Batter acid stains...

[onelogue]

SO I bought a cheap battery off e-bay and after installing it the factory seal busted on me the battery acid leaked everywhere, it seemed to do the most damage on the swing arm. Any ideas on how to remove the stains?
All suggestions are appreciated! Thanks!

[Stevenc150]

Got this off a car forum - his battery had leaked and was eating through his wheel well:

Take a tablespoon of baking soda and mix it with a quart of warm water. Stir it until the baking soda is completely mixed into the water. Then just pour the water anywhere the acid has leaked to. This will completely nuetralize the acid, even the stuff that ran into the seams or has gotten into the pores of the metal. When you have gotten all the acid nuetralized just rinse the whole area off with plain water and use some kind of coating to stop the bare metal from rusting. You will know when all the acid is gone if , after giving the area a rinse, you pour more baking soda mix on it and it no longer foams up. If it still foams up you will need to keep treating and rinsing it until the mix just runs off clean. Then you will know there is nothing left for it to react with.
I don't have any experience with acid stains but off the top of my head, after getting it all rinsed off, you might try some Scotch-brite pads. It doesn't really remove any metal, just "polishes" the surface. I'm thinking, after "polish", you'll have to coat the swingarm with something....or paint. Hope some of that helps.

[LeFox]

can't get the staines out.
do what Stevenc150 posted to neutralize the acid so it doesn't do any more damage.

for the swingarm, i would sand it and spray it again or have it powdercoated.

[Buellysses]

Best bet...

Go into your bathroom, look really hard in the mirror, and repeat "I WILL NOT BUY CHEAP JUNK OFF E-BAY"

In all seriousness (and I apologize for poking fun) but you have absolutely no way of knowing what you are getting when you buy off e-bay. Especially when you are buying generic stuff.

It's an awesome place to get OE take-offs or genuine parts but I don't know that I would trust them for much else.

[Bordsnbikes]

They aren't stains really because they didn't deposit something that is sticking and discoloring. It actually ate away the paint and whatever else looks stains. I imagine what you seeing looks like hard water stains and thats why your thinking that.

Ebay really is a crap-shoot. I would email the guy/place you got it from and tell them what happened.

[onelogue]

Guys thank you for your input!
--Stevenc150 the baking soda worked pretty good! And I'll start with the steps you gave me to try and rub out the "stains". Thanks again Stevenc!

-- but Lefox you were right... definitely looks like I ruined the paint. Sucks I have to repaint GRR!

--Buellysses no offense taken I enjoyed the comment! :D hahah Sometimes I gotta learn things the hard way. Sucks it took a tole on my baby. I for sure wont be buying any off-brand mechanical parts anymore! Especially if they are cheap.

--Bordsbikes I actualle massaged the company and they are sending me new battery but I'll probably just give it to a friend cuz I went ahead and bought the factory battery from harley (Which works amazing and it cranks out a good amount of amps for quick starts) [up]

Thanks again everyone! My next step will be to get advice on which paint is the best for painting engine and frame pieces. Powder coating seems to be the best option.

[LeFox]

My next step will be to get advice on which paint is the best for painting engine and frame pieces. Powder coating seems to be the best option.
powdercoating is the strongest option.

you do have a wet on wet option with non-clear top coat that is almost as strong and is the cheaper option but the problem there is getting the colour right when not spraying everything.

for the frame...the above, or...
you can buy a spray-can from buell with your frame-colour and repaint it with that...when done according to the rules of the art, in several layers and if you can, cabine dry it @ 80°c and it will last a long time.