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Curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
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Stripping anodized coating
Stripping the coating off from aluminum motorcycle parts. Is there any chemical that will strip the coating off of the part without damaging the aluminum so that the polishing can occur at a faster pace?
Scott Serschen- Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
2003
It depends firstly on what the coating is, whether it's a clear coat or anodizing. Assuming it's anodizing, one option is to remove it with caustic soda ⇦liquid caustic soda in bulk on Amazon [affil link] ; although caustic soda attacks aluminum, it attacks anodizing faster and some shops use it successfully. If you want to remove anodized coatings with no attack on the aluminum you need a mix of chromic and phosphoric acid. Search the site for "chromic-phosphoric". Good luck.
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Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
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