Making the green go away - step by step de-anodizing an AX10 for beginners.

[O.C.D.]

Ok, with the addition of my AX10 Wheel/Foam/Tire tutorial I decided that a de-anodizing thread would be helpful to all the beginners that ask about how to get rid of the green from the Scorpion. I have done this for many RCs and never thought about how it could be beneficial for others. Since many want the green to go away, this was my chance to do a writeup as I just removed mine.

What you'll need:
Dremel tool with various buffing attachments (see further).
Brasso Metal Polish (I used to use Dremel but this is far easier/better).
Easy Off Oven Cleaner - Heavy Duty/Yellow can.
Metal tin or container that WILL NOT BE USED FOR COOKING EVER AGAIN!.
Time and patience.

So, like every other person on the planet I have a Scorpion. And guess what, it has green anodized aluminum. I too wanted to remove it so I began by disassembling my just assembled crawler.

Just a couple before shots to reminisce:




Lets start with the beadlock rings. Here is what I used, it is a metal cake pan. I have to buy a new one now cause I got caught, lol:


Place the rings in the pan so they are not covering eachother too much:

Spray a light coat to get it started:

Now build it up a little more:

Once there is a good coverage use some tweezers to move the parts around to get evenly covered:

Obviously you don't want to touch the cleaner as it has Lye in it. Lye is not your friend, neither are the fumes from it. Use a ventilated area or open a door. Here it continues after about 5 minutes:

When they get to this point around 7-10 minutes go ahead and rinse them off with warm soapy water:

[O.C.D.]

Once they are rinsed they should look like this:



Now, do the same for all of the other green aluminum on the chassis. Here is the rest after removal:



Then, grab the Brasso and your dremel with these types of polishing attachments and start1:


I applied the polish using my hands and then polishing after that:


When the wheels look like this it is trash time:


Now, the pay off after a while. Here are some low light pics to show the shine after it is all done:






Here are two polished rings compared to the other 6 that are just out of the bath:

[O.C.D.]

And of course, the pay off:






I know to most of you this is common knowledge. But for many that ask this question quite often this will help. Sure I am making new delrin links, adding an after market chassis, and even getting new wheels, but this is just a beginning for many.

Hopefully this will help those who need it?! I personally think it makes the stock AX10 look 100% better - sorry Axial, lol.

Jon

[DISTURBIN' tha PEACE]

Just to add, another way that is much quicker than easy off, is crystal draino. In as little as 1 minute it'll be all done.

You'll need a container too. Just sprinkle it on the parts & add water. Drain & rinse. Done.

[GreenStomper]

skrinkle? how do you skrinkle? Im a noobie, so had to ask.

[DISTURBIN' tha PEACE]

Originally Posted by GreenStomper

skrinkle? how do you skrinkle? Im a noobie, so had to ask.

Surely you can't be serious?

[O.C.D.]

Originally Posted by Georgerm

I see green. third pic.

I knew it, I knew it! lol. I didn't bother with those for now. I have to build my Losi shocks and new links so that aspect of the axle will be changed a bit. I should have stripped them, but the effort wasn't worth it to put the stock stuff back on again. Thanks for noticing though!

[nmanuel01]

I had done this before and just gav it another crack, dont be like me, mr impatient, let them soak till all the anodizing is off makes polishing so much easier lol
I was thinking of just doing the 3 link mounts on mine, well now they are soaking lol. ill let you know how they look in a while,
I kinda like the greeen, but some silver in there would really set it off

[Toyotawheeler]

Wow nice polished silver ax10. I think I even like the flat grey of the raw aluminum better than the polished.

[GreenStomper]

Originally Posted by DISTURBIN' tha PEACE

Surely you can't be serious?

I see your shwarts is as big as mine.

