Best non-invasive paint removal

[Lingle]

Morning all,

 

I have to remove some paint from the grill center section on my 52 B3F as someone painted over the piece at one time.  Based on not having a magnet stick to it, I believe it would be cast aluminum.  I could sand blast the part, but given its the only part I have, looking for options to remove the paint to clean it up.  most likely Ill have it powder coated to look chrome again, but will search the site to see what others have done. 

 

anyone have suggestions on paint removal outside electrolysis or media blast?

 

 

Edited March 18, 2022 by Lingle
Added photos from phone

[ggdad1951]

Yes this is "pot metal" so a zinc or aluminum or combitnation alloy.

 

I would NEVER sandblast it, MAYBE media blast it with plastic beads, but really easy to damage edges.

 

Electrolysis is for removing rust so that likely wouldn't work.

 

My advice:  a good solvent soak.

 

 

[Lingle]

Thanks!  Unfortunately I fell into the old trap of using a "common" name for something with multiple variations(i call everything sand blast which is bad).  Unfortunately here in Iowa its insanely difficult to find anyone that does media blasting near me, plenty of industrial sand blasters so my frame and axles went there, but finding someone to do a walnut shell or other media to blast my sheetmetal components or other softer metal is very difficult.  I have a glass bead booth that works great for many things, but I will shy away from using any media blasting if I can.

 

I am looking into some "aircraft remover" by Rust-Oleum and some other liquid/gel paint strippers as options if they are safe for use on this type of metal.  Also looking into if anyone had used anything like that or the baking soda in water(or vinegar) method.  

 

 

[ggdad1951]

1 hour ago, Lingle said:

Thanks!  Unfortunately I fell into the old trap of using a "common" name for something with multiple variations(i call everything sand blast which is bad).  Unfortunately here in Iowa its insanely difficult to find anyone that does media blasting near me, plenty of industrial sand blasters so my frame and axles went there, but finding someone to do a walnut shell or other media to blast my sheetmetal components or other softer metal is very difficult.  I have a glass bead booth that works great for many things, but I will shy away from using any media blasting if I can.

 

I am looking into some "aircraft remover" by Rust-Oleum and some other liquid/gel paint strippers as options if they are safe for use on this type of metal.  Also looking into if anyone had used anything like that or the baking soda in water(or vinegar) method.  

 

 

 

Just be careful of your metalurgy....some things that won't damage steel will eat softer metals.

[Los_Control]

I am thinking what @ggdad1951means by a solvent soak ... possibly some paint thinner.  Would be pretty mild and not hurt the metal. While letting it soak for a few hours or even overnight would loosen the paint and eventually break it down to where you can remove it. Will not be fast but will be harmless.

[Tooljunkie]

“Aircraft” remover. Makes a guy think, perhaps its used in the aircraft industry? 
not much steel in them there airplanes. 
 

glass bead, low pressure. Switch the media to walnut shells? 

[Los_Control]

I can only attest to being a idiot as a young adult and no guarantee I have changed much.

 

I had a 1963 chebby truck I thought I wanted to paint. I started to use aircraft paint stripper on it. It was very aggressive.

I soon found I had 5 layers of paint on the truck & much bondo. Sadly I started around the fuel fill neck & it ate the rubber grommet for the fuel filler through the cab.

 

What I quickly learned was you do not want to strip a complete vehicle with it. While it would do the job, just simply was so aggressive it was a project to do just a small area and not let it get away from you. When it dried you had just a solid mess of curled up paint and not easy to remove.

 

I also tried it again about 10 years later when I was 30 years old. I had a house built in the '30's and wanted to rebuild the original front screen door. Again it loosened the paint but I did not remove it fast enough and made a mess.

Seriously I was scraping paint off the wood and mid stroke after about 15 min it dried up and a solid mess.

 

I simply have no reason to use it today ... I am sure it has places to be used and works perfect.

 

I have used safe acids to remove rust on a headlight switch, was a pot metal part that disappeared in a few min because of the acid.

Was a member here that helped me replace it. .... I have no clue if aircraft stripper will harm pot metal ... I will never use it and never know.

 

I know that the paint thinner, lacquer thinner will eventually soak into the existing paint. Making the top layer of the paint soft. Then maybe a tooth pick or a small brass brush to work the soft paint. Let it soak some more and scrape some more ... eventually you will remove all the paint with no damage and then wipe it clean with paint thinner before repainting.

 

[kencombs]

I hate liquid/jell strippers in general.  But, in this instance they are probably the best option.  Selecting your stripper is easier than the the past as there isn't much difference due to EPA regs removing the 'good' stuff.   IME, the key to success with strippers, is not to let it dry.  On small parts like this it is fairly easy, just use a large plastic bag to enclose the part. Add stripper and monitor the progress until the paint lifts.  Remove and scrub with a stiff bristle brush.  repeat if needed.  If I were doing it, the stripper selected would be of the water wash variety.  Finish with a hot water and soap wash and rinse.

[Eneto-55]

I don't know what type of material it was, but at the plating shop where I worked back in the 70's early 80's they also did some work in silver & gold plating.  They had a small blaster that had some type of white powder mixed in water.  It was a siphon feed blaster, and there was a bit of the material released into the bottom of the funnel, to keep the mixture stirred.  I suspect it must have been a type of soda blaster, but I've read that soda dissolves in water, and this stuff didn't.

 

Other ideas:

acetone, or carefully scrape, then sand with very fine wet or dry sand paper. Or even sand with acetone.

My can had been painted twice before I got it, the first time with a brush, put on with a heavy hand, and then sprayed over that.  Neither of these people seem to have cared too much if paint got on the edges of the chrome or stainless pieces.  Because the paint doesn't adhere really well to chrome or stainless, I have found that I can often chip or scrape most of it off, working very carefully with a pocket knife or razor cutter.  Then I have rubbed it down with acetone, and ended with very worn out wet or dry sand paper.  Then I 'burninsh' it on a piece of old carpet.

 

re: chemical strippers - Because my car had so terrible much paint on it, I did use paint stripper on the body, working with a small area at a time.  But mostly I sanded.  The parts I could take off, like the doors, I stripped in a in some sort of caustic soda hot tank I had set up behind my Dad's shop.  I wish I could remember exactly what the stuff was, but I cannot remember.  I bought it through the plating shop where I was working at the time.  It was what we used there to degrease parts before they went to either the glass bead or aluminum oxide bead blasters, or into the acid soak (before plating).  I knew that that stuff needed to be neutralized or completely removed before I could paint, and so I went over all of those surfaces with phosphoric acid and then paint thinner.  But I didn't get it all, because the pain has flaked off in some areas.  (I think I even wet sanded most of those areas, so that stuff is apparently really hard to get off.  When I redo it now, I think I'll try acetone.  Wicked stuff, but I don't want to have the paint continually falling off. 

 

(Xylene - what is in that stuff?  Is "brake cleaner" xylene?  I have used that to remove layers of paint on a plastic bumper skin on a modern car - 98 Dodge Neon - and it works pretty well.)

[John-T-53]

Depending on the type of paint to be stripped, lacquer thinner might work. If not, use something like Jasco paint stripper or Zip-Strip (methylene chloride). It'll remove it in minutes. Verify reactivity with the metal first.