Striping the paint off a Caterham tub

[pjt]

Hi. 

         I have a 2000 Caterham with factory paint, and I am interested if anyone has any experience taking it back to bare aluminum ?

          I'm not sure what Caterham did to prep the tub for paint. Did they really scruff up the aluminum. I would just hate to strip the paint and then find out it won't look right, and then have to repaint !

                                            Thanks

[IamScotticus]

Getting and keeping bare alloy pretty is a chore.  I would be thinking prep and re-paint

You could try Rustoleum Aircraft remover as a stripper.  don't use anything abrasive or you will make paint filled gouges.

Painting on metals, especially fast oxidizing, often require an etching primer.  No idea if Cat used it or how hard it is to remove. In sure its not impossible. 

Edited March 15, 2022 by IamScotticus

[DavidL]

try a test area in a non obvious spot, like next to a front wheel?

 

 

Edited March 15, 2022 by DavidL

[Mr Mark]

For what it's worth, I stripped the bonnet on my 68 recently. It's not a Caterham but a certain amount of paint prep is required anyway you look at it. Mine was  factory painted and a subsequent repaint at some point. I won't do that again and the rest of the car will get a repaint. Got through many coats of paint and primer only to find a skim coat of hardened body filler, entirely covering the bonnet. Nothing I had would soften it so I carefully sanded it all off. I found the original bare metal to be sub par, almost as if they painted the "factory seconds" and saved the primo ones for bare finish, which makes sense.  Lots of deep scratches from the original prep, jagged edges on the louvers etc. I worked it a lot and it just isn't going to look good bare. Again, not sure how Caterham would do this but it's bound to be a chore. I can't imagine stripping the rest of my car given what I found on the bonnet, only to find it isn't in great shape after all that.

[IamScotticus]

my Scholarship car's bonnet has a blemish in the metal I will never be able to polish out.

Not a total eye sore, but enough to keep if out of presentation grade.  Probably a blem that kept the cost of the kit down.

As is stated above,  you could do a lot of work just to find something unsustainable for bare.

Perhaps a baking soda blaster is the thing,?

[pjt]

Thanks for all the responses

                  It's not urgent , and I will want to make sure it's worth doing. The paint that's on there is nice, I'd feel like an idiot if what's underneath isn't that great