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Removing oxidation


RobertGary1

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Wash airplane. Use Meguires 105 ultra cut compound with a variable speed polisher (porter cable 6-inch 7424xp). After you do the entire airplane, repeat with Meguires 205 polishing compound. Repeat a final time with good quality wax. It will be a lot of work but it will look damn good. This will remove the oxidation and restore the finish. If the paint is just too far gone then there may not be much you can do. Try the above in a small section. I think you will be surprised how well it works.

 

 

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There's a quite a bit of stuff from the automotive world that works well.   I've used some of the 3M stuff as well as Meguiars with good results.    Always do a test patch first, and on an airplane it's not a bad idea to wash stuff with water every once in a while between polishes.    Testing a small patch first is always a good idea, too.

 

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I would do what Hector and Eric wrote with an add or two.  First, I would use a microfiber pad with the 105 then switch over to a fine foam pad with the 205 will likely be your course.  Note, the pads will load up very quickly and will loose their effectiveness quickly.  Use compressed air (even bottled air for cleaning keyboards work) to clear the pads.  Go as light as possible while testing (try a fine cut pad with 205 first and see if you like the results).  Goal is to remove as little paint as possible.  You will likely find the white paint harder than the colored paint.  Adjust polishing accordingly. 

Best, I am starting on paint correcting my plane this week.  Lots of work, but immediately rewarding.

 

William

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I recently used Griot's Complete Compound on a foam polishing pad and a 6 inch random orbital polisher from Harbor Freight.  The compound, pad and polisher cost about $100 altogether.  This combo, or something similar, will improve your paint.  The compound is fairly mild and is designed to use with a machine.  There are good videos on Youtube demonstrating how to use a polisher.  Here are some before and after pictures.    

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I was planning on painting my plane and a pilot ,who also restores cars, gave me some advice.  He said to give buffing a try.  My paint was not quite as chalky as yours but is mostly white so it is possible.  I borrowed a Flex rotary polisher with some 3m pads and started with the 3M Perfect it Rubbing Compound #1.  It worked great but you could tell it was removing some paint, which might be a good thing. Nonetheless it looks great.  Instead of using the #2, and #3 3m products I used the Mcguiers Ultimate to fix some small faded areas after the 3M #1.   After all of this I waxed the plane with Rejex which is what many of the turbine guys and boat folks use on Imron paint.  I have just been following up with Rejex when it stops beading the past couple of years and more often on the leading edges.  Bottom line is start with the mildest compound like the Mcguires and move up to more extreme if needed. Be patient as it is time consuming but I having had to buff in three years now so I’m pleased.

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Flitz metal polish used with a 1300 RPM buffer is also a very good way to restore paint. It's aggressive as hell at first, then as you continue the abrasives break down to smaller and smaller bits, leaving a very smooth finish. 

While at the Gulfstream Savannah service center, I watched the paint pro's do miracles with Flitz. So I tried it and had equally good success. 

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I used the 3M perfect-it stuff, too, but I used the 2 and 3 compounds.    This was on 20+ year-old non-factory paint, and it worked very well on the white and blue but the red has resisted most of my efforts.   I've use Meguiar's on touch-ups and deeper work where needed, and it also worked very well.   I did also use the Turtle Wax premium rubbing compound, like what you can get at Wal-Mart, which also worked well.   There are a lot of effective options these days, it seems.  ;)

 

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Griots garage has everything needed including ‘how to’ great tools, pads, waxes polish and finishing materials. I usually do the plane in the spring and fall. Keeps it like new, the bugs almost fall off with minimal effort with there wax on the surface. Once done every time you do it, it gets easier to do. I’ll do mine in a few weeks.

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Big electric motors can give off some interesting magnetic impulses... similar to using a vacuum cleaner in the plane...

Be ready to degauss... if the compass shows any sticking mis-behavior, or is off by more than usual...

My M20C used a lot of Maguire’s cleaner polish... use sparingly... it cleans the oxidation off... if the oxidation is deep... it removes a lot of color molecules...

It made the 40 year old paint look really good... living outdoors, it got this treatment every year...

Best regards,

-a-

 

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