Whats a good way to strip timing cover?

[Anlushac11]

My cast aluminum timing cover has about half the paint still on it.

What is a good way to strip it prior to polishing it?

I was told Easy Off oven cleaner will work. Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance

 

['68falconohio]

I just did this last week on my rebuild. Oven cleaner works pretty well because it has sodium hydroxide(lye) in it and that's what I used because I couldn't find powdered lye anywhere. What my dad always did, and what I wanted to do, was buy some powdered lye and mix up a batch in a five gallon bucket and soak it overnight. IIRC the brand my dad has at his shop is Red Devil,(marketed as drain cleaner) I ended up turning a can of oven cleaner from the dollar store over and emptying all of the propellant, then i poked a hole in the bottom and poured it in a bucket with a few gallons of water. A day later, the paint and grease was easily wiped off with a wire brush. If you go this route, I avoided the fumes by setting the bucket outside.

 

['68falconohio]

Wow, I just did a quick search to see if Red Devil was the right name of the lye my dad has.....it was, and it has since been removed from the shelves because it was pure lye.

 

['68falconohio]

And another quick search on wiki revealed that mixing lye and aluminum produces hydrogen gas. Don't think I'll do it again, and I'd say you should probably disregard my suggestion of using it.....

 

[MPGmustang]

AirCraft Paint Remover... took off all 13 coats of paint on my dad's 55 packard when he got it ready to paint... 1 gallon for 1 completely stripped car, and i think he still had left overs...

This stuff sells itself... you paint it on and you can literally watch the paint come off, less than 30mins for the paint to come up... then i used gas to get the grease off, makes it really acceptible to paint, then on the inside because after gas i took a clean rag and added clean oil and wiped it down for that protective coat... paint before the oiling though...

Good Luck,
Richard

 

[rommaster2]

hmmm paint on the air craft paint remover, now theres an idea here I am wondering how i'm gonna contain it when i try and apply it. Shoot I almost wanna go buy some and get to work primering my baby this weekend .

 

[kukm66]

I use BluLightning stripper. It works the same as aircraft stripper but is non-corrosive, contains no acids, lyes or caustics. It does sting the flesh slightly so watch it like any other type. It peels multiple layers off and works well on vertical surfaces.

Link:

http://www.blulightning.com/c=ybLH813TO ... MOVER.html

 

[RagHead]

If you are just doing the timing cover and other small parts oven cleaner will work great.

 

[BENJENBROOKS]

Berryman's solvent, get a couple gallons of the stuff... soak until the paint simply wipes off with a rag... i run the stuff in my parts washing cabinet... works great, not so aggressive that I have to worry about damaging parts, however it does great on paints, grease, glues.... it will eat some polymers though...

huh, you would think that a plastics engineer would think of these things before throwing parts in the mix all "willy nilly"... now I know....

 

[challenger6]

Send it to me and I can blast it and powdercoat it for you

 

[351 celi]

I have used oven cleaner with good results. I sprayed a pair of cylinder heads and contained them in a garbage bag and let them sit over the weekend, this way the fumes are contained and possible aid in the paint/grease removal. Rinse with soapy water and a soft brush, and wipe clean with mineral spirits prior to paint if you go that route. Aircraft stripper does work wonders too; make sure to use gloves and goggles, it does not feel very good on your skin (no feeling quite like burning thighs because you leaned against a recently coated fender, leaving you no choice but to strip down to your boxers becuase your coveralls are saturated)

 

[early ford fan]

i thought about stripping the timing cover too,but how will you keep it shiney?aluminum starts to corrode almost immediatly.it will be hard to polish with everything in the way.

 

[simon]

well, there are several ways to keep it bling.

1) lose interest in polished aluminum after a week and start addressing other things, like drilled brake drums, or an aluminum head

2) go through the hassle and give it a polish with NevrDull or similar polishing products once a week

3) clearcoat it using "Glisten PC" by RestomotiveLaboratories (inventors of the POR-15 urethane paint), then tell us your experiences with this stuff after a year or two. I am curious if it really won't yellow over time.

4) go crazy like George Barris did in the 1960's and send it to a reputable plater to have it chromed. I'll give you thumb ups for that, just because it is plain crazy and cool.

5) go crazy like the restomodders of today do and send it off for JetHot ceramic coating. Probably the most sensible solution, along with the catalyzed clearcoat by POR15.

 

[cfmustang]

You could always try the crock pot trick. Add water and liquid laundry detergent to the crock pot, insert part to be stripped and let it simmer overnight. It is an old trick for stripping paint off of old house hardware.

It really works on old brass, don't see why it wouldn't work for aluminum.