After reading some great tricks in the resto section about using Ez-off over cleaner, and costic soda to remove anodizing on parts, I had to give it a try.

The hard part turned out to be finding costic soda, or lye. It seemed all the stores that I went to didnt have such a thing. But after spending some quality time in the household cleaner section I came across some professional strength Drano that had large parts of lye in it.

Here are some pictures of how it turned out. But please note, this is not a tutorial, as I was figuring it out as I went, as still really have no idea what I am doing.

The guinea pig:

THe equipment (I would recommend rubber gloves and eye protection - dont be a hero):

In Action:

(it does take a while but don't leave it for to long, or the lye starts to eat away at the stem)



[ February 25, 2005, 12:01 PM: Message edited by: MikeStevens ]

Finished product:





The pictures really dont do the shine justice. There are a few imperfections that I am hoping I can sand and polish out, if not it goes to the chromers. But for now it looks amazing. All I need now is to find a correct stem bolt and it ready to mount.

Nice work

oh man...there goes my whole grinder idea

but seriously...that is fine a peice of work...i will have to keep this tip in mind

great results! Next time for speedier removal of anodizing....use Greased lightning. 5 minutes on any part is possibly too long.

Looks good. I left a gold Dirt Skirt in the Drano solution a little to long and needless to say I am very dissapointed on the outcome.

dont you mean disintergration skirt..lol

I actually left my stem in a bit to long as when I started to polish it up I noticed a bit of pitting on the sides that were not there before.

It is like watching somthing cook in the microwave, if you sit and watch nothing happens, turn away for a second and it is ruined.