Removing Bull Bar Paint

[helievacpilot]

Took the bull bar off the wife's 99 disco and hauled it off to the sand-blaster. He just called and said the stuff is so tuff, that it would take him HOURS to blast it. What the hell? It's starting to flake off in places and seems very brittle. I thought sand-blasting would strip it, no problem. This guy does semi-truck frames, so it's no sissy operation. Anyone else done this or have any suggestions?
Thanks - Bill

 

[Buddy]

Powder coating is a pain to blast. I've had limited success with chemical stippers and a propaine torch. Neither of which is quick, efficient or very healthy.

 

[helievacpilot]

Yea, I just got off the phone with the guy. He said the heat from the friction of the sand melts the coating and just pushes it around. I really don't want to do this by hand. Any ideas?
Thanks - Bill

 

[jafir]

I like the torch idea. Perhaps you can pour diesel on it and set it on fire. Even if it doesn't help, it will still be fun.

 

[jasonmk12]

somewhere around you there will be a chemical stripping company that will dip that thing in some nasty chemicals and that powder will come right off.

 

[no694terry]

i have a sand blaster at work that will remove it, but will also destroy it. At the body shop we used to use this stripper from the auto paint supply place called Aircraft stripper for when we did resto's on the old lead painted classics. We didn't want to sand lead based paint into our lungs. You just apply it with a brush and the next day wipe it off.

 

[Agent]

I just stripped the cracked and peeling powder coating off of my rack mounts last week. As said above, removing powder coating is a major PITA. I ended up removing as much as I could with a 9" straight grinder with a wire wheel. I then sandblasted what I couldn't get to with the grinder. The whole job, (stripping & painting) took a couple days...:ack:

 

[helievacpilot]

I've heard of "aircraft stripper". I'll check it out and also look into the "dipping" process.
Thanks

 

[lgoldd1]

Will take some effort, but a grinder with a wire grinding wheel would do the trick.

 

[ArmyRover]

The flapper wheel takes it off pretty well to on a angle grinder

 

[wheelen disco]

I tried aircraft stripper. And It didn't do a damn thing.But placing It over a nice wood fire worked well. I wouldn't try it if You live in town though.

 

[Tims95Disco]

Yes throw it on the bonfire next time you go camping.

 

[macgyverizer]

I used a heat gun and razor blades. If you can lift a corner, you can peel off large pices.

 

[akronk1]

used a flathead screwdriver and started where it was peeling off finished the couple of stuck on areas with a wire wheel didn't take long but then again it was a lr rear ladder.

 

[Timmy!!!!!!!]

This doesn't make me feel good about getting my RTE bumper redone

 

[d1driver]

Timmy - just got done redoing my RTE bumper:

Coat with aircraft stripper from Autozone. (buy the gallon can for $24)
Leave sit for 20 minutes
Hit with pressure washer
Repeat

On the 4th coating of stripper, I went around using a paint scraper and really loosened it up. The 5th coat of stripper got pretty much all the rest off. For a final cleaning, I used a 4" grinder with a cup wire wheel and a flat wire wheel. It worked great. The coarseness of the wire actually smoothed out the rust-damaged places.

I double-coated it with POR15, then final coated it with POR15's chassis coat http://www.por15.com/CHASSIS-COAT-BLACK/productinfo/CHG/

Overall, $24 for the stripper, $28 for the pint of POR15, and another $22 for the chassis coat.

Definitely not an easy job, but it looks pretty good right now and we shall see how well the POR15 holds up.

 

[ptschram]

There is a company in Fort Wayne that puts stuff like this in an oven, heat sit up and when they come out, they look like new!

It's expensive, but better than spending hours scraping.

 

[barnescole]

call a local powder coater, most have the required chemical to remove it. if not, send it here and they'll take care of it for you:
<CITE>www.cherrycustompowdercoating.com/</CITE>

 

[ptschram]

Prostrip.com, they can powder coat it for you as well, and probably do a good enough job to satisfy Kennith

 

[Mudy_ovl]

X2 on PT's suggestion. I had my rear tail lamp gaurds done at a shop in Stockton. They had a huge burn off oven that they used to remove powdercoat from parts that did not meet they quality standards. I would rather pay money than expose myself to any coating stripper that can remove well adhered powdercoating. Also, if you piggy back on another burn session, it shouldn't be that costly.

Also, I would go with Por15 as a new coating. Easier to repair. Yes, powdercoat is very tough...until it is stratched or chipped and contaminants can get underneath it and affect the its bond to the substrate.

Regards,
Chris D.