The 996 SPS "resto" is slowly progressing. Attention has now turned to the front brakes. Callipers are off, new pads & seal/piston service kit ordered and new Hel "race" set up brake lines ordered. I have spent a day "toothbrushing" the callipers and assorted bolts with soapy water, Gunk & brake cleaner. As you can see from the photos, it has made a small difference, but not really what I want, having removed the whole lot. Is there a smarter/cleverer/more effective way of restoring the callipers ? Many thanks, Paul.
I use Bilt Hamber wheel cleaner. Leave it to soak and give a good going over with a stiff bristle brush. Andy
First try an acid based wheel cleaner (i use acid rain by Autobrite) and agitate it with a soft detailing brush. Clean off and repeat again until the majority of the ingrained brake dust has been removed. Then go at it with the GT85. For general maintenance clean the callipers with soapy water and then GT85.
I use a good sonic washer with an alloy friendly bio-degradable degreaser on brake calipers, and repeat until there is no more fouling of the degreaser. You would be surprised at the stuff that pulls out. But even after that, especially on bikes that have been used for commuting and had a dose of road salt, there are sometimes some a few dark marks deep in the anodising that just won’t come out, from where the slightly porous anodising has permanently taken on the colour from brake dust.
Have you tried 'Dragon's Blood' ? Made by Pro-Kleen. Pro-Kleen Dragon's Blood Extreme Iron Contamination Fallout Remover - Safe for Use on all Wheel Types (1L) Super Concentrated, Fast Acting Alloy Wheel Cleaner - Safe on all Paintwork, Glass and more : Amazon.co.uk: Automotive
"elbow grease". Get it from b&m store .. £1.25 ish in 1l spray bottle. The yellow stuff not the oven cleaner .... spray on ....scrub then rinse off with warm water . Don't let it dry on the surface to be cleaned or leave on too long ..... This cleans calipers like new . No acid. Like most cleaners including muck off treat with respect ...it can streak surfaces and don't use on Matt paint ......try a little somewhere not visible as they say ...
My go to for difficult brake dust is acid based toilet cleaning gel. Cheap supermarket own brand. Turns baked on dust green which then washes off. Agitate with an old tooth brush.
bilt hamber auto wheel. I had a thread in here about cleaning manky brembos with some pics of the progress. Auto wheel is awesome stuff!
Bilt Hamber auto wheel is my next phase. Got to get some marigolds first though cos the Gunk has ravaged my hands. Picture proof later.....
Looking much better. Another vote for Bilt Hamber, autowheel will work well for removing brake dust but depending on what other gunk has built up, Surfex HD will be the one. It's incredibly powerful APC and degreaser and perfect to have for multiple cleaning tasks. Never really a need to use it neat, I have it at three dilutions, 10% for wheel/brake/engine cleaning, 5% for panel prewash, and 1% for interior cleaning. Have never needed to use autowheel on my callipers, surfed at 10% and combination of detailing brushes and a tooth brush does the job
Daft as it sounds, Coca Cola or cheaper versions too. It contains Phosphoric acid, which is found in many alloy wheel cleaners and toilet de-scalers. I used to soak my Beryllium copper golf clubs in a bucket-full overnight and it was amazing just what it cleaned. Came up like new. Cheap as chips too or coke for that matter!
Surfex HD is great - I run it diluted in a pressure foaming gun which gives an absolutely awesome combo! made cleaning the manky suspension and wheel arches on my clio trophy a breeze!!
