Luis_M

Any thoughts on brushing the crud off the hard fuel lines in the engine bay with a stainless steel or brass brush? Would this accelerate future corrosion? Anyone know what type of metal these are?

Luis
1981 Euro S 5sp

928mac

Brush a small area off and wipe it down with some WD and see if it shines.

Rob Edwards

They're aluminum and metal brushes will scratch and remove the remaining anodizing. Try brake cleaner on a paper towel or cloth.

EDIT: Oops, steel, see post 4,6. Which is good, 'cause steel can be replated in yellow zinc/chromate. Like my bent valve <-----------

Steve J.

The hard CIS fuel lines in the engine bay are steel. I brushed mine lightly with steel wool years ago and they still look good. A scotchbrite pad also works for me.

Marine Blue

Plus one. Definitely not a good idea to use anything more than a citrus based degreaser or brake cleaner (if the rubber is out of the way). Only time I could see using a brass brush is if your lines are already corroded and you intend to repaint them or have them reanodized. If this is the case I would question if replacing would make more sense.

Optimator

Like Steve J. said, the CIS lines are steel. The injector lines have a zinc dichromate finish, and the larger 10mm lines have a painted finish. Use of abrasives, acids or caustics will possibly remove the finish, making the lines prone to rust.

If you are really picky, you can do what I did and have the lines stripped and re-plated LOL.

Luis_M

The lines are steel for sure since a magnet will stick to them. Any chance they're some kind of stainless? The plating seems to have worn off on a lot of it and I don't see any rust in those areas. Replating just the lines right now is probably overkill for me. Since the lines are out of the car, what do folks think about some kind of engine clear coat spray paint for corrosion prevention? Will something like this stick directly to the lines if they are clean without a primer and color coat?

CraigL

Most forms of stainless steel are NOT magnetic.

backnblack

steel wool .

Randy V

Brillo FTW!

michael j wright

I cleaned and painted mine with Dupli Color Metalcast. This is the paint were you paint it first with a bright silver, then overlay a color coat on top. I found out that you really want to let it dry a couple of days before trying to reinstall or you will scratch them up trying to work with them. So far its been a few years, and have held up very well.
Mike