Van's has a nice letter on their web site for folks like me who are considering buying a second hand RV kit. Among lots of good info, it says, "The plastic that coats the aluminum may be (extremely) hard to remove if the parts have been stored for many years, especially in hot climates." The empenage of the kit I am considering is from 2002; the wings and fuselage are from 2003. It's all been in a St. Louis area oven, er, garage for the past five years.
If the plastic is going to be "extremely" hard to remove, is there any way to tell before buying the kit? Is it fair to ask to peel significant chunks of it away to test? And if it is stuck on, how is it best removed?
I did some Googling and found people removing similar protective coatings from stainless steel using everything from MEK to acetone to Goo Gone to household ammonia, depending on the type of glue behind the plastic. Can all of those be used on aluminum? I am most curious about the ammonia.
Thanks,
-- Art Z.
If the plastic is going to be "extremely" hard to remove, is there any way to tell before buying the kit? Is it fair to ask to peel significant chunks of it away to test? And if it is stuck on, how is it best removed?
I did some Googling and found people removing similar protective coatings from stainless steel using everything from MEK to acetone to Goo Gone to household ammonia, depending on the type of glue behind the plastic. Can all of those be used on aluminum? I am most curious about the ammonia.
Thanks,
-- Art Z.