| Author | Message | ||
| Steve (Steve)
Rating: |
I'm wanting to remove the exterior paint on the aluminum siding on a mci9. It is blue with painted graphics and in the sun it is so hot the siding burns my hand. We want to paint it pearl white so it is cool to the touch. I was wanting to know if I can sand blast aluminum to remove the paint? I have never sand blasted anything. Anybody know anything about this? | ||
| Marc Bourget Rating: N/A |
Paint Stripper is a better choice. There's various abrasive media used to "blast" paint from aluminum. It has less mass than sand and will do less damage to the aluminum. Usually blasting will distort, cause ripples and lines in the aluminum skin that show underlying structural pieces. Don't Sand Blast Aluminum | ||
| James Stacy (Jim_stacy)
Rating: N/A |
Liquid stripper can "hide" in the seams and rivet heads and ooze out later to screw up your paint job. Air blast using a mild agent such as baking soda.(There is a commercial grade made just for blasting.) HTH Jim Stacy | ||
| Marc Bourget Rating: N/A |
I submit that any seam or rivet head sufficient to "hide" stripper will also leak water to the (eventual) detriment of the structure. If such a situation exists, it should be addressed for reasons other than the cosmetic concerns mentioned by Jim Stacy. I've assisted in the painting of several airplanes. Good pressure washing seems to take care of stripper contamination. Choice is yours. Onward and Upward | ||
| dug Rating: N/A |
If my wife finds a stripper hidden in my bus, I'm a dead duck!!! Dug 75 MC8 Arcadia, Fl | ||
| H3-40 Rating: N/A |
Marc, FWIW, after stripping race car chassis's every winter for a fresh powder coat, the coater always advised us NOT to use any type of chemical stripper due to exactly what Jim Stacy said. Even though powder coating is pretty tough stuff, the stripper (not the one hiding in Dug's bus but the liquid type) can ooze out and ruin what started out to be a fine job. It's a mess trying to remove year old powder coating by hand with scrapers, sandblasting and sandpaper but the end result will assure you of a job well worth looking at! Ace...Roid | ||
| Gene Lewis (Genelewis)
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Assuming the operater knows what he is doing it is possible to sand blast the aluminum. The man who did mine knew what he was doing. I was pleased with it there was no distortion, ripples or lines in the aluminum skin that shows any underlying structural pieces. We used extremelly fine sand and it was everwhere when the job was done. We then painted it in the back yard and wound up with a 5-5 paint job (5 feet away at 5 mph). I did not think it was bad for an amateur. Do it your way and be happy. Enjoying the journey in NC, Gene - 05 Eagle | ||
| bruce knee (Bruceknee)
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If the painted surface is not in bad shape, why strip it? | ||
| Eric Lake (Dc_bus_nut)
Rating: N/A |
http://users.cwnet.com/~thall/fredhobe4.htm Good source with info & pics. Tips from Da Pro...Fred Hobe Good Luck, Eric Heres a tip on removing paint down to bare metal. First buy 5 gallons of paint remover. Next paint the entire coach, put striper on thick. Try and do it in the shade to keep it from drying out too fast. Let it sit for a half hour or more. Then I use a 4000 P.P.S.F. pressure washer and blow all the paint off. It will take you about 5 hours to strip it down to bare metal. Very easy and no dust to breath. Some places may take a second coat of remover, but it will be very easy to strip to make ready to sand and paint. I use to use the old put on striper and scrape with a plastic scraper. Lots of hard work. (Side note - you are legally responsible for the contaminants that you will be putting back into the water table & environment.) EL | ||
| Bob Vandawalker (Rav221)
Rating: N/A |
If you can find someone that does Soda Blasting in your area, it will work fine on aluminum. Soda is much finer and softer than blasting sand. It does a fantastic job on nearly any surface. I've often thought of getting into Soda Blasting after my second retirement. For more info: http://www.blasterclean.com/faq.htm Bob V. | ||
| Marc Bourget Rating: N/A |
Ace, I agree with your point but I was trying to make a different point. When I was in SoCal helping my father, the business next to my shop was a powder coater. Prep was "all important." The owner had more $$ in water treatment equipment than in his powder line. IMHO, paint isn't as sensitive as powder coating. Finally, my point was not stripper vs. blast media, but a seam or rivet that will "trap" stripper is a problem waiting to happen, regardless of how you got the paint off the bus. | ||
| RJ Long (Rjlong)
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Steve - I'm going to agree with Bruce's comment above - if there's really nothing wrong with the current paint, why not prep it and just paint over it? Body shops do that all the time. . . But, if you must remove it, and you choose to "blast" it off, contact your local swimming pool service companies. Ask them who does their tile cleaning - chances are, whoever does will have the equipment to blast using baking soda, quite possibly with a "shoot & recover" system that will reduce the mess. With baking soda, all you have to do is wash the coach thoroughly when done to remove any residual. Be sure to use LOTS of water to rinse as much off as possible first, before soaping and rinsing. HTH, RJ PD4106-2784 (LOTS of Aluminum!) Fresno CA | ||
| Ed (Ednj)
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Check this out-- http://www.aceservicesnj.com/ | ||
| Sojourner (Jjimage)
Rating: N/A |
If you have graphic in vinyl (tape)… need to remove via heat-gun and remove gum with “Goof” or “Right-Stuff” or adhesives liquid remover before soda or nut blast at professional rust & paint removal shop. Very interesting link to "Dry-Ice" blasting. Thanks. Dry-Ice will defiantly chill whatever on surface to shrink coating to crystallize & release it to bare metal. Great idea! Where have I been since 1989? Wonder h o w m u s t i t c o s t ?? FWIW Sojourn for Christ, Jerry | ||
| Jay Gerlick
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I firmly believe in soda blasting. I does not warp the aluminum, but it does expose all previous body work. After it is soda blasted it can sit for quite sometime and it will not corrode.When you are ready to prime the entire surface should be sprayed down with a "hudson" type sprayer with a 1:1 viniger /water mix and then with 3M "brillo pads" and this sulution scrubed down then washed several times with soap and water and rinsed several times with clear water. Blast with air all seams and rivits from the top down. now you ready to prep to prime. VERY IMPORTANT!!!! You should only use "epoxy" type primers after "soda blasting" | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
dug - Re: "If my wife finds a stripper hidden in my bus, I'm a dead duck!!! " Easy here, son. This here's -my- territory. (damned *&^%$ comedian copycats) | ||
| Stephen Fessenden (Sffess)
Rating: N/A |
"If the painted surface is not in bad shape, why strip it?" One reason airplanes are stripped before paining is weight. Even a Flxible or a 4106 would not notice the weight of a little additional paint since they seldom need to leave the ground. My father-in-law once told me of his car painting experience in the thirties. He asked a paint shop what it would cost to paint his old plymouth and was told $50. He asked what it would be if he sanded and prepped it himself and was told then it would be $30. So he took the car home and did a beautiful job of removing all the paint right down to the bare metal. He took it back to the shop for his $30 paint job and was told. You've completely stripped it. Now we have to re-prime it and it is going to cost $100. There must be a primer made to mate the current finish with the one you want to put on. |
