Cleaning up aluminum skin

[brentdavidson1]

Hi all, I've found a few threads on full mirror polishing, but are there any recommendations for removing factory printing on aluminum skin and simply buffing it to a matte but decent/consistent looking finish?

There's acid wash like alumiprep that seems too aggressive, even tho a local plane paint guy said just do a couple go's with a mild solution. There's also some (maybe very mild acid but claims water based?) solution for pontoon boat aluminum here https://www.auroramarine.com/store/alumabuff.html For polishes, I don't know what's intended for a more matte/low gloss/low effort finish.

I have no plans to paint it, but don't want to put any silicone polish that could inhibit paint sticking to it down the road.

Thanks for any tips! I recently joined the Murphy ranks and have been very happy with my Elite. Just completed a 1600nm trip around the west of the US with bikes n all our gear in tow, including some grass strip action.

[c120pilot]

The print is easily removed with acetone. If you want it totally gone an etch would work if you rinse it to death to insure removing it all out of the rivet heads. Having a polished plane for years I don't believe there is a low effort finish to polish it. With all the pull rivets in a Murphy I would not want to clean the polish residue around all those rivet heads. My Rebel will be fully painted!

Curtis
N175LW

[bobp]

You are right to avoid any polish containing silicone - or you can never get paint to stick ! :-(
Some have had good luck with wool buffing pads - rotary or oscillating - with a sprinkling of
ordinary baking flour ... lots of work ! To protect the surface, use Everbrite liquid nylon
protectant - $39 will do a complete aircraft - and floats ! Just wipe on with a clean rag ...
<DO NOT mention 'aircraft' when ordering - can be for a 'boat' ... ;-)
Otherwise, price could really escalate !! ;-)

..................bobp

[brentdavidson1]

Thanks for the acetone tip! Will try that first. A paint shop suggested very very diluted acid wash but several applications n rinsings. Good point on rivet heads for acid wash or polish.

Bob you've used that Everbrite protectant yes?

Everbrite's website says to remove it (if say one wanted to paint down the road), xylene is the solvent. If I go that route I want to see if the paint shop has any opinion on that first. Seems likely to be okay from initial look but certainly want to be cautious throwing chemicals around on the entire plane.

On the acid rising topic ... while writing this I just found this on the Everbrite website. Lots of helpful info there. "Acid cannot be totally rinsed off with plain water. A solution of EZ Prep Neutralizer and water, or a calcium carbonate, baking soda wash must be used to neutralize it before any solvent based coating is applied. EZ-Prep Cleaner is also a neutralizer and is not as messy as baking soda and water."

[bobp]

...Several builders have used Everbrite - even on large inside surfaces - it's LIGHT,
and easy to fix scratches - just dampen a cloth with it and wipe - it'll dissolve
& smooth right out. This makes it great for floats !
... We used Naptha as the solvent - it's readily available ... ;-)
You can add vinyl cutouts on top for decoration -- some builders have
vinyl wrapped the whole Rebel ! I believe you can paint over Everbrite too -
but it's easy to remove ..
There are now many different kinds of Everbrite ... check carefully - it's
clear, and abiut $39 a bottle ... for aluminum ... Sorry, don't remember
name & number ..

..........bobp

[brentdavidson1]

Great info! I'll search around the forum for more posts on it. Thanks!