[dr.chop]

Hope this is okay to post in and not trying to hijack, but for those who don't want the fumes and caustic irritations on your skin, you can substitute Easy Off or Drano for Super Clean degreaser. It eats off anodized coatings too, and is okay to touch. Even eats off powder coat if you need to remove it.

Here is a quote on the container

Avoid prolonged contact with aluminum and painted surfaces. Avoid any contact with exterior car surfaces, motorcycles, wheels, and glass.

It says wear gloves, but I never have, and it only feels rediculously soapy, like using a water softener. It works pretty good...

[bob1961]

Originally Posted by Georgerm

I see green. third pic.

i see gold in that pic ..................bob

....

[Philistine]

Why is this not a sticky yet!?

Excellent tutorial Doc J33P! I was considering posting something similar to this but you did it much better than I could have.

[O.C.D.]

It is my goal to make to obvious easy things that I am learning/have learned available to people who don't know. I am not saying it is anything special, but for a lot of people on this site it would help. Plus, these things get overlooked when noobs ask them because they get berated with the traditional "use the search" function. Well crap, I guess that is how they would find this. Oh well.

[crazy_kanaka]

Originally Posted by dr.chop

Hope this is okay to post in and not trying to hijack, but for those who don't want the fumes and caustic irritations on your skin, you can substitute Easy Off or Drano for Super Clean degreaser. It eats off anodized coatings too, and is okay to touch. Even eats off powder coat if you need to remove it.

Here is a quote on the container It says wear gloves, but I never have, and it only feels rediculously soapy, like using a water softener. It works pretty good...

Sorry but I have to say this because some people will listen and not use gloves.

It feels ridiculously soapy, like a water softener, because it's extremely basic. You should use gloves. When you deal with something acidic you know it's bad because it begins to burn. However when you deal with something basic it's even more dangerous because you don't feel the pain of the damage being done. Skin exposure to basic products causes your nerve endings to die. This is why in the old days when new up coming mechanics couldn't handle the wrenching cause their hands hurt too much, they would wash their hands in coolant. Of course in those days they taught that it made their hands tough and strong, now days we know that it just killed the nerve ending not allowing them to feel pain in their hands.

Exposure to basic products is dangerous, use gloves.

[doug435]

Originally Posted by crazy_kanaka

Sorry but I have to say this because some people will listen and not use gloves.

It feels ridiculously soapy, like a water softener, because it's extremely basic. You should where gloves. When you deal with something acidic you know it's bad because it begins to burn. However when you deal with something basic it's even more dangerous because you don't feel the pain of the damage being done. Skin exposure to basic products causes your nerve endings to die. This is why in the old days when new up coming mechanics couldn't handle the wrenching cause their hands hurt too much, they would wash their hands in coolant. Of course in those days they taught that it made their hands tough and strong, now days we know that it just killed the nerve ending not allowing them to feel pain in their hands.

Exposure to basic products is dangerous, use gloves.

wow never knew that thanks man

[OGmicromonster]

To make things a little easier you can use a desmut solution (get it here: www.focuser.com/ATM/anodize/anodize.HTML - scroll down to the bottom). The solution will dissolve the non-aluminum metals (the stuff that makes the parts black or dark grey) giving pure fresh aluminum finish without all the scrubbing (the finish will look almost exactly as it did before but without the color). Then use some never dull to polish them up if you want. Less time and work. I did tthat to mine and it took me only 15 minutes to get mine pefectly clean with no effort (no polishing).

[dr.chop]

WOW!! I didn't know that either...Although using it to remove the anodize coating, I never keep my hands in prolonged contact with it...I just know it doesn't burn like caustic lye, but that is real good to know...I want no part in soaking my hands in freakin anti feeze/coolant!!! That just doesn't seem right, at all...Good luck, and be safe either way! That's most important...

[GH Racing]

excellent write up!!
appreciate your effort!!!

[TheHeadHunter]

Great info thanks...I guess if you can reverse what you have done too, this will be the ultimate anodizing and de-anodizing sticky!