The hangar has been turned into a strip club but the only curves being exposed are those of a 60 year old 182.
Does anybody have a good system for getting around the rivets? I’m putting on paste stripper with tinfoil over that and leaving it overnight. The goo comes off easily enough with plastic putty applicators, even with the four coats of paint. It’s just the rivets that are a serious PITA. I can scrape around them but it’s time consuming and being lazy, am looking for easier ideas.
Chris

Is the remaining paint around the rivet heads soft enough to to blown of with higher pressure air from an air nozzle.

I will try that!
Thanks.

It's not uncommon to see a nice paint job just a few years old with corrosion starting under the paint near the faying edges or near the rivets. Once you've removed the paint around the rivets, it's important to deactivate and remove all the stripper in those areas. I use a stiff nylon brush dipped in lacquer thinner, and it takes some time. Forced air could force the stripper in a direction where its not wanted.
There may be better ways to do it however this method has worked well for me over the years.

I’m willing to spend the time with the brush and thinner. Thanks for that tip.

The new paint shops probably have better methods but using air or water pressure in your garage might be hard on your wifes car. After trying a lot of things that didnt work we ended up using a body shop air driven angle polishing wheel adapted to take about a 6 or 7 inch medium to light steel wire ( think it was stainless) wheel about an inch wide running as slow as it would run. Very very slow, probably about 1 revolution per second after you have removed as much as you can get easily with the stripper. Wont even mark the dimple in the centre of the rivet. Everybody talked about dissimilar metal corrosion and all kinds of negative thoughts while they sanded the tops of their rivets. Painted all kinds of floats and airplanes with that method and never had one rivet show any issues later. Saw a set of floats not long ago that we did 30 years prior and not a problem. Sure we could do 20 rivets or so while a person did one by hand to get the same job. The larger diameter wheel is the secret as a smaller wheel would concentrate the brushing action on the rivet head and a flat steel bush doesnt work the recess around most rivets. Use the angled edge of the wheel as you circle as in around the rivet with the polisher. We were painting with Alumagrip poly urethane at the time and did the acid etch and corrosion proofing and 2 part epoxy so dont know if that helped also.

That’s really good to know. I’ve always wondered if the dissimilar metal thing was myth or reality.
I’ve sort of settled on a similar method to what you suggested. I’ve been using stainless Dremmel brushes chucked in my cordless drill and with small sections of scrubby pad stuck in them. I can turn it very slow and am using stripper as lube/dissolver. This seems to get about 75% without eating up too much time. For the other, more difficult 25%, I’m using just the brush, no scrubby, but still slow. Definitely not causing any damage to the rivets. It’s still crazy making slow but I’m not missing any good flying weather and have some excellent audio books. At the very least, I like the telling people that I’m spending my days in the strip club. That’s what retirement is supposed to be about!

On The Fly wrote:It's not uncommon to see a nice paint job just a few years old with corrosion starting under the paint near the faying edges or near the rivets. Once you've removed the paint around the rivets, it's important to deactivate and remove all the stripper in those areas. I use a stiff nylon brush dipped in lacquer thinner, and it takes some time. Forced air could force the stripper in a direction where its not wanted.
There may be better ways to do it however this method has worked well for me over the years.

Something like this?

For those of you considering stripping paint in the future, my best advice is, don’t. But if you are a masochist, as I apparently am, I’ve settled on some systems that seems to be fairly effective.
I’m leaving the stripper on overnight and completely sealed up with aluminum foil. For the underside of the horizontal surfaces, I’ve had better luck pouring a strip of paste stripper down the middle of a 2’ sheet of tin foil and then sticking that up onto the surface. After I get it stuck on, I’m using putty applicators to squeegee the goo out to fill the entire sheet of foil. This seems to waste a lot less stripper than trying to brush it on the undersides.
I’m stripping the bulk of the paint with plastic putty applicators by just scraping it off. This part takes some muscle and, since the stripper softens the applicators, I periodically cut the end off with a paper sheer. This seems to restore a more effective edge.
And for the rivets, ugh. I am using 1/4” oak doweling that I keep sharpened with my grinder. I’m basically holding the dowel like a pencil and scraping all of the goo around the perimeter of the rivet head. It’s time consuming but causes zero damage and gets it quite clean.
I’m also using scrubbies to scour the bits of soft paint that didn’t get taken off by either the scraper or the dowel.
If anyone has any other ideas, I’ve still got two wings and some fuselage to do.

