Aluminum casting cleaner and sealer ??

[Matt Story]

A while back I read a post where someone was acclaiming a product for cleaning and 'sealing' rough cast surfaces such as a bare Guzzi engine case.  I don't believe the product has wide recognition.  I have tried searching to find it every which way to no avail

What I remember is that the product is rubbed into the surface, perhaps rinsed and afterward an invisible residue would remain and act as a barrier to future oxidizing and staining.  The product would need to be reapplied every year or two.

I have a freshly build (and clean) engine and trans I would like to give such a treatment before I build a frame around it.

Anyone?

Thanks

[Canuck750]

ACF-50 to seal the clean aluminum surface

[Matt Story]

Thank you Jim.  ACF-50 is the product I was trying to recall.

[malik]

For a more permanent solution, I turned up a crowd in Melbourne whose whole business was sealing aluminium castings. They soak them in a bath of some solution. Works well. There should be other such businesses dotted around some industrial centres. Not easy to find, you'll likely do a lot of phoning around.

Note that some V11's had problems with leaking rocker covers - oil soaking through the casting - solutions from various posters on the V11lemans site.

[Matt Story]

After Jim's post, I watched a couple of ACF videos, and then this came up https://youtu.be/R5LSxpoqcWo .  I don't mean to contradict, only to share seemingly good info.  ACF-50 did pretty well in a side by side aggressive test of a bunch of rust inhibitors.  Depending on context, others matched or bettered ACF.  The presenter conducted a comprehensive study with time lapse using salt spay and altering the product application to meet the manufacturers spec.  Impressive unbiased work I think.  It was done on steel blanks not aluminum.

[dguzzi]

  I have a gallon of stuff called "Microseal" made to impregnate and seal castings.  Made by Microleak-Seal Impregnant, Inc.
Used it for sealing industrial castings. Maybe worth a call?  315-337-2720   www.microleak.com   

[lucky phil]

For a more permanent solution, I turned up a crowd in Melbourne whose whole business was sealing aluminium castings. They soak them in a bath of some solution. Works well. There should be other such businesses dotted around some industrial centres. Not easy to find, you'll likely do a lot of phoning around.

Note that some V11's had problems with leaking rocker covers - oil soaking through the casting - solutions from various posters on the V11lemans site.

There are a few options out there for this but the most common is a solution of Loctite 290 wicking grade. The professionals drop the component in a bath of warm 290 then remove to seal up porosity. Some immerse in a vacuum chamber and centrifuge the excess off and water clean. I recently used a home made vacuum system and 290 to seal some casting porosity. In the past I have travelled Europe twice on new BMW's and both times I collected the bikes from the factory and immediately doused the whole raw cast engine and transmission in WD-40. 3 months and 20 odd thousand klms later with the bikes back home I washed the cases and they were like new. The WD does pick up road grime but it also protects the raw cast aluminium.

Ciao