Hitchcocks Forum

its maybe been on here before I would like to strip the paint on the engine parts as the clutch cover is highly polished ,would like the engine parts to look the same , I know the best way would be to remove the casings , but before I do that I would like to know if there is a chemical stripper that would work ,ive already tried screwfix no nonsense paint stripper after reading good reviews tried a bit on the engine left it overnight ,result absolutely nothing never worked

Painted surfaces will not be polished under the paint so you will have a job getting them shiny.
Doing this with the engine together would be pretty difficult. It's not just a question of a rub with Solvol Autosol.

Also make sure if you do persist to use a solvent based stripper not a caustic one otherwise your aluminium bits will turn to hydrogen. I use a trichlorethaline based stripper that works well but as stated do expect a polished surface and dont expect a good job if you dont pull it apart.

thanks for the reply I'm having second thoughts now polishing the casings isn't a problem , one of my mates is a stainless steel welder they have a pretty up to date polishing shop its amazing what they can polish ,I could get it bead blasted and polished no problem but I'm not going to the now its funny because the stripper I used never worked but it has cleaned the paintwork up a bit .so thanks for the replies ,the clutch casing is well polished ,it must be different from the other casings

Ammonia reacts with aluminium liberating hydrogen and oxidising the aluminium into powdery aluminium oxide (alumina). The grey paint on the casings looks like powder coat, best way to remove that is bead blasting e.g. by a powder coating workshop. Paint strippers are all becoming water-based so it's difficult to find methylenetrichloride (old school Nitromors) but even that may not touch the stuff and may attack the aluminium alloy.

I used to use Nitromors to take off the awful laquer that was on older Jap engines and then buff up on a wheel. Ali parts used to polish up like chrome.

I have been able to strip the silver grey coating on these casings using Yellow Nitromors without damaging them, even if it's not quite the stuff it used to be, get some steel wool or a rotary wire brush too. After that your friend's polishing shop can buff them up for you. The only thing to slow progress will be the fiddly casting of the AVL timing cover.



A.

Nitromors - dichloromethane decomposes over time to form hydrochloric acid, so does trichloromethane (methylenetrichloride). I've had to throw old Nitromors away because the stuff has eaten through the steel cans. It shouldn't bother aluminium too much if used as directed but may etch the surface. That should not be a problem if you're going to polish them up.