streik

First of all, hi everyone. Nice forum here, really friendly.

I recently purchased a c-recrod crank for a very reasonable price. Problem is the signs of wear make it look ugly. It looks like the top layer of the anodizing was rubbed off in some places where I believe the shoes touched the crankarms slightly. I could of course have it polished, but i wanted to ask you guys if there's some DIY method to get those crankarms to shine again. Any help is appreciated, thanks!

Picture here

It's not as bad as in the picture, but the issue is the same.

luker

since the logo is already gone you may as well strip the rest of the anodization and polish it up. It'll look like a million bucks. Search for "polish" in this forum and you'll get more advice than you can stand.

Ex Pres 

Can't polish ano, so strip it and follow Luker.

And beware, the C-R crank has oddball crankarm removal threads, or something that's odd. Someone here will know for sure.

jebensch

I've stripped anodizing with E-Z Off Oven Cleaner, as have others on the forum. The caveat is that it could wind-pitting the metal so you must be careful and attentive as you do it.

Make sure to use the "heavy duty" stuff in the yellow can. Not the odorless blue can - that will do nothing.

Spray it on (goggles and rubber gloves please) and wait a few minutes...somewheres between 3 and 10 in my experience - what you want to watch for is the spray material turning charcoal grey on the surface of the metal. It's better to stop the process early than late, as you can always do it over again. To stop it, just rinse the cranks in soapy water.

Pat the cranks dry and then polish with some 4x0 steel wool and Mothers aluminum polish or the like.

jebensch

I just looked at your pics again, and those cranks are pretty scratched up. So once the anodizing is off, you'll probably have to spend a while sanding in successively finer grit. Something like

400, 800, 1500 (you might have to get that at an auto parts store)

Ex Pres 

I was amazed, I found 2000 grit sandpaper in WalMart's auto section.

(I didn't go for that, I was buying degreaser)

streik

Thanks! I'll get to it and post pictures somewhere once i'm done...