Aluminum panel cleaning and finishing...recommendations and ides

[rj35pj]

I am looking for suggestions and ideas on how to clean the writing off the aluminum panels and do I paint them, leave them natural or???? What does the forum suggest.

Thanks,
Bob

[DARKPT]

Acetone will take the writing right off. There are lots of choices for finishing them. You can expect some oxidation if you leave them natural. I scuffed mine, primed with an etch primer and painted them matte black. Others have used Sharkhide, powdercoat, or body color or matching paint and clear.

[riptide motorsport]

I like natural.

[Gloveman]

I cleaned with acetone and finished with clear annodizing which made the aluminum look much like the underside of aluminum foil.

I think it is going to look really cool on the car, we'll see.

[Russ Thompson]

I had EVERY piece of aluminum in my coupe clear anodised. I started by scotch padding them, my anodizer of 35 years recommended that.

They come out a nice satin finish that is very scratch resistant and will maintain that look. The down side is it will stain because the anodizing gives it a finely porus texture. I knew this going in and I'm carefull to quiclky clean off anything that gets on it, I was going for a specific look and got just what I was going for.

I think powdercoating is more versatile and easier to keep clean and it's cheaper. You have to rack every piece of aluminum for the electrical current so labor is a big part of the cost when you anodize.

Oh and by the way, acetone works on the panels most of the time. the printing on my panels would not come off completely with ANY chemical I tried! :-)

[xlr8or]

Mine all cleaned up fine with brake spray. You definitely want to scuff them if you are going to do any type of coating.

[rj35pj]

I appreciate all the ideas posted. I got to thinking if I go with any color other than natural then I will have a contrast with the rivets which some people may like and others not so. I'm leaning towards the natural color, I'm just wondering if I want to coat them with anything or just keep them clean when they start to discolor or stain the way aluminum does....

[snakebit31]

I powder coated all of the panels which are seen. I did not do the inside of the footboxes, or other interior pieces that will be covered with carpet, etc. I have not decided how to finish the wheel well pieces. I did not powdercoat them, as I did not think it would hold up to the road rash. I am painting the inside of my nose with a white bedliner, but not sure I want the wheel wells white. Still undecided.

[emac]

I haven't started the build yet and I have been reading about the panels. I am thinking of powdercoating the engine panels the same color as the car, undercoating the ones that show under the car along with undercoating the underside of the body. If anyone has any thoughts or photos I would love to see some.

[Tim Potts]

I first polished mine but then decided to powdercoat them. I left the front of the drivers footbox and the firewall polished but if I did it all again I would have all of the visible panels powdercoated.

[Fluge]

Depending on the color, I think you can get colored rivets.

Also undecided. Balance between beauty and practicality.

[MPTech]

For general practicality, I'm going to prep and spray mine with a silver hammer-tone finish.

I really like the look of the raw aluminum, but understand that it won't last and will start oxidizing.
I heard anodizing scratches easily and powder-coat is better, but also scratches. At least with the sprayed hammer finish, it can be easily touched up.

What are guys using for an aluminum etch/primer?

[Jeff Kleiner]

I knew going in that I am not ambitious enough to polish the panels or dedicated enough to maintain them afterward so looked at some other options besides simply leaving the visible aluminum raw. Because it would be getting covered with carpet anyway I first experimented with the Hammertone on the trunk floor but wasn't happy with the results. Next I looked into powdercoating but couldn't get my local guy to commit to either a timeframe or ballpark price, so one Saturday morning I just grabbed the bull by the horns and did this:







The recipe---
After drilling and fitting clean the panels with acetone to take off the surface oxydation and ink marking. Use a medium grit (green or gray) scotchbrite pad, and make long straight strokes to get a consistent "brushed" grain. I've heard of some guys doing this wet or with WD40 but I preferred the results by just doing it dry. Next clean them again with acetone and when you arent getting any more black on your rag follow up with lacquer thinner and blow them dry. Go with 2-4 coats of rattle can "crystal clear" from Rustoleum. Finally bake it on. For pieces small enough put them in the oven at 250 for 20 minutes or so (did I mention my wife was out of town when I did this ). For panels that were too large I focused a double 500 watt halogen light stand on them for an hour or so. The finish winds up hard and has proven to be durable and unaffected by engine compartment heat.

I did the engine bay, trunk sides & front wall, and the nose aluminum. After 4 driving seasons and 12,000 miles it has held up well. A wipedown with quick detail spray every so often to get rid of dust and road grime keeps it looking like the day it was installed.

BTW, for things like the outsides of the footboxes and inside wheelwells on splash panels, etc. I scuff them up with a coarse Scotchbrite to provide some tooth, clean with acetone and then apply a couple coats of 3M rubberized undercoating.

Good luck with whatever you decide to go with,
Jeff

[RonSchofield]

I plan to powercoat all the aluminum panels that are visible.

Ron

[Georgia Coupe]

Another vote for powder coating all the panels. Did this on my roadster and they always stayed clean and new looking. Did the Coupe the same way.

[emac]

Nice looking garage GA coupe!

[emac]

Ga coupe,
Did you fit and drill all the panels and then send off to powdercoat? I was thinking of sending the panels off to get powdercoated as soon as the kit gets started. What do you think is the best approach?

[xlr8or]

You will want to fit and drill your panels first as many of them may need to be modified to fit properly. This way the edges will still be coated.

[John Card]

Interesting that this is coming up - I have been studying corrosion, protective coatings, and painting processes for aircraft lately. If I had known then what I know now, I would have treated any of my aluminum sheetmetal parts that are going to be covered, painted, or not visible (basically anywhere that you dont want to see raw aluminum) in the following manner:

Fully clean with solvent
Scuff with fine scotch brite
Acid etch with Alumiprep 33
Rinse with water
Treat with Alodine 1201 (will leave a gold-ish appearance)
Rinse with water
Air dry

If painting:
Prime with either Epoxy or 2-part polyurethane primer
Paint with either Epoxy or 2-part polyurethan paint

This is the standard process for providing anti-corrosion protection and paint for aircraft aluminum structures. The Alodine is a chemical that creates an aluminum-oxide protective coating on the surface of the material - similar to annodizing, but supposedly offers even better corrosion protection than annodizing. The finish is not as pretty or consistent in color as annodizing though. This is why I would use it where it isn't going to be seen, or is going to be covered.

All of the materials can be seen here:
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/menus/me/metalprep.html

If you follow this entire process correctly, there is no reason why you couldn't have a finish that is as good as powdercoat and protects just as well or better, and be able to do it yourself at home - probably for less money than paying for powdercoating.