Brimabright media blasting ?

[Billy5]

I have replied to several paint topics on here. Here is my 2c. First, I paint boats for a living, nice yachts etc.. Along with aluminum spars. So, that said I have not painted a rover. However, when I paint bare aluminum, I treat it with alodine wash first. There is a second part, but not needed. I use Alexseal or Awlgrip but mostly Alexseal. You can look them up online. Cheap? No. Worth it? I will doing mine with this stuff eventually. My feeling is if I am going through all this work, why stop short. But, there are plenty of paints out there. The issue of compatibility is interesting. You will know right away. Or, take some of the paint you plan to use, scratch the existing paint ( since you are repainting) spray some on and see what happens. I would say for the most part, unless its rattle can on there, you should be fine. Also, since you are stripping it, I assume you will sanding the bare panels as well. So, therefore removing "coating". I wouldn't worry so much. If Rover wanted bare cars, they would of left England that way..lol. Good luck. PS: The aluminum oxide is a naturally occurring event, when it is left bare. This is not a treatment. The only time corrosion will be a huge issue is when it comes in contact with a different metal. Like stainless screws threaded into it. Then you will get bubbling etc. Then add water and you got yourself a battery..lol.

[greenmeanie]

This link has everything you need to know about painting and protecting metal from the aerospace industry. Contrary to previous statements there has been considerable IMPROVEMENT in paint over what was available when Rovers were first built. How you prepare your surface depends on the paint you choose to apply.

The yellow surface coating is chromate passivation which is nasty stuff largely seen as no longer viable due to NADCAP restrictions on hexavalent chromium. In fabrication it is applied AFTER forming and fabrication processes and not before as previously stated. Look at your spot welds if you don't believe me. On Rovers this was not even used on all panels. Aerospace is moving away from passivated finish to epoxy coatings.

If some panels are and some are not pasivated I would follow the generally easier to handle path of prepping the lot per Travis's suggestion to deal with the whole truck. If it can survive a jet engine intake it'll do pretty well on an old Rover

[Alaskan Rover]

Written by o2bstsea:
'' You will remove the protectove chemical skin that was applied at the factory if you have it blasted''

First off, I think the chemical skin is less a 'protectant' than it is a pre-paint primer. From what I hear,Birmabright is difficult to paint raw...so they put this chemical oxide on it to ready it for the initial primer paint.

You see, Birmabright just doesn't oxidize like regular aluminum...that's because it is NOT regular aluminum.

The reason I know this is because before stripping all the paint off my IIA and polishing it, I did a six year test...I took all the finish off the hood and rear door (including that yellowish oxide coating), and left it TOTALLY unprotected in the elements and driving with road grime, acid rain, salt air...you name it, for six years just to see what unprotected Birmabright would do in the weather. All I ever did after stripping and applying only one initial coat of metal polish on it was to wash the rover every couple months...that's IT.

During that six year test, I noticed that Birmabright TRULY did fine unprotected without even polish or wax to protect it, so o2batsea's conclusion that Birmabright needs protecting with paint and/or a protective coating is totally unfounded.

After six years of been left totally unprotected in the elements, all it took was some ultra-fine #0000 steel wool, and the shine came back right away, neaerly effortlessly. There was NO white aluminum oxide build-up, as there would have been if it was just standard aluminum. Maybe the inclusion of Magnesium and Manganese makes that difference...something sure does!!



As to three layers of paint, LHDrive....YES, that is a problem. One of my rear fenders had been replaced with a used fender before I bought it. It had been repainted at a airplane painting hanger, with some incredibly strong paint...but it was the original red paint on this donor fender that was obscenely difficult to take off. It was nearly stripper-proof!! It did finally come off, but if all fenders and bodywork had that same super tough red paint, I think I would have entertained soda blasting as well!!! That fender took 3 separate periods of stripping to get three distinct layers of paint off. The rest of the vehicle only had one coat of that light green rover color, which was MUCH easier to strip off than that one fender.

Are you going to polish it, or simply paint it again? If you do leave the paint off and polish the Birmabright, I think you'll really enjoy the results. I sure am, now. Series Rovers in this country have always drawn lots of attention...but the 'attention factor' goes up by tenfold if you drive a polished silver rover...an amazing difference!

EDIT: To those others that continue to think that birmabright is simply plain aluminum with it's tendancy to oxidize into aluminum oxide...it IS NOT. It simply DOES NOT oxidize like regular aluminum...why people can't get that into their heads is beyond me. I have no idea why it doesn't oxidize like regular aluminum, maybe the manganese, but it doesn't. To prove that, before I bought my rover 25 years ago, it had some spots where the paint had worn clear through to bare aluminum. I was told soon after I bought it by a body shop guy that I'd have to paint those areas soon or it would quickly oxidize. Well, 25 years later, and he is proven wrong. Those spots, plus many more worn spots that I've put on myself by 25 years of running through heavy brush and trees, all it took was a few minutes of polishing last week and they were as bright as the rest of the vehicle.

There was NO metal loss after 25 years (who knows, it might even be 40 in some spots!)...I repeat NO metal loss...and absolutely no serious oxidation of any kind. Antique polished planes made out of that same Birmabright have likewise shown the same incredible skin longevity. The stuff does not need paint....it does not need any protectant. Birmabright, along with a few others, is probably one of the finest alloys ever devised.

What I can't understand for the life of me is why in the world anybody would go through the labor-intensive process of stripping/blasting the body and then want to paint such a wonderful alloy that REALLY does not need paint, and make it look like every other restored rover when it could be something much more.