Thorp Air Command - T18.net

New intake and wheel pant fairings installed. Now time to strip.....it took me over 8 hours to strip the flaps and a few misc. parts. Removed two past paint jobs and primer with many stripper applications. At this rate I'll be done in a couple years. If anyone has a silver bullet on how to remove this any quicker I'm all ears!!

Chuck

Image Insert:


Put File Caption Here

_________________
Chuck Kincer
Richmond, Me
575CK
KIWI

Chuck, I've had a little experience with EFS-2500 and it worked very well. You can almost put the jug of stripper in the same room as the airplane and when you come back in the morning the paint will be on the floor and your airplane will look like Charles Hoover's Thorp.

http://www.m-tc.com/efs2500_information.htm

OK, I am prone to exaggeration, but it was very effective and fairly benign. One thing to keep in mind: these types of strippers are quite temperature dependent. They work a lot better at 75 degrees than they do at 68. We also found that with EFS2500 it worked best when covered with plastic to keep it from evaporating. ie, Saran Wrap, or similar.

I will be using EFS2500 on MLC when the time comes. --DW

_________________
_________
In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.

Dick,

Thanks for the suggestion, what does a gallon of this potion cost? A gallon of the stripper at my local store is $36. The problem is, it only cuts through one layer at a time, after two paints jobs, primer and even body filler, wow what a job. I think Rich suggested covering with plastic and Lee had good luck with stripper from ACE, I'll try that next.

Thanks

Chuck

_________________
Chuck Kincer
Richmond, Me
575CK
KIWI

Chuck,
The best strippers I found were the ones that had a consistent consistency (if that makes sense). In other words, some of them are a bit gelatinous. The ACE stuff worked out because it was very brush-able. Put it on liberally, in one direction and let it sit for longer than you want to wait, be patient!

Also, don't feel you have to strip every last bit, it may not seem so but the stripper seriously weakens the adhesion of the paint, even spots left over that seem to be stubborn will scrape off with a plastic putty knife a day later. Be careful when using a steel knife on bare metal, it will make a pretty good gouge if you let it!

_________________
Lee Walton
Houston, TX
N51863,N118LW
KEFD

Can't remember what he EFS stripper costs, Chuck, but they are happy to ship free samples if you want to try it.

Recently I've used a Canadian product called "DS Super Remover Paint, Glue and Varnish Remover" on some parts of MLM. It is a gel, quite thick, very effective even in cold temperatures and not too noxious. Not sure if you can get in the States yet.

_________________
_________
In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.

Paint stripping it not an area I think anyone enjoys. As soon as I begin the restoration of my MG, I'll be looking at the possibility of dipping the parts (including the entire body) in "hot tanks" to strip off the old paint. Not sure if this is a possibility for aluminum parts ? I know I would pay double if this is a way one could go with the smaller parts...flaps, ailerons, etc. Has anyone looked into this for aircraft parts [?]

You can save a few bucks by buying supplies at the 99 cent store...brushes (sponge), scrapers, etc. HF also has a sale on chip brushes once in a while, I buy then in a box of 36 when they go on sale or use the 20% off coupon. They are good for applying the goop to the small areas, as well as general cleaning and also make good basters for the BBQ to apply the sauce. [:p]

RB

Chuck - EFS-2500 from MolecularTech was about $75 CDN (retail) two or three years ago. --dw

_________________
_________
In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.

I went to the local hardware store (the only HS)and bought a quart of three types of stripper displayed. I made a pass with a brush of each on the flaps and found a product called 5F5 least expensive worked the best by far, second Strip Off, most expensive and Strypeze non toxic, terrible for this application.

I've been removing all the body filler. Did any of you painting guru's refill the rivit divits with body filler before repainting or go as is? the pop rivit holes look as though they would need bodyfiller. Although it looks nice I would rather forgo the added weight and don't mind the rivit lines.

Chuck

_________________
Chuck Kincer
Richmond, Me
575CK
KIWI

I'll be looking at the possibility of dipping the parts (including the entire body) in "hot tanks" to strip off the old paint. Not sure if this is a possibility for aluminum parts

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Have been there and done that, problem ; very diificult to get the chemicals from the seams and joints, it weeps and will ruin your paint.

I have spent the last six weeks disassembling and stripping my Thorp in a professional aircraft paint facility. The modern water-based strippers now in use are fast, efficient and almost fool-proof. I had paint that included AmerFlint, Imron, automotive urethanes and lacquer. They all came off clean with one or two apps and a pressure washer. this stripper is not available to the general public through normal hardware store outlets, but through the professional suppliers. I'm out of town now , but will try to get the trade name of this stuff when I get back.

_________________
Bob Highley
N711SH
SN 835
KLAL

We managed to get the tail assembly off today. How does one remove a 30 year old piano hinge wire without breaking off the end while pulling? if I use WD40 or 3 in 1 I'm concerned about getting rid of the oil residue when repainting. (This thing won't budge). Sorry about all the neophyte questions!

Chuck

_________________
Chuck Kincer
Richmond, Me
575CK
KIWI

Chuck you have to get the piano hinge off 1st. You can spray the hinge pin with WD 40 or any penetrating oil. You may have to let the oil soak for a while. You may be able to get some movement with a hammer and punch, I have been able to remove hinge pins with a air gun with low pressure once you have enough pin to lock in the chuck.
You will want to check for corrosion on hinge halves.

Once apart I recommend washing the parts with aircraft grade soap with a stiff bristle brush. If you have residual oil you can use any aircraft grade degreaser such as K-Chem 500 to reclean the parts. Go on line and type in aircraft degreaser for other trade types in your area.

_________________
Victor J Thompson
C-GIRQ
"In Memory Of Dad"

Chuck,

Get some Kroil. It works! I used it to take out the hing pins for my current paint job.

_________________
Bob Highley
N711SH
SN 835
KLAL

"How does one remove a 30 year old piano hinge wire without breaking off the end while pulling? if I use WD40 or 3 in 1 I'm concerned about getting rid of the oil residue when repainting."

I have not personally tried this "home brew" penetrating oil , but the following writeup is interesting.

For removing the oil prior to painting, I have had excellent luck with a product called "oil eater", available at my local Costco and some hardware stores. Slightly caustic, but definitely more effective than Simple Green and most other common household cleaners. Spray it on, scrub with a brush, and follow up with soap and lots of water. In any case, the phosphoric acid etch before painting should be the final degreasing process for aluminum:


Subject: Penetrating Oils Compared

> Machinist's Workshop magazine actually tested penetrates for break out
> torque on rusted nuts. Significant results! They arranged a subjective test
> of all the popular penetrates with the control being the torque required to
> remove the nut from a "scientifically rusted" environment.
>
> Penetrating oil ..... Average load
>
> None ..................... 516 pounds
>
> WD-40 .................. 238 pounds
>
> PB Blaster ..............214 pounds
>
> Liquid Wrench ...... 127 pounds
>
> Kano Kroil ............ 106 pounds
>
> ATF-Acetone mix... 53 pounds
>
> The ATF-Acetone mix was a "home brew" mix of 50 - 50 automatic transmission
> fluid and acetone.
>
> Note the "home brew" was better than any commercial product in this one
> particular test. A local machinist group mixed up a batch and all now use it
> with equally good results. Note also that "Liquid Wrench" is about as good
> as "Kroil" for about 20% of the price.
>

_________________
My other projects at
www.cardomain.com/ride/646433