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Can the restoration experts weigh in on how to refinish the steering knuckles? I searched and searched but have not found any solid advice, especially amongst the 928 owners. I want to make sure the original finish, hiding somewhere under all the grease/dirt, can be seen again. I want to prevent streaking and any type off polished “look”. I’d love to figure out how the UCAs and LCAs are rehabbed by companies.
Soap and hot water is likely the best bet, with tooth brushes and soft bristle brushes. I use Simple Green a lot, but it takes the zinc finish right off the plated parts, and it dulls the aluminum too. However, it is the best degreaser that I've found. If you have thick sludgy crap, use the Simple Green but immediately rinse it off. Don't let it sit there, and keep it away from the zinc plated parts. The purple stuff isn't that great in my experience.
I have been using mineral spirits extensively on some recent work and it's genuinely great at removing built up, old grease and oil. It takes a little while longer to work than something like brake cleaner but it's pretty much guaranteed not to harm any of the finish on metal parts. It's got some reasonable ability to "stick" to oily bits, as well, so even though it's not a viscous liquid it's still able to remain in place for a bit to do its work.
However, if you want to look at different refinishing methods, dry ice blasting will do wonders, as will something like vapor blasting. Depending on the media you choose, vapor blasting can give you different finishes. If you're so inclined, M539 Restorations on YouTube has some nice examples of using that method to clean up old BMW aluminum parts. I have never known what the parts looked like from new on these cars so I'm always just happy to get things to a place that they don't look like the 30 year old parts of somewhat neglected cars.
I have been using mineral spirits extensively on some recent work and it's genuinely great at removing built up, old grease and oil. It takes a little while longer to work than something like brake cleaner but it's pretty much guaranteed not to harm any of the finish on metal parts. It's got some reasonable ability to "stick" to oily bits, as well, so even though it's not a viscous liquid it's still able to remain in place for a bit to do its work.
However, if you want to look at different refinishing methods, dry ice blasting will do wonders, as will something like vapor blasting. Depending on the media you choose, vapor blasting can give you different finishes. If you're so inclined, M539 Restorations on YouTube has some nice examples of using that method to clean up old BMW aluminum parts. I have never known what the parts looked like from new on these cars so I'm always just happy to get things to a place that they don't look like the 30 year old parts of somewhat neglected cars.
Good luck
Thanks Mike. Do you know of anyone in the Cbus/Dayton area that does dry ice or vapor? The place that I had spoken with a year or so ago doesn't seem to be around anymore.
Vapour leaves a better finish IMO. Don’t forget that these things are very expensive now. Over 400 usd when I purchased one from Roger last year. And at that time Germany only had 4 in stock.
Wow...I could only dream mine would look that good. Maybe someday I can find some "special" enough to do a complete restoration. I've gone a bit overboard the way it is.
For me the limit to how much time I am willing to spend cleaning and finishing parts like this is how fast they corrode and get dirty afterwards. But recently, I have been having good luck using a coating of T9 to keep things clean and corrosion free, once I have cleaned them.
03-02-2024, 08:42 PM
Best Way to Clean Steering Knuckle/Cast Aluminum?
I want to prevent streaking and any type off polished “look”. I’d love to figure out how the UCAs and LCAs are rehabbed by companies. 
