it clean. Maybe apply a coat of wax to it every so often, or look into having it cleared

 

yeah sanding sounds like it should work. Do i sand it with just 1000g sand paper against the surface, or should i sand with the mag polish?

 

sand it with the polish

 

apply the polish on the sand paper or spread it around the plate first?

 

put it on the plate, make sure u dont sand areas w/o polish....keep decent amount on the plenum, or else sand paper will go onto the plenum and frig shit up...

 

okay, im gonna try this tomorrow. Should I put a lot (thick coats of the polish), or just enough to cover the plate?

 

generous amounts, dont go to crazy and throw the whole can on it...

 

haha, alright.

 

try tar and tree sap remover. might work.