Is Easy-Off oven cleaner still a viable way to strip off anodizing from aluminum trim? The parts are thin so want to keep abrasion down to a min. Thx in advance for any tips. RA
I did all the stainless on my 59 ElCamino. I let the part sit for 10 seconds, then washed it off. Worked like a charm for me.
A good friend advises me that he soaks them with Easy-Off Oven Cleaner. Clean them after the anodizing is off and apply a slight polish............... Jeff
The fellow over on the 59/60 Chevy thread used some product from Home Depot pretty successfully. I think he said it was a heavy duty version of EZ off. Or maybe just a larger, cheaper quantity
Test the back side first. I used Easy Off once on an aluminum intake. It burned the aluminum so to speak. Turned it dark gray.
Best luck I have had is with Red Devil Lye drain cleaner. You will need a pan to fit the piece and rubber gloves. For example, I use a metal coffee can for AN fittings with just enough water to cover fittings and a tablespoon of red devil. My best guess would be about one tablespoon per cup of water. You can use warm water if you want to speed up the process, but you have to watch closely and take fittings out as color comes off to keep it from blackening, as mentioned above. Remove the piece and scrub it with a toothbrush under warm water. With a little practice, you will end up with a clean, polishable piece of aluminum. Thanks to the guys at G&J Aircraft in Ontario, CA for this great tip.
Guess I'm not to bright. Did it on all my trim. I do know the light bezels are aluminum, and were anodized.
Well .... that's a whole different thing then. So why did you even mention stainless?? LOL OP, I gotta shitload of brite-works to do on my fifty-nine .... hows about some before/after pics on your different testings??
Exactly. Anodizing is done on aluminum only. The surface of the aluminum part is cannibalized and physically altered/changed to produce the coating....usually the outer .0001-.0002 is sacrificed to do this.
Easy off works great. Used it on some mouldings a couple years ago. Stripped the anodizing, straightened them. Then polished and clearcoated them. They still look great and saved big money over new moldings. Will be doing all the mouldings on my truck soon. Don't need to leave it soaking too long or it will eat the aluminum. Wash off well with water when done stripping.