I just had the thought cross my mind that I've never saw anyone offering an anodizing service. I'm not sure what parts could be anodized, but I would think that aluminum skid plates, silencers, swingarms and wheel parts may be able to be anodized. The price probably wouldn't be cheap, but would the looks be worth it?

Just curious as to if anyone else has wondered the same thing?

 

Oh, one other thought that I forgot to mention was possible polishing aluminum swing-arms such as found on the Raptor. Would this be neat or what?

 

I was always wondering the same thing. Places advertise for anodizing but not quad specific. Anodizing is not hard to do if you have the right materials. Places sell kits to do it yourself.
Basically, anodizing has 3 steps.
1. dip aluminum part in battery acid. This will "grow" a porous layer on the surface.
2. dip part in color solution. The color soaks into the layer that grew on it.
3. dip in boiling water. This seals the pores along with watever is inside of them.
Take in mind that each step can be dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. Kit are only a couple hundred bucks and include everything. You need stainless steel tanks, special dyes, and the acid is hard to get. It isn't battery acid, it is the same kind, but a differant grade or something.

 

I'm looking into some more specifics here at work(Boeing) about anodizing. Quickly here is what I have found.. sulfuric and chromic anodic coating; pre-clean, mask if necessary, alkaline cleaning, deoxide, anodize, rinse, seal, final rinse, dry. Sealing is accomplished by de-ionized water...

In general, anodizing is intended for use on aluminum or aluminum alloy parts containing up to 5 percent copper or 8 percent silicon.

I know that there are some tough anodize coating out there. We have some stuff on door latches that is super durable(door fitting, alum, lots of cycles-open and close) The Hinson clutch baskets use a hard anodize on them...

Further reading of the spec's show that sulfuric acid is used, which is "battery" acid. They are soaked and etched, then exposed to the coating to be used under current(like powdercoating), then "sealed" in the deionized water...

I've seen colored anodize coating(class II) on polished aluminum before and it looks sharp...especially red and black...they also do offer clear anodize coatings, could be handy and reduce the amount of up-keep polishing required...

 

i am polishing my banshee cylinders. currently one is done. i dont know what would look better, the chrome polished look, or some anodized color?

how much would the clear coat anodizing cost? that would probably be great on my already polished cyliders?

can cylinders be done though? can you tape them off good enough? what if some leaked into them? does the anodize hold heat in, making it run hotter?

thanks.

 

I can't believe it! I was just thinking this same thing today. Let us know when you figure something out.

 

H300F,
I dont believe anodizing has any noticible effects on heats transfer, because alot computer heatsinks are anodized, and the manufactures wouldnt do anything that would decrease their prformance to any degree.