painting aluminum (transfer case)

I pulled my transfer case to replace all the seals and fix a pesky leak and decided to clean it first. It went from looking like this:




...to this:






Does the aluminum need to be painted or protected, or can I just put it back on? There didn't seem to be any coating on it, just crud.

TIA.

 

I'd spray it just to make it look brand new. Aluminum colored paint is great stuff. Here's a pic of my trans. It was originally painted blue. /ubbthreads/images//graemlins/dunno.gif

 

[14bCrazy]

No it doesn't need to be painted. It will not rust. And your not going to see it under there anyway.

 

^^^ Hehe, my brother saw it and said, "that's just going back under your car, right?" Besides, if heaven forbid something else starts leaking it'll be easier to trace it.

 

[JNR]

Your main concern with aluminum is oxidation (dulling) and possible pitting. Although aluminum won't rust (no iron), it can corrode and be careful with some of the de-greasers. You could always throw some clear, or the alum. paint, as mentioned, to help, but you probably won't "need" to...Wax helps it not oxidize, but I wouldn't want to be the one to wax all those crevices all the time /ubbthreads/images//graemlins/grin.gif

 

[ggsxkid]

Quote:
^^^ Hehe, my brother saw it and said, "that's just going back under your car, right?" Besides, if heaven forbid something else starts leaking it'll be easier to trace it.



ive had no problems tracing any of the leaks on my dirty old trans/t cases. /ubbthreads/images//graemlins/dunno.gif

 

[CutlassJim]

And just to let you know, from the looks of it you have a 22 slpine ALL aluminum transfer case so you might want to polish up the front of it too. /ubbthreads/images//graemlins/grin.gif

 

[iceman69510]

Not sure what you're seeing Jim, but that looks like a cast iron front case half to me.

 

[blacksheep]

how did you clean it up so good, I need to do that to a rusty rear diff and TC on the Eb-oh /ubbthreads/images//graemlins/frown.gif

 

[Rausch]

degrease the whole thing, rinse it and then if you need to get rust or whatever grime off, use a cup brush, or the rust/paint eater wheels you can get at the auto parts store. they make soft ones that won't scratch the case up....

 

[Polish]

Quote:
how did you clean it up so good, I need to do that to a rusty rear diff and TC on the Eb-oh /ubbthreads/images//graemlins/frown.gif



You can see the drill with wire wheel attachment in the second pic. /ubbthreads/images//graemlins/wink.gif

 

[blacksheep]

so, did he "polish" it? /ubbthreads/images//graemlins/rofl.gif

 

[mikus]

^ I used brake cleaner and a stiff brush on my transaxle when I had it off. cover up where you dont want the fluid, rag off as necessary. gets it mostly clean.

+1 helps to find leaks, I had a leak on reinstall and it was uber-easy to find.

 

[Polish]

Quote:
so, did he "polish" it? /ubbthreads/images//graemlins/rofl.gif



Nah, just made it shiny.

To polish it he would have to follow up with increasing grits of sand paper or grinding stones up to about 1500 then follow that with some aluminum polish and a trip to the buffer.

 

[jepherz]

Way to respond to sarcasm.

 

[Polish]

I know he was being sarcastic.

 

[number3]

click

 

[CutlassJim]

Oh wait, I got it backwards. /ubbthreads/images//graemlins/banghead.gif The little inspection plate on the front. If it's allen heads it's iron and if it's 10mm bolts it's aluminum, or is it the other way around? Dammit! I just sold an aluminum transfer case like a week ago too.

 

The front half of the case is cast iron, in good shape but with mild surface rust, so I'll probably paint that. I cleaned it in two nights. The first night was degunking. I put it in a wheelbarrow (aka redneck parts cleaner) and squirted it w/canned engine degreaser, Engine Brite I think, and attacked it w/ a wire bristle brush. After the whole thing had been gone over I scrubbed it w/a toothbrush dipped in a bucket of hot water with a bit of dish soap in it. Then I wiped it down with a towel to get all the water off and did a surface cleaning with brake cleaner and a different toothbrush. The next day I took the drill to it, using first a wire wheel/cup and then the smaller wire brush seen in the drill. I think it took me about 75 minutes the first night and 45 the next, and thank god I quashed the OCD in me before I got out the Dremel.

Harry, thanks for the link, that looks perfect! Do you know if it's available from parts stores, or do I have to order it?

 

[number3]

I don't know. Eastwood is local to me. I am sure there is probably something simular that is local but Eastwood only sell quality stuff...