Guess which panels I applied CitriSurf77

[TickTock]

I wanted to remove the brownish patina at the edges of the doors:

Thought I could get away just doing the two doors:

CitriSurf77 worked great but I guess I'm not done:

Before:

After:

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[Derektsla]

Haha. Yup. Just do the whole truck. It will look good! Barkeepers friend is the same way.

 

[Balthezor]

What is your process for Citrisurf?

 

[Kaz109]

Very stupid question not worthy of making a new thread over but my mother in law bought me some FW1 waterless wash and wax along with Shine Armour ( purple stuff ) waterless wash a couple years ago, question is can I give this stuff a try or should I just head down and by this Citrisurf77?

 

[Kaz109]

@Outdoors thanks for the reassurance of me thinking it was a dumb question lol

 

[TickTock]

Mischief managed. I'll do the other side, all at once, next weekend.

 

[TickTock]

What is your process for Citrisurf?

1. Clean surfaces
2. Lay down tarp or newspaper (those white drips on the concrete in the picture above left stains)
3. Mask off plastic parts (glass should be OK). I went ahead and pulled the plastic wheel flairs off. Careful that the front has a camera attached but otherwise quite easy.
4. Then I just work my way across spraying a fine mist. Whenever a drip develops I dab it with a rag to stop it and mist the area again.
5. Instructions say to keep it wet 15-30 minutes. It dries fast so I spent 15-20 minutes re-spraying each area as it dries.
6. Next, I took a damp shop towel and continued to work the surface for another 5-10 minutes. Just smearing the product back around the surface keeping it uniform and wet.
7. With a bucket of clean water and a fresh rag, I rinsed liberally to remove the product
8. Dried quickly with a towel (I have very hard water)
9. Using Original formula Windex (with ammonia) I saturated the entire surface to neutralize any remaining acid (ammonia acts as a base)
10. Wipe down all surfaces with the Windex. Don't be a shop rag miser. As soon as it starts to leave a residue grab a fresh one.

Some folks advise against using ammonia on SS because it reacts with the SS. While technically true it is in practice negligible. You would have to leave the ammonia in contact for 100's of hours to meaningfully affect the steel (typically, carbonitriding with ammonia involves heating the steel to ~850F to speed up the process and even then takes hours).

 

[Art138]

It's actually pretty easy. Very similar effort as waxing a car but you only have to do it once. Maybe. We'll see in a few years if that holds true.

Is there any reason you did use BKF and subsequently windex?

 

[TickTock]

Is there any reason you did use BKF and subsequently windex?

Tesla recommends CitriSurf77 or equivalent citric acid product. This targets just the iron and leaves chrome at the surface. Supposedly that keeps the patina bright and will show less variation in color. BKF uses oxalic acid which targets the chrome, too, so you end up with a higher concentration of iron at the surface when you are done which is what causes the brownish tinge to the patina. I think BKF is ideal if you plan to immediately apply a protectant to prevent the patina from developing. I am trying to get to low maintenance so don't want to wrap or apply a protectant.

 

[TickTock]

Before:

After:

 

[Fausto]

Awesome write up. Thank you! I have also tried BKF and citrisurf too. As mentioned BKF leaves the panels with the brown tints, not ideal. I find using the citrisurf with the blue scotch pads to lightly to move the liquid around and absorb into the metal helps. Then "rinse" with your favorite glass cleaning product. There's a definite art to cleaning this truck but the results are rewarding.

I Never intend on wrapping because that brings its own issues and I love the raw material look.

 

[FarAway]

Tesla recommends CitriSurf77 or equivalent citric acid product. This targets just the iron and leaves chrome at the surface. Supposedly that keeps the patina bright and will show less variation in color. BKF uses oxalic acid which targets the chrome, too, so you end up with a higher concentration of iron at the surface when you are done which is what causes the brownish tinge to the patina. I think BKF is ideal if you plan to immediately apply a protectant to prevent the patina from developing. I am trying to get to low maintenance so don't want to wrap or apply a protectant.

Your truck looks great!
Couple of questions,
-You think the regular Citrisurf or the PLUS?
-How much did you use, is one 22oz spay bottle enough?
thanks!

 

[TickTock]

Your truck looks great!
Couple of questions,
-You think the regular Citrisurf or the PLUS?
-How much did you use, is one 22oz spay bottle enough?
thanks!

I am using the CitriSurf77 Plus. Used 15oz for the one side I did today so I just ordered a second 22oz bottle. I think that should be enough for the rest.

 

[TickTock]

I am using the CitriSurf77 Plus. Used 15oz for the one side I did today so I just ordered a second 22oz bottle. I think that should be enough for the rest.

Although, I suspect I could have made one bottle work for the whole truck if I used a spray bottle of water to keep it moist instead of spraying more product on.

 

[bowenzhang]

I read somewhere in another thread here that suggest to use Scotch-Brite Non-Scratch Scour Pads on the surface after spraying CitriSurf77. Is that not necessary?

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