I have a Humvee that I had sandblasted a couple of years ago. It was out in the rain for 2 days, while I had my shop spray foamed. I wasn’t ready to do anything with it and it sat in my shop, for over a year. Now I’m getting ready to prime and paint it. I have areas that are metal, that I will have to media blast, but the aluminum has no rust. I’m sure there is oxidation on it now. I’m going to SPI epoxy prime, filler to smooth some areas and epoxy over that. What should I do with the aluminum, before I prime? I really don’t want to media blast that area, if I don’t have too.
What to do with Aluminum oxidation before priming
- Thread starter 612ride
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Chris_Hamilton
Trying to be the best me, I can be
For aluminum, you can sand with 180 on the DA or by hand then epoxy within a few hours. 180 grit is as coarse as you should use. You don't want to wait longer than 18 hours to prime, due to the fact that AL starts to oxidize immediately. If you can sand and prime in the same day (12 hours) that is ideal.
There are also aviation aluminum treatments that you can use. Downside is the expense and added complexity of using the product. If you are interested google bonderite or alodine.
Me personally I would just sand with 180 on the DA or Orbital and hand sand with 180 any areas I can't access with the DA. Important to plan it out so you can get primer on the AL as quickly as possible.
There are also aviation aluminum treatments that you can use. Downside is the expense and added complexity of using the product. If you are interested google bonderite or alodine.
Me personally I would just sand with 180 on the DA or Orbital and hand sand with 180 any areas I can't access with the DA. Important to plan it out so you can get primer on the AL as quickly as possible.
Chris_Hamilton
Trying to be the best me, I can be
If it was blasted and looks "good" I would simply wash it with dawn detergent and a scrubby brush. Rinse then allow to dry. After washing, only handle it with latex or nitrile gloves on to avoid transferring anything from your hands. I mention Dawn as that is the only one you should use as it does not have any additonal additives that could affect things. Palmolive and others do.
AAE
Learner
Chris_Hamilton
Trying to be the best me, I can be
Yes but the wipes can after blasting lint up and tear on the surface,, I mentioned the dawn as after media blasting the fiberglass will have a "tooth" and it will cause the prep wipes to lint and tear on the surface. It's then hard to get those lint pieces off of the surface. I know Jim C has mentioned using solvent W&G remover and flooding the surface with it. I would assume you could do that with waterbourne. It would use a lot of product though.
Chris_Hamilton
Trying to be the best me, I can be
Don't wipe it. It will make a mess more than likely.
