Having trouble stripping stubborn factory paint.

Matthew_bailey · Post by **Matthew_bailey** » Sat Dec 28, 2002 5:36 am

I have started stripping the paint from my 1958 172's horizontal stab. The paint is not comming off quite as easily as I had imagined. It appears that some one painted over the factory paint job with out stripping any of the old paint. The outer layer is comming off quite nicely, but even after several applications of stripper, the factory paint and primer are holding on for dear life. It just doesnt want to soften up very well. I am using a plastic scraper, scotch-brite pads, and Jasco stripper from Home Depot @ $24/gal. I have already used 1 Gal of stripper and have only stripped about 75% of the top of the stab completely. Is paint stripping a temperature dependant process? It is about 40-45 deg in my hanger. Any one have any suggestions/ideas?

Matt

Robert G. White · Post by **Robert G. White** » Sat Dec 28, 2002 7:50 am

I had the same experiece you related.

I found that covering the stripper with plastic helped a lot. This kepts the chemicals in the stripper from evaporating so they can work to full effect.

And I do think that temperature is a factor in general; heat speeds most everything. Best wishes on your project.

Matthew_bailey · Post by **Matthew_bailey** » Sat Dec 28, 2002 9:46 am

Rob,

I live in Cornelius, OR just outside Hillsboro. I figure with you living so close by that you should be able to put in at least 2 hours a day stripping paint on my bird.

Matt

doakes · Post by **doakes** » Sat Dec 28, 2002 11:34 am

True that temperature is a factor as the warmer the temo the better. I have had great success with a product called Aircraft Paint Stripper. I purchased it from our local auto paint supplier. I have used Zip-Strip and other retail strippers with limited success. Plastic does indeed keep the stripper from evaporating but it is a pain to work.
Stripping an aircraft can be long and tough. I wish you much success

Robert G. White · Post by **Robert G. White** » Sat Dec 28, 2002 7:46 pm

Hey Matt, thanks for the offer to have some fun, but like Tom Sawyer, I've white washed my share of fences

... Yes wrapping the plastic is a hassle, but it sure saved a lot stripper and actually made the job go EZ'er. But, some areas were so resistant that I had them plastic media blasted...

I removed my tail assembly and did them in my garage, then painted them in a auto paint booth. Keep at it, you will be glad that you did it right.

N170BP · Post by **N170BP** » Sun Dec 29, 2002 6:50 am

You might try an industrial strength stripper.... That
Jasco stuff is OK, but I'd suggest you try to find a
ZEP distributor near you. I haven't tried them all, but
the ZEP stuff wins hands-down in a contest of the strippers
I have tried to date (thanks to my project aircraft, which
required the stripping of layers upon layers of 50+ year
old Navy paint). I had to buy a 5 gallon pail of ZEP, but the
cost per gallon wasn't much more than the Jasco stuff.

Bela P. Havasreti
'54 C-170B N170BP

Matthew_bailey · Post by **Matthew_bailey** » Sun Dec 29, 2002 7:09 am

Thanks everyone for the advice. I think I need to stop messing around and purchase some real stripper. I am going to try the plastic overlay though.

Matt

Matthew_bailey · Post by **Matthew_bailey** » Mon Dec 30, 2002 7:02 am

I am now onto the bottom side of the stab. I am applying an even thick coat of stripper over the entire surfance and then covering the entire area with a plastic garbage bag. It seems to remove about 75% of the paint on the first try. After pressure washing, the second coat of stripper removes another 10-15%. What remains are spots of battle hardened green primer impervious to all know chemicals including molecular acid. Tomorrow I will see what the paint store has to offer.

Matt

planepilot1 · Post by **planepilot1** » Mon Dec 30, 2002 8:16 pm

Matt, sounds like you've gotten some good advise here. My $.02 worth---get some professional aircraft or automotive stripper and get this most unpleasant task done. While we all hate to pay the price, what you are going through helps (a little) to make us understand why aircraft paint jobs are so expensive. After you get it stripped you get to clean all the paint from around the rivets, etc. Then there is the etching and on and on. Then one day you get to purchase that gold, I mean paint, and its components so you can paint.

Good luck and have a lot of patience. Remember preparation is the absolute key to a descent paint job.

