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RE: Hurricanes and Polish

To: "'James Barrett'" <jamesbrt@mindspring.com>,
Subject: RE: Hurricanes and Polish
From: Chris Thompson <cthompson@rrinc.com>
Date: Sat, 18 Sep 1999 18:35:38 -0400
Speaking of which, my LAT-70A wheels have some stains on them that I would like 
to get off - anyone with suggestions on how best to clean these without 
damaging 'em?  What are they made of?

I sent a post a couple weeks ago about my speedometer clocked all the way at 
the high end even while standing still after being shipped to MOMA three times. 
 Some suggested that the problem was at the transmission gears, and others that 
the O-ring was compressed and the hub was pushing on the glass face.

Well, I finally got around to pulling it today, and once I got it out, all of 
these shiny brass filings showed up everywhere between the face and the glass.  
I pulled the entire sucker apart - the O-ring looked fine, and it didn't look 
like anything was too tight.  I didn't pull apart at the transmission end, as I 
can't see how that would effect me since the odometer works correctly.  Using 
compressed air, I blew our the brass filings from the innards and looked for 
damage, which I couldn't find.  I installed the innards and face only, set the 
pointer to zero for the first time in a long time, and headed out.  It 
immediately jumped clockwise around to the post and hung there.  Took the 
pointer off, and the hub pin just spins nicely unimpeded by any speedometer 
control mechanism.

I'll be calling Margaret at MOMA on Monday, but I think this speedo is a lemon. 
 They've been really nice about "fixing" it for free the past two times, but 
I've lost hope that they will ever fix it correctly.  It's the *only* thing on 
the Tiger not perfect (except an occasional back-fire on rapid deceleration), 
and it's really starting to get to me.

Anybody out there with a working speedo for sale?

Chris Thompson
Executive Vice President
Recognition Research, Inc.
1750 Kraft Dr. Suite 2000
Blacksburg, VA 24060
540.961.6500
540.961.3568/fax
cthompson@rrinc.com
www.rrinc.com
B382000331

-----Original Message-----
From:   James Barrett [SMTP:jamesbrt@mindspring.com]
Sent:   Saturday, September 18, 1999 6:10 PM
To:     STUART_BRENNAN@HP-Andover-om3.om.hp.com
Cc:     tigers@autox.team.net
Subject:        Re: Hurricanes and Polish

At 01:45 PM 9/17/99 -0400, you wrote:
>Well, the great hurricane came through New England last night, ...
>I had planned to do some polishing on the aluminum wheels I finally installed 
>on the Tiger.  I was going to try a few different compounds I've had kicking 
>around the garage for years.  
>
>I don't want a mirror finish on the wheels, I just want to clean them up a
bit, 
>even out the finish, etc.  There are both machined and rough cast portions 
>visible.  It's probably been a couple years since these had been touched, and 
>when I bought them up, the had been sitting outside, covered with leaves,
etc.  
>What's good these days for cleaning and polishing aluminum?
>
>Stu
        As my elbow grease is low, I have cleaned aluminum wheels with
sulfuric acid (plain old battry acid, available at auto parts stores).
This acid does a good job of cleaning rough aluminum castings.  
DO NOT use Hydrocloric acid ( ie pool acid) This will turn the aluminum
black.  If you use acid , do it outside with a fan blowing on to assist 
in removing the fumes. Rubber gloves and disposable clothing are also handy.
Be sure you have a hose ready to flush the acid off the wheels, and any where
you splashed acid on your self.  
        After the acid bath you can then proceed with the elbow grease.
        If someone is considering acid to clean their alternator, take
care.  The alternator housing apparently has zinc or something in it
and the acid may cause the bearing holes to etch out too big.

James Barrett Tiger II 351C and others



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