Threads like this make me think. Are the paint shops doing this level of work? Their prices make more sense if so.

Sounds like you’re on the right track. I stripped a pair of wings and wrapped them in .5 mil plastic overnight. It made a huge difference in the stripper effectiveness.

I used peroxide based stripper.

I’ve seen some strip jobs where the paint shop applied 1/2” foil tape over the laps to keep the stripper from penetrating between laps. They then removed the paint at the laps with an air tool and scotch brite pad.

skyward II wrote:Sounds like you’re on the right track. I stripped a pair of wings and wrapped them in .5 mil plastic overnight. It made a huge difference in the stripper effectiveness.

I used peroxide based stripper.

I’ve seen some strip jobs where the paint shop applied 1/2” foil tape over the laps to keep the stripper from penetrating the between laps. They then removed the paint at the laps with an air tool and scotch brute pad.

I've been seriously considering a paint job for my bird so this is a valuable chat to be following. I had a good conversation with a local painter and he was adamant that cleaning out any joints/overlaps is a critical part of the process. Any remaining stripper along these seams and joints will simply "bleed out" over time and ruin the best of efforts and money invested.

My current thinking is that a $25K paint job, done by others, would be a steal!!
That’s a good tip on the seams. I intend to brush clean everything with reducer when I’m done stripping. I’ll definitely pay attention to those as well.

I've used a plastic screwdriver used for radio repair. Worked fast as long as the paint is softened by the stripper.

I've soda blasted a bunch of stuff and the only downside is the mess. I'm not a fan of chemical stripper. Pick a windy day and I do small pieces in front of my hangar. Bigger stuff like fuselages and airframes I've done at my buddy's farm. You could do spot treatment like you want pretty easily.

I have used 3M Roloc bristle discs with good success on such projects. They come in levels of abrasion (soft/med) etc. I chuck them in a small air drill and use at low RPM for best control and results. In my opinion dissimilar metal corrosion is reality so for the few dollars it costs me, I prefer to keep any tools used on aluminum, separated and labeled from those used on ferrous metal. Just good shop practice in my opinion. The rivets are particularly stubborn in regard to top coating removal. As others have suggested, I employ a variety of picks made from scraps of UHMW or even an old toothbrush. Yes, its tedious, but not nearly as tedious as replacing the skin from damage incurred by using an improper procedure or tool. Attached photo is a set of floats previously coated in polyurethane that I refurbished. The complete procedure along with the products I used were published in the May/June 2016 issue of Water Flying Magazine for reference. I hope this is helpful.

flyingzebra wrote:My current thinking is that a $25K paint job, done by others, would be a steal!!
That’s a good tip on the seams. I intend to brush clean everything with reducer when I’m done stripping. I’ll definitely pay attention to those as well.

My 182 project is a couple weeks from completion with avionics after almost 2 1/2 years of on/off work. I found an avionics shop I like and he has delivered as promised.

It could use new paint. 25k is a lot of money but worth it considering the amount of work and expertise involved.

I have watched aircraft after aircraft sit outside stripped and idle at the paint shop at Cable Airport just burning time with no progress. Another friend built an RV and I watched his paint take 6 months to complete. There is no way I could turn over my finished aircraft to a shop and watch them jerk me around for 6 months.

Is there a paint shop out there that can turn over a paint job in 4 weeks or less? Without excuses?

Try:
ArtCraft Paint
3203 Lighting St #108·Santa Maria·CA 93455
805-303-2518·[email protected]

Great family run shop.
They will not delay finish, but do get on their list for start date. Fast process and great IA.

Several family members were/are on active-duty so your start time could be aways out, as it is a busy shop.

They do warbirds, jets, airliners, etc.

Best price is if you are flexible as when they work, and can show up when they have a cancelation.

They painted my Cessna 180A a simple working aircraft scheme.
Did a good job for a great price. IIRC I had a week notice to get the plane there.

Nice airport also.

--Bill
Nice

Thanks Bill. Sorry for the hijack flyingzebra….

Quite a ways from you but I've seen some beautiful 180 paint jobs done by Upper valley Aviation,
just across the WA/Canada border in Chilliwack BC.
Dunno about the jerking around factor,
but I know two guys who've had airplanes painted there & that was never mentioned.
Not sure if it was all about the exchange rate or what,
but both guys said it cost considerably less than Sunquest (premier paint shop in Everett WA) quoted.