Paint Removal

Happy New Year Guys,

Advice required, anyone know what you can use to dip painted engine cases, hubs etc to remove paint without damaging the alloy, magnesium underneath ????

I have used Nitromors which is ok, but it is obviously single use, is there anything you can use more than once ?

Cheers for the help,

Rathers

I just stripped my cases and the rest of my bike with aircraft grade stripper purchaced at the local auto parts store, with outstanding results. I used a wire brush and a pick to get the tight spots.

I use that stuff too -- great stuff...But the clean up can get a little messy.

So I think I just found the ultimately environmentally friendly stripper, cleaner, etc...You gotta check this out...http://www.ace-sandblasting.com/mpg/ace_soda.mpg

About an hour ago I just bought the harbor freight version for $99.00:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=66742

Now, I can properly strip my frames, and clean the rims, and old build up...Cool thing about these SB's is that they use baking soda, wash off with water, and leave no crazy debris, junk, waste to clean up.

I tried media blasting the cases first and Im here to tell you that the paint on the cases was there to stay. The only way it was coming off was stripper. If you let the stripper set on long enough the paint gets soft and will scrape off. I had to repeat the stripping procedure a couple time for max results.
The rest of the bike stripped fine with media.

I'll second that. I took the cases to the local blaster man and he came back shaking his head. Bought some Jasco (Bix) Premium Paint Stripper at his recommendation... uh uh. Still painted after several applications. I'm telling you, stripping these cases is a serious hitch in my rebuild.

So, mattskn, what's this "aircraft grade stripper purchased at the local auto store?" Sounds like I need some of that stuff.

I used the 15lb soda blaster with the XL soda media from Harbor Freight and it stripped the paint from the magnesium cases without a problem. Takes a little while but works great. Did the same on the two stroke pipe and it also worked great.

Thanks guys.

My mate has a vapour blaster and grit blaster, we were just trying to find something that we could dip our cases in to either remove or soften the paint before vapur blasting. The grit blaster works fine but leaves a rough finish when compared to vapour blasting. unfortunately the paint just seems to laugh at the vapour blaster.

When we find the answer we will let you know, all ther best for the new year.

Rathers

rust-oleaum makes it.

Dont try and soften the paint if you intend to blast it. If it softens then the blast media impact is softened and the paint wont fracture and it becomes abrasion resistant. I tried to do that with some white fork legs, soaked in carb. cleaner then tried to glass bead, didn't work well. I use KleenStrip brand of aircraft stripper found at autobody supply stores. The spray cans of it are more expensive but work better because of the coverage. Paint brushing it on leaves the brush strokes. It has to be completely covering the surface to work properly, absence of oxygen to work the best. I used to paint trucks with alum. hoods and cabs, alot of rivets to sand around so we stripped alot of them to also reduce paint build up. Spray stripper on if applicable then cover the area with plastic wrap to keep oxygen out, worked very good and we were dealing with Imron. In places that wasn't feasable would "dab" it on heavy with a soft brush to eliminate brush strokes. Used to be able to buy a good 5gl bucket of carb cleaner that worked great for dipping parts to take paint off, used it also when removing paint from spray guns for rebuild. They are now pretty weak. A friend said he bought a 5gl bucket of paint gun cleaner that works good. Easy Off oven cleaner works good for rattle can paint remover, smells nice too if you get the Lemon scent!