[a/s] Why remove interior paint?

["Jrnymn" <jrnymn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

To Bill, Bearcatcher, and all...

As many of you know, my Overlander is undergoing a MAJOR renovation.
Chassis, floor, interior, fixtures, electrical, etc...

So at this part of the process, I am almost done stripping the interior
walls of its 50 year old (and mostly dirty) Zolotone.  Over most of the
Zolotone, there is a layer of latex paint (sticky gummy stuff to take off
regardless of method). Both layers were quite dirty.  My finished design
concept is a contemporary "au naturel"--so I am heading towards mirror
polish even though much of it will be covered with cabinetry and such.

The method I've used so far is to spray on a premium semi-paste stripper
(active ingredient mostly methylene chloride and toluene) using the spray
bottles that came with the product.  The first spray basically only takes
off the latex--using Bondo spreaders to scrape with.  I've switched to a
standard handled metal scraper, and with the right touch can keep the
scratches few and far between while being able to take off much of the
Zolotone along with the latex in the first spray application (saves on
stripper).

With most of the paint removed, there is still a thin layer of Zolotone
residue and latex streaks.  To remove that, I spray on another coating of
stripper then scrub with a nylon brush.  The first nylon brush I engineered
using 5 round green and white bristle "Libbman" brushes bolted to a 5"
sanding disc.  (I'll post pics on my website eventually).  This prototype
worked great and a--didn't scratch, b-didn't melt from the stripper,
c--covered the largest humanly feasible area at one time---good balance
between efficiency and control.  The draw back was the bristles needed to be
a bit stiffer as they tend to get soft after about 5 hours of scrubbing.
When soft, I ended up using more stripper than before and more pressure
(i.e. fatigue)

I recently switched to a heavy nylon cup brush of about 2 inches in
diameter, but it is scratchier because the nylon fibers are sparsely laced
with a grit.  If there were no grit, these babies would be perfect in
bristle stiffness and "scrub-factor"--I would only wish for a 5 inch
diameter disc.

I use these bits in a variable speed drill.  I run the drill at a pretty low
speed so as not to evaporate the active ingredient of the stripper and a
high speed ends up turning the fluid back into a paint paste that sticks and
brings me back to square one of the removal process.  The slow speed is also
to reduce splatter.

I wear hat, face mask, wide safety glasses and face shield.  Clothing
consists of a flannel inside layer and a fine weave poly/cotton overshirt to
buffer against any splatter.  The stuff BURNS to get it on your skin--eyes
and other sensitive membranes even more so.

Then I squeegee the slurry off after spritzing it with a liquid paint
thinner.  Then spritz again and wipe with clean paper towel.  Next will be a
Dawn detergent wash down.

***Is the aluminum nice and shiny??***

It has a dimly reflective sheen to it, but a far cry from mirror polish.
Plus, you can see lots of little squiggly white lines (some areas more
concentrated than others) all over the aluminum.  These lines are corrosion
from where the Zolotone did not cover and the metal was exposed to the air.
I can tell that in areas where you were likely to have touched with your
hands, or gotten cooking splatter on, there was more corrosion.

This corrosion is the reason for step sanding and polishing.  That corrosion
will only get worse, even with new paint on top of it.  So I want to get
down to a clean layer and protect it from there.

I don't entirely understand the nature of this "clad" aspect--except that
the corrosion won't just 'polish' out---unless I'm wrong about it.  If I can
go from my current level of polish (which is admittedly shiny enough to
recognize your face in--excepting the corrosion lines) to something like
Green Ox, then let me know!!!  I certainly don't want to make this process
any longer.

Also, if any of this is going to be done, now is the time to do it while the
floor is in a disposable condition.

So, call it "howling at the moon" if you like,  but I see it as taming a
wolf.  I've tamed fire as a blacksmith.....

Jay L. Griffin [a.k.a. Jrnymn "Journeyman"]
http://homepage.dave-world.net/~jrnymn/jrnyindex.htm
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  /  '--'       [ ] O  )   Overlander '56 26'
  :-----O O---------------^#6066 WBCCI / VAC