best stripper?

ok, dont get too worked up guys, its for paint:P
I cant get the paint off of my engine cases, I tried a furniture paint stripper with no luck, and tried an industrial strength paint stripper from canadian tire(cant remember the brand, it was in a green spray can and the spray turned into gel when it hit the cases) with the same results. Is there something out there that is stronger? I have some of the paint off now with wire brushes, and its going to take several hours to finish it this way:(
thx
Scott

When I did it on mine, I used some automotive stripper I found in Wally World. After a couple of tries, whatever was left got sanded, wire wheeled and sandblasted. Several hours? Consider it bonding time with your bike!
Actually, late in the process I found out that tossing a piece in a can of acetone works wonders. But that's pretty nasty stuff. I went back to the manual process.

oh we have spent many many hours bonding so far, I think sanding the fins of the head is going to be waaay too much bonding time though. I dont want to try sandblasting as it takes away aluminum as well as paint, and I dont think theres a good place around here to get it glass beaded

Sandblasting will not remove enough aluminum to worry about. A cheap way to get things blasted is to take it toa place that makes head stons for graves. You can call a funeral home to see where one is. I had my frame blasted for around $20. All the letters on a grave stone are sandblasted into the stone. I am sure they could turn down the pressure for some engine cases. Worth talking to them at least.

Ya might want to try something called "Aircraft remover" my parts guy recommended it and I used it on my break fluid reseroir. Stripped it down to the aluminum in about 10 min. I got it from Pep boys. I don't know how it removes aircraft but it really removes paint .

Aircraft paint stripper. It is made by marhyde it is available in either a spray can or a quart or even a gallon. If this doesn't eat it off forget about it:evil:

Available at your local CarQuest:woohoo: a plug!!

Sandblasting? I stopped by a friends place today just to chat for awhile. This guy is an Internationally known Husky (the bike, not the dog) restorer, and he mentioned that someone had sent him a set of cases and covers to see if he could do anything with them. Turns out the guy had the cases and cover sandblasted and totally ruined them, my friend said he gets stuff like this every month or so.

Sandblasting will eat aluminum, it's fine for steel frames, but don't even think about doing it to aluminum.

There are other kinds of media that work on aluminum, glass beads, walnut shells, plastic beads, etc, but "NEVER" use sand.

There sure are some dedicated Husky lovers out there, this guy charges $5k-$10k depending on condition, and he doesn't lack customers :woohoo:

steell wrote:

Sandblasting? ...

Sandblasting will eat aluminum, it's fine for steel frames, but don't even think about doing it to aluminum.

There are other kinds of media that work on aluminum, glass beads, walnut shells, plastic beads, etc, but "NEVER" use sand.

Agreed.

The two BIG problems are that silica's crystal structure is significantly harder than the aluminum itself, the basis of erosion. Second is that its dust can be microscopic, and can get blown/wedged into the pore structure of the aluminum, leaving it with that mottled, "dirty" looking surface - and once it's in there, you'll play hell getting it out.

That said, the various other media are the best alternative processes for cleaning/prepping aluminum for paint. Partial to bead blasting myself. Quick, efficient, cost effective and you can't beat the surface it leaves.

The stripping option is do-able, but you'll spend gangs of time trying to get into all the nooks and crannies of a head/cylinder set, and no matter what solvent you try to rinse the stripper off with, the surface will *never* match a bead blasted surface for both the properties of the metal and appearance when you're done.

Just a suggestion, but I'd bead the beast.

There sure are some dedicated Husky lovers out there, this guy charges $5k-$10k depending on condition, and he doesn't lack customers :woohoo:

Darn. I know one of those guys too. Amazing what devotees will spend on those things...

Re:best stripper?

DARN I was gonna put my vote in for Boom Boom from Bazooka's , MAN she really knows how to work it! :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

Not all sand is the same. Some is almost like gravel, and there are varying sizes down to what they call "sugar sand" which is what you used to find in hotel lobby ashtrays. The amount of air pressure you put behind the media makes a big difference, too.

That said, I usually prefer chemical stripper and would recommend Kleen Strip KS-3 Premium Stripper. Just be sure to use it in a well-ventilated area, it's nasty stuff!

thx for the good info guys
haha if you remember my bondo thread awhile back you'll know that Ill do my best to work in well ventilated areas now:silly: :sick:

Aircraft Stripper works great, but, it depends on what temperature you are using it at. If it's 70* F, it will eat off all the paint in about 10 minutes. When it's cooler, say about 55* F, it doesn't work nearly as well....for me anyway.