Frank Stephenson N6888A

Dave Clark · Post by **Dave Clark** » Wed Jan 01, 2003 2:25 pm

I stripped the firewall yesterday at the hangar. I used the "aircraft stripper" in the blue can that I've always had good luck with. The old paint must have been lacquer because it came off really easy. I had some proper 3-M aluminum 1" tape to enable me to protect the paint around the area I stripped, and used visqueen to make a drop condom all around the nose. (Can I say that word here?) The visqueen draped over a drip pan on the floor and caught all the mess.

The really interesting thing was that I had no ability to hose off the stripper with water. I did half at a time and after it was loosened up real well I worked it with the brush and a small brass toothbrush then wiped as much off as I could with a paper towel. Working quickly because I didn't want the mess to dry I then used a can of acetone and brush / rinsed it off wiping with paper towels as I went along. It worked great.

Post by **GAHorn** » Wed Jan 01, 2003 3:18 pm

"Can I say that word here?"
No. But you can spell it!

If it was lacquer then the acetone alone would have removed it.

Dave Clark · Post by **Dave Clark** » Wed Jan 01, 2003 3:54 pm

George
Acetone did cut it slowly but with stripper after it wrinkled up brushing off most of the mess I'm sure was easier and produced less of a mess. Sure some smaller part just use acetone.[/quote]

Matthew_bailey · Post by **Matthew_bailey** » Mon Jan 06, 2003 11:15 am

Took a trip down to the automotive paint store to see what they had to offer for stripper. The store stocked 'Aircraft Paint Stripper' which I have heard quite a few good things about. $30.00 a gal, thought I would give one galon a try for now. It is defiently the strongest smelling stuff that I have used so far. I found that it works really well on the stubborn primer and is defiently the best stuff I have used to date. The plastic overlay seems to help a lot as well as keeping the aluminum and paint warm with a couple of 200 watt incadesent light bulbs while stripping. I have been experimenting with scotchbrite pads to help loosen up some of the primer while it is still covered with stripper. One thing that seems to really make a difference is how the stripper is applied. It appears the the stripper is much more effective if it is applied in one quick thick coat and then left to set for 15-20 minutes without being disturbed. The instructions specifically say to brush the stripper on in one direction only. I am having trouble understanding why this would make a difference on aluminum, but it sure as heck does. Re-applying in a few spots with a brush seems to really make the stripper loose effectiveness. My neighbour has suggested that he has had the best results with stripper by 'spraying it' on with a paint sprayer. I am a little hesitant to use my spray gun for this purpose though. Maybe I need to pick up a $20 spray gun from Harbour Freight?

Matt

Post by **GAHorn** » Mon Jan 06, 2003 6:40 pm

Brushing it on is more cost effective, I believe. Anyway, use acid gloves (heavy black plastic type) and keep that stripper off your skin, and try to stay upwind of it so you don't breathe it (another reason to brush it and not spray it.) Stripper that has methyl chloride or methylene Chloride is a carcinogen and can be absorbed thru the skin. Once in your circulatory system it attacks the liver.

Dave Clark · Post by **Dave Clark** » Tue Jan 07, 2003 1:50 am

Mathew
Yes you found the correct stripper. You need to wait longer if it's cold and the wait time also depends on the type of paint you're stripping so experiment some. I've been stripping my door jambs today. It was about 60 degrees in the hangar. It took a couple of hours to mask off the good paint on the outside. Fortunately I had a roll of the good thick 3-M aluminum tape to do the edges with. This is also what you need to use to properly protect plexiglass. Use heavy duty aluminum foil over the plex and tape the aluminum tape about a quarter inch onto the aluminum you are stripping. Sand off the paint on that quarter inch after you're done. But I digress. I had to apply the stripper twice because the paint was pretty thick in places. I just wire toothbrushed the first coat off and gave it a quick wipe with a paper towel then went right on it with the second coat. I'm using PPG AcryliClean to solvent wash it off with but acetone works it just dries a little fast. Paint thinner might leave an oil residue. I can't use water for this project. The jambs came out great and only took part of the day. Tomorrow I'll be doing the same to the fuselage formers in the rear seat and baggage area and the rear seat monts so that I can paint all those things that show around the upholstry. Hang in there.

The International Cessna 170 Association

Having trouble stripping stubborn factory paint.

Having trouble stripping stubborn factory paint.

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