Looking for a stripper

[85RZwade]

That got your attention! I talked myself into painting my RD350 cylinders before assembling the top end...and then looked at them closely. They're going to be awful to media blast with all the deep crevices between fins and such. Is there a better, perhaps chemical way to strip these things prior to painting? 

[busa1300]

Soak it in cider....
Always works for me....

But seriously....run it through an acid tank, like a machine shop does for engine blocks.
Just make sure they only run it through for a short time or it will disappear

[85RZwade]

Disappear!? Holy trust the machine shop, Batman!

[AAAltered]

The "goods" in strippers is (was) MEK, which, in the US, was banned for consumer sale two years ago.  If you can find any old product in your shed etc, use that.  The new formulas generally suck.

At places like Sherwin Williams they have strippers that say "Commercial Sale Only" but they don't have the power of good old MEK...

[85RZwade]

MEK is the active ingredient, not a brand name, right?

[AAAltered]

MEK is the active ingredient, not a brand name, right?

Right. 

[rodneya]

I used a soda blaster on a set and it worked well. I did not blast to 100% clan aluminum, just enough to do a good cleanup so that the new paint would stick well.

[85RZwade]

Is aluminum oxide too aggressive for this?

[Gil Gallad]

mek is methyl ethyl ketone. i used to use it at work when fitting grey 'plastic' mains water pipes. wipe the pipes and fittings with mek to completely clean them before applying the glue. still got a litre bottle in the shed 
cheers, gil.

[Kawtriplefreak]

#80 glass beads is what I use.

[pidjones]

In the long run elbow grease must be used.

[m in sc]

#80 glass beads is what I use.

^ this. just my .02

but, if you want to just clean up, use rifle barrel brushes and lots of brake clean to get in there to prep for paint. might be ok. 

[so-cal-sdr200]

This is what I used on my 1973 RD250 project.
Aircraft stripper. The can on the left was the good stuff.
Found the last can in Ca. I think. The non-Methylene on the
right took twice, or more, as long to soften up the paint.
Then is was to the blast cabinet with glass beads.
Lots of elbow grease and a full box of patients. Came out great.

Not sure if my picture attachment will work. Might be too large.

Lots of work, but, worth it in the long run.
Jeff

[85RZwade]

In the long run elbow grease must be used.

Exactly what I feared! My impatient inner sloth is thinking they look fine, but I'll (hopefully) never have a better opportunity to make them look good. Dammit, Sparky!

[m in sc]

hit em with engine degreaser, throw em in the dishwasher, expect divorce papers.