Refinishing exterior trim strips on Argosy

[Sweatpants]

PO painted over the exterior aluminum trim strips with black paint, spray paint I think. I have all the trim removed, I have taken the colored vinyl strips off and ordered new from vintage airstream supply. My concern is finding a product to remove the paint without staining or damaging the metal. I want to smooth and polish it to look as close to original finish as possible. I found suggestions on this forum for stripping aluminum but they were preparing to repaint, and not polish, I just don’t want to ruin the trim. Any clarification/suggestions would be very appreciated.

[dhbinkley]

Originally Posted by Sweatpants

PO painted over the exterior aluminum trim strips with black paint, spray paint I think. I have all the trim removed, I have taken the colored vinyl strips off and ordered new from vintage airstream supply. My concern is finding a product to remove the paint without staining or damaging the metal. I want to smooth and polish it to look as close to original finish as possible. I found suggestions on this forum for stripping aluminum but they were preparing to repaint, and not polish, I just don’t want to ruin the trim. Any clarification/suggestions would be very appreciated.

Hi sweatpants....I am using g citristrip on my trim and then using aluminum polish to bring out the shine. I usually put a coat of stripper on and leave it overnight and the paint just bubbles up...have fun

[Sweatpants]

Originally Posted by dhbinkley

Hi sweatpants....I am using g citristrip on my trim and then using aluminum polish to bring out the shine. I usually put a coat of stripper on and leave it overnight and the paint just bubbles up...have fun

Thank you so much, just ordered Citristrip, it does sound like fun.

[Sweatpants]

Originally Posted by dhbinkley

Hi sweatpants....I am using g citristrip on my trim and then using aluminum polish to bring out the shine. I usually put a coat of stripper on and leave it overnight and the paint just bubbles up...have fun

Okay, got the right stuff, trying out on a small piece as a test strip, as you can see your suggestion works fantastic. Original orange paint under the black is a little more stubborn but a second coat took care of that. Metal under the orange looks like new, a little spit and polish and I am very satisfied with the results. Just a few hundred feet to go 😓. I posted a sequence of pics, I’ve been told they like em here. Thank you.

[dhbinkley]

Looks great and you are on your way to making them shine again!