How to remove pitting on aluminum tubing?

[seasalt]

I am getting a new four sided enclosure for my hardtop/half tower and a new cockpit awning that is laced to the aluminum frame. The 1.75" to 1.9" tubing has moderate pitting from the former owner's neglect.

When the everything is off getting remade I would like to remove as much of the pitting as possible and then treat it with something to prevent it in the future.

What is the best way to get looking shiny and new again?

[luckydave215]

Replace it.

Or....sand off all the anodizing and hand polish it. And polish it. And polish it.
Once a week until doomsday is about right.

[Canuck Dennis]

You have a problem, the alu. is anodized and the pitting has destroyed the areas, there is no easy remedy for that, re anodize at a lot of expense or, sand off all the alu. and start from scratch with paint
My 2c ymmv

[bostonhatteras]

That woody wax is an ok method. Not great just ok. Like previous posters stated the anodizing is gone in those areas. The best you can hope to do now is control further degradation. That's what the woody piss Er wax does. Lots of buffing with their proprietary oil and bronze wool then the wax stuff. Got to do it twice a year anyway. Instead take it off and get it powder coated. That's a long lasting solution. They can even powder coat it to look like aluminum.

[magnawake]

If it has pits in it, then you want to fill it with bondo then shine it up. No really, if its pitted, you cant fix that. Even if you shine it up to a mirror finish the pits will still be there. If its shiney, you'll prolly see the pits even more. I used flitz and a buffer. That helps a little. Then, I would just go fishing and spend the money on lures and diesel.

[Fanfare]

If it is going to bother you forever, bite the bullet and replace the tubing with stainless. Even this gets some buildup, but at least it polishes out. It seems to be more of an issue for the Admiral than for me, but at least it gives her something to do on a calm day when she is at the wheel.

[Texastailboard]

I have had really good luck with the woody wax kit with bronze wool. I would definitely try it before you replace. The kit recommends to put on the cleaner with the agitation of the bronze wool and let sit overnight. I found a full 24 works great. The kit come with a little bronze wool I would buy more and change it out as it get worn out you get better results. I then use RUPP Aluminguard to maintain and it has even improved some of the spots that were a little tough the first time with the woody wax. I was going to replace or paint the aluminum on one of our current boats and after a little elbow grease, woody wax kit and some cold ones I'm sticking with my aluminum. SO far so good. It sight seem like I am settling, but you can ask my wife the sight of neglected aluminum irritates me. Good Luck

[Paul45c]

Do an online search for "Showboat Custom Coatings." They make two products that so far are working out as advertised for me. They are quite new. And no, I'm in no way affiliated with them and don't make anything off an endorsement.

The products are a form of liquid ceramic. Someone mentioned Woody Wax. When you wipe that on, you once again get that deep lustre and all the cloudy and milky stuff goes away, right? Rupp Alumaguard is even better and will last a little longer. But they both eventually evaporate away and you're back to the cloudy.

Their SB 230 product is the clear that goes on moderately dull tired anodized alum. It looks just like Alumaguard, but stays that way. You get that beautiful deep rich shine like it just got wetted. But, as has been pointed out, you will never hide the pitting. Moderate pitting always has a little mound of corrosion on top of the pit, and you can carefully knock that down with bronze wool or very fine wet sandpapers (1200 is the coarsest you dare without cutting through the anodizing). You might be surprised with how much of the surface corrosion around the pit goes away. I knocked down some on an old t-top recently that I can live with.

For stuff that's really far gone, they have an opaque product called SB 205, I think. The one most commonly used is silver. Since salt tends to get trapped, the worst areas that get pitted up are the pipe members under canvas on pipe towers. I saw photos where the silver opaque product looked very shipshape, and the tower legs were still good enough to use the clear. It was a handsome finished product when done.

[lumina]

Replace it.

Or....sand off all the anodizing and hand polish it. And polish it. And polish it.
Once a week until doomsday is about right.

I'm in the process of having my rub rail completely sanded down. Any remaining pitting will be filled with clear epoxy then sanded. First a primer coat will be laid down for effective bonding then a coat of Interlux Perfection 2 part poly will be the topcoat. The way i'm looking at it is this: I HATE with a passion the way they look and I notice them constantly, we very infrequently bang the rail (knock on wood since I said that out loud), and it's an easy repair if I do.

I can't stand the rest of the boat looking stellar and the rub rails looking ugly as sin.