Removal of Zolatone Paint from Interior Walls of '54 Wanderer

[rek]

Hi, Everyone -

Does anybody have any advice on how to strip original Volatone paint from the interior walls of a vintage AS trailer in a way that doean't damage the underlying aluminum? The trailer in question has been completely gutted at this point.

Many thanks,

Bob

[Mel]

Zolatone can usually be removed by using Kleen Strip. Be careful with the stuff - it's pretty nasty but it will do the job. You can also do a search for stripper on the forums - you'll end up with lots of info. Good luck!

[1953 Flying]

I just stripped my 53 Flying Cloud. We used Jasco paint stripper with a #1 steel wool and a towel. This seemed to work best for us. We also removed the interior skin, which made it easier. I hope this helps. Good luck

[rek]

Originally Posted by 1953 Flying

I just stripped my 53 Flying Cloud. We used Jasco paint stripper with a #1 steel wool and a towel. This seemed to work best for us. We also removed the interior skin, which made it easier. I hope this helps. Good luck

Wow. That sounds like quite an undertaking. Is it really necessary to remove the interior skin - say, for example, to be able to hit the crevices and shhet overlays - or did you do that just to expedite the work?

Thanks,

Bob

[1953 Flying]

Originally Posted by rek

Wow. That sounds like quite an undertaking. Is it really necessary to remove the interior skin - say, for example, to be able to hit the crevices and shhet overlays - or did you do that just to expedite the work?

Thanks,

Bob

Yes it was quite a job. Full retro fit. I did it for 2 reasons. I had little critters living in the trailer walls that was giving off a real bad smell. The other reason it was easier to scrape the domes. But if you don't have to remove the inner shell, I wouldn't. You just might open a can of worms.

[rek]

Originally Posted by 1953 Flying

Yes it was quite a job. Full retro fit. I did it for 2 reasons. I had little critters living in the trailer walls that was giving off a real bad smell. The other reason it was easier to scrape the domes. But if you don't have to remove the inner shell, I wouldn't. You just might open a can of worms.

Thanks for the further insight. You're right. I don't want to open the walls up. And I don't have any funny smells/critters. So, knock on wood.

Good luck with it all!

[rickandsandi]

Originally Posted by 1953 Flying

I just stripped my 53 Flying Cloud. We used Jasco paint stripper with a #1 steel wool and a towel. This seemed to work best for us. We also removed the interior skin, which made it easier. I hope this helps. Good luck

Stripping down the bath of the Trade Wind and plan on leaving it naked aluminum. Didn't you get swirl marks with the steel wool?

[59er]

you will get swirl marks unless you go all in the same direction.

we used #2 or #3 then finished with 0000. lacquer thinner is a must.

dip the steel wool in it, then use this to remove the stripper... then again with rags and lacq thinner till its clean.

after its all done you can come back with CLR (calc, lime, rust) and 0000 SWool and 'comb' it out to get a factory brushed finish.

here's some pics of how it turned out.

[1953 Flying]

Originally Posted by rickandsandi

Stripping down the bath of the Trade Wind and plan on leaving it naked aluminum. Didn't you get swirl marks with the steel wool?

Yes we got swirls, but we repainted it with zollotne paint, so it didn't matter to us. 59er has the right idea, if you are going to leave it bear. That was to much work for me and to modern looking for our taste. Good luck

[denellen]

Originally Posted by 1953 Flying

Yes we got swirls, but we repainted it with zollotne paint, so it didn't matter to us.----

How did you prep the bare aluminum prior to repaint? Did you use the water base Zolatone? How difficult was it? Did the results meet your expectations?
My trailer is currently completely gutted and although I could probably clean the interior acceptably at this time, I'm contemplating a color change and the Zolatone liturature makes me wonder if it might be too dificult to achieve a consistant result.
Thanks for any insight you may be able to provide.
Dennis

[C Johnson]

Originally Posted by denellen

How did you prep the bare aluminum prior to repaint? Did you use the water base Zolatone? How difficult was it? Did the results meet your expectations?
My trailer is currently completely gutted and although I could probably clean the interior acceptably at this time, I'm contemplating a color change and the Zolatone liturature makes me wonder if it might be too dificult to achieve a consistant result.
Thanks for any insight you may be able to provide.
Dennis

Hi Dennis, Take a look at Norcalbambi's thread. He did a repaint and color change with Zolatone. I have seen the results. It looks fabulous !

[CaddyGrn]

Thanks Chris!We did repaint the zolotone in our 1963 Bambi. To prep it all we did was scrub the walls with 409, rinse well and repaint. Stuck like glue! We were very pleased with the results. Spraying is a bit tricky, but with the right equipment it will work well. We learned one lesson the hard way, don't try to skimp on the paint... purchase enough plus a little. You won't regret it!Zolotone comes in many, many hundreds of colors, so if you ask or even look at the zolotone web site, there are more than you might see there! About everything you might want! Good luck.Mrs. NorCal Bambi (traveling in S Tardis ~ from the Great State of Jefferson)

[bobfowler]

My favorite stripper has always been Cindy, nice girl with all the right moves! Oh, wait a minute, wrong forum, wrong type of stripper...

[3Ms75Argosy]

Now Bob - be careful! The wife may take the keyboard away! : >
Marc

[dwightdi]

If you use plain steel wool to give you a brushed finish you will leave small pieces of plain steel embedded in the aluminum. If the unit is stored over the winter condensation on the walls may cause them to rust and you will get small red rust spots. I suggest you use Stainless steel pads or oxalic acid wash the walls after you are done if you use regular steel wool.

[bobfowler]

Originally Posted by 3Ms75Argosy

Now Bob - be careful! The wife may take the keyboard away! : >
Marc

Nah, Liz is cool with my past life (I played baritone sax 6 nights a week for the strippers in a big band when I was in college)...

[InsideOut]

We just stripped several layers of paint and 98% of the Zolotone on the interior of our '56.

It's gutted and we are replacing the floor - so it's gone too. We used two different 'safe' strippers because it is enclosed and overhead. We used Napier Remov-all and Citristrip. Both worked. Citristrip smelled 10X better than the Napier and it's readily available at Home Depot whereas we had to order the Napier. We applied one coat, let it sit for 10-15 minutes then power washed it off. I think the Citristrip worked better than the Napier in one coat. It was not our goal to go down to bare metal because we are going to re-Zolotone and wanted to leave some "tooth" for it to stick to. I'm certain the Citristrip would take off all the Zolotone with another coat, especailly if you don't have all the latex paint we did over it. Napier might do it in a second coat, but most likely two.

You can see our results here

Shari