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guy johnson (Mcigeorge)

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Posted on Sunday, July 24, 2005 - 11:00 pm:   

Our bus has lettering from the company that owned it before us. Then they used a roller and painted over it. We can pull the sticker letters and numbers off (though it takes lots of time), but we were wondering what to do to remove the paint? Some is on the stainless, some is on the painted aluminum.
John Jewett (Jayjay)

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Posted on Sunday, July 24, 2005 - 11:09 pm:   

A heat gun speeds letter removal, and there are several good chemical strippers on the shelf at Home Depot, Lowe's etc. Some are water based and more gentle to your hands and the enviroment. Be sure and check the label for possible reaction with aluminum, since the some of the lye/caustic based types will permanently "frost" it. Media blasting works too, but is much more expensive and will also "frost" the aluminum, and frequently the stainless. Good Luck with a messy job. ...JJ
Jensen

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Posted on Sunday, July 24, 2005 - 11:10 pm:   

The best way to remove aftermarket paint with out hurting the factory paintis EASY-OFF oven cleaner it needs to be the original formula to work. WARNING test it on a hidden place first to make sure the base coat of paint is original
gusc

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Posted on Monday, July 25, 2005 - 12:16 am:   

Unless the formula has been changed Eazy-off is a very stong caustic material and will cause immediate discoloring of aluminum. It was designed for cleaning porcelain ovens not harmed by its strength.
Marc Bourget

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Posted on Monday, July 25, 2005 - 12:20 am:   

The other thing to worry about is the opportunity for the caustic solution to "wick" into seams, etc. where it can sit and wreck havoc for a long time to come!
Bob Vandawalker (Rav221)

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Posted on Monday, July 25, 2005 - 8:28 am:   

Most of your bodyshop suppliers sell a wheel which is designed to remove decals. The wheel attaches to a drill and works great without harming the paint. The wheels are fairly inxpensive, buy a few because they do wear out.
guy johnson (Mcigeorge)

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Posted on Monday, July 25, 2005 - 9:44 pm:   

Really we are not worried about the decals. The kids are having a blast peeling them off and have finished one whole side of the bus. It is the paint we are concerned about. The decals were painted over with a roller. This is what we want to remove.

We may just have to wait until we sand and paint the bus. The oven cleaner sounds interesting, but we don't want to harm the paint underneath.
Mike (Busone)

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Posted on Monday, July 25, 2005 - 10:29 pm:   

Did they just use some cheapo latex paint? If so hot water and a tough bristle brush will take it off.
John that newguy

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Posted on Monday, July 25, 2005 - 10:33 pm:   

Ok.... This is going to sound crazy, but......

The "Purple Power" cleaner will take off new(er) paint and leave
the old(er) paint that's under it. I've taken off a couple layers of
fresher paint, and found the original paint still in decent shape..

It may stain both aluminum and Stainless Steel, so you'd
be best to read the specs and try it on a small, out-of-sight
spot first. Actually, you'd be best to do that with any remover.

The Sears brand paint remover that is water washed, is also
fairly safe. You can use a pressure washer to take the paint
remover and paint off...

(Be careful. If you do just a little at a time, you'll be known
as a strip-tease)
R. Steve Nichol (N4rsn)

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Posted on Monday, July 25, 2005 - 11:39 pm:   

That was a good one J.T.G.
I have found, while I was removing decals, with easy-off oven cleaner, it will remove the decal, and if you have a painted sign, it will remove the newer paint,(lettering) and leave the older paint, under it, untouched.
I removed the name of the charter company on the side of my bus, with easy-off, and the paint is ok under it. Just don't put it on, and leave it. Use it in smaller areas, and check it with a wooden, or plastic spatula, and only leave it on long enough to loosen the paint you want to remove.
Hope it helps
Steve

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