stripping paint from aluminum

I'm looking to strip the paint off of a set of panasports I just picked up. I was told by a friend to be careful of what I use because it could deteriorate the aluminum. Aircraft paint stripper was recommended but I can't find it locally. Any thoughts? Keep in mind i'm lazy and also I plan on keeping the wheel the natural finish so I don't want to mess up the finish under the paint.

Steve,
A buddy of mine had to strip some phone dial wheels for his 944 and he had some good luck with Dekote from Eastwood. It's not very harsh and it didn't harm the aluminum one bit.

http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?i...emType=PRODUCT

Aircraft Remover (the "stripper") is available in almost all autobody supply stores in Quart or Gallon cans.

It is the best.

Your other choice is to have them bead blasted.

Thanks for the input guys. I found the aircraft stripper at napa and autozone and it works great. :D

It is great stuff but a bit dangerous. I have had a number of chemical burns from it--ouch--and the smell affects some people.

The warnings on the can make it clear this stuff is to be handled carefully.

Stripped a set of BBS's with the aircraft stripper. Worked great. Found it at Home Depot.

Neat trick is to apply the stripper and cover with plastic. It seals in the fumes and makes it work faster and gives a more complete strip. Brush on with one stroke and do not go back over to break the surface. Use scotch brite and heavy soap to clean them before you paint. The stripper will stay in the pores and bubble the paint in hot sun if you skip the washing. Have fun!!

Let's say there's this set of day-glow lime green Volk TE-37 wheels that would look much better in something like, say, black. Does it make sense to strip and paint them yourself or would it just be better to take them to a body shop and have them do it?

David

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DavidM

Let's say there's this set of day-glow lime green Volk TE-37 wheels that would look much better in something like, say, black. Does it make sense to strip and paint them yourself or would it just be better to take them to a body shop and have them do it?

David

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I'm cheap, I do it myself. $10 for the paint stripper,$2 for a brush and another $10 for paint and clearcoat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DavidM

Let's say there's this set of day-glow lime green Volk TE-37 wheels that would look much better in something like, say, black. Does it make sense to strip and paint them yourself or would it just be better to take them to a body shop and have them do it?

David

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Yeah, DIY. Nobody will notice at anything more than 5' away and it's not as stressfull when you mess them up with an off or a little side to side contact.

I had what I thought to be 2 layers of paint on my delsol rims. It turned out to be more like 7 or 8. I spent an afternoon with some aircraft stripper and a few rags. Then a light sand with steel wool to scuff. Then some rim paint from Autozone and a cost or two of wax. Looks good to me.

Paint stripper is a thing of the past. Soda blasting is the absolute way to go & safer.

one of those 25 or so gal garden tubs (3 ft high) holds wheels bicely for all kinds of wheel duties.......

why not just media blast? wouldn't that be safer? Or is that bad for the wheel somehow?