Removing corrosion from aluminum Gimbal

[Galvez83]

Evening folks, i am in search of a good and efficient way to remove rust/pitting/oxidation from my gimbal, bell housing and drive. All parts have been taken apart and sanded, power washed and sanded again. Boat is new with me and i had to take the gimbal out to repair it due to excesive corroaion. The bell housing i tried to clean the best i could with aluminum sandpaper, red and green scotch brite pads and plenty of elbow grease. The back of the bell housing is specially bad. Due to all the crevices i can reach to sand the oxidation off. I read phosphoric acid can help in cleaning the aluminum. Is this something anybody is familiar with? Any input is appreciated.

 

[Grub54891]

How about some pics of the parts? If corroded to badly they are not safe.

 

[Galvez83]

 

[Galvez83]

Its not that horrible compared to others i have seen but still can't reach all the way to properly clean it

 

[Scott Danforth]

you will need to chemically clean that with ozalic acid, then neutralize. then bead blast the parts, prime and paint. I recommend a good zinc chromate primer

 

[Grub54891]

Yeah I've seen worse. Looks like you need to dissasemble and do what Scott said.

 

[Galvez83]

I just purchased some oxalic acid, hopefully it will clear my pitting so i can paint it. Any dilution rate and time in acid that you guys would recommend?

 

[KM7]

you will need to chemically clean that with ozalic acid, then neutralize. then bead blast the parts, prime and paint. I recommend a good zinc chromate primer

Where do you get ozalic acid? What concentration? Is it in a liquid or a powder? Is it known by another name? If I brush it on, how long does it have to stay on the metal?