best way to remove paint from finned valve covers?

what wont hurt the aluminum?

thanks,

 

thinner and or brake fluid works for me

 

air craft remover/stripper from any parts store. works very good.

http://wagoneers.com/DieselBenz/CARS/85-190D/aircraft-remover.jpg

 

it even says works on aluminum, just use light coats and have a dipping bucket handy to wash off the stripper. I did these vette ones which had red between the fins and it didn't harm the aluminum.

 

I use brake cleaner.

 

The easiest way is to sand blast with walnut shell. Or just sand blast with regular stuff and polish the smooth areas after.

 

I had a set lyed. Turned out great and saved me a lot of work.
Not sure if prolonged exposure to the lye could hurt them or not. They used a base lye.

 

Just dab paint stripper on the painted areas only with a Q-tip or a small disposable brush. Clean off all the oil and grease first, and the paint stripper works faster. The paint will just shrivel up and you can scrub it or blast it off with a hose. There will probably be a few places that didn't come off the first time around, so dry it and dab some more paint stripper until it crinkles up. Jasco paint and epoxy stripper works okay, but some stuff I got at a swap meet called "Blue Lightning" works even faster.

The adhesion of paint to aluminum isn't usually all that great anyway, so it's pretty easy to chemically strip paint off aluminum usually.

 

Carb cleaner. Every shop has some >>>>.

 

I agree with aircraft stripper. You can buy it in a gallon can at nearly any hardware store.

Just slop it on and as soon as the paint wrinkles up, wash away with water and a scrub brush. Don't splash it on yourself or you will be made aware of the mistake in short order.

 

Well, with those warnings on the container, it must work fine!

 

awww c'mon... It's just fatalness and blindness you are worrying about!

 

YES.......prolonged exposure (doesnt take long) WILL hurt em. turm em black or totally disolve them ive done it . You wont like it . Aluminum, Zinc, Magnesium, Rubber, and some others are NOT friends with Sodium Hydroxide (LYE).

 

glass bead them and re-polish.

 

love ya johnny!!!

 

Take them to U-spray in butler and glass bead them yourself for 1.25 a minute. Shouldn't take more than 2 or three minutes. You can even mask the polished parts with duct tape.

 

Aircraft stripper is made to go on aluminum, i certainly wouldn't use an abrasive.