Is this corrosion from salt?

[BDub7473]

TJ family,
Is this corrosion from salt?

This is a mirror from a set of half doors I bought. One mirror is in great shape and the other has bubbling paint and this white corrosion where paint is missing.

 

[The4bangertj]

Those are aluminum with a lot of oxidation. Not necessarily from salt but that does affect the oxidation like steel.

 

[BDub7473]

Those are aluminum with a lot of oxidation. Not necessarily from salt but that does affect the oxidation like steel.

Thanks! Any idea hot to get rid of it? I tried to grind it some with soft bristle bit in a Dremel and it would just reappear.

 

[The4bangertj]

Well the mount itself is aluminum so it’ll always be silver. You can get rid of the oxidation on top with a wire brush or something more abrasive and repaint it black.

 

[DuckNut]

Those are made from pot metal aluminum...a bunch of different metals all mixed together, mostly aluminum but who knows.

Before you paint, coat them with osphric acid (ospho- ace hardware). Youcan make the smooth by using a body filler and sanding smooth. Unfortunately with that one, nothing you do will be permanent. You'll get several years but not permanent.

 

[BDub7473]

Well the mount itself is aluminum so it’ll always be silver. You can get rid of the oxidation on top with a wire brush or something more abrasive and repaint it black.

Those are made from pot metal aluminum...a bunch of different metals all mixed together, mostly aluminum but who knows.

Before you paint, coat them with osphric acid (ospho- ace hardware). Youcan make the smooth by using a body filler and sanding smooth. Unfortunately with that one, nothing you do will be permanent. You'll get several years but not permanent.

Thanks guys!

 

[jonny jeep]

I masked off the upper part and mirror then sand blasted the oxidisation off mirror arms and brackets. They were then painted with an etch primer before a black top coat. That was at least 15 years ago. They have no new corrosion since then.

 

[BDub7473]

I masked off the upper part and mirror then sand blasted the oxidisation off mirror arms and brackets. They were then painted with an etch primer before a black top coat. That was at least 15 years ago. They have no new corrosion since then.

Thanks for the info! I like the idea of sandblasting the corrosion.

 

[jonny jeep]

The key to a successful job is getting rid off all of the corrosion.

Two or three years before sand blasting I did try wire brushing and sanding the corrosion off but struggled getting it off in the gap in the arm. It was from there that the corrosion came through again.

The sandblasting did the trick. Between sand blasting and etch primer I used clean nitrile gloves handling the mirrors, so I didn't even get oils from my skin on the bare metal.

 

[Gilaguy23]

My 99 spent its life in AZ, the mirrors looked the same. Its a jeep thing.

 

[Cooper Smith]

TJ family,
Is this corrosion from salt?

This is a mirror from a set of half doors I bought. One mirror is in great shape and the other has bubbling paint and this white corrosion where paint is missing.

View attachment 604367

View attachment 604368

Salt, being an electrolyte, rapidly increases the rate of corrosion. You don't necessarily *need* salt for corrosion to happen on a vehicle, my 1993 C1500 has surface rust on the frame and it's a SC truck. Water, heat, and salt are the big 3 for corrosion to happen. That's why washing your car in the winter is especially important as you get into spring. Salt residue, spring showers, and rising temps love to speed up corrosion. Aluminum tends to be more forgiving in my experience.