Hey guys,
i have an old aluminium track frame that i want to strip and re paint,
however, i am unsure how to go about doing so.
Is there any risk stripping aluminium with a solvent ( probably nitromorse ) , and afterwards how would i go about protecting the metal and making sure the new paint adheres to the frame?
is it exactly like stripping and painting a steel frame??

hmm, i would probably avoid it. If you do end up doing it however, get it done by a professional.

Be careful with solvents, although Aluminium doesn't rust like steel, it is a reactive metal and is susceptible to chemical attack. The only reason why it doesn't is because it creates an oxide layer on the outer surface which protects it from corroding. (Correct me if i'm wrong anyone, i cbf researching, this is just what i remember from doing a materials engineering unit)

out of curiosity, what frame is it?

I have an aluminum frame and this is how I went about painting it
First I sanded it down with some 80 grit sandpaper because the paint on mine was so thick
I then used 150 grit to smooth out some of the bigger scratches the 80 may have left
Then I primered the frame
Lastly I applied a couple coats of spraypaint
It looks as if it were powder coated and still has not been scratched

Buy some Aircraft remover, they sell it at Walmart in the automotive paint section. Best stuff to take paint off.

shouldnt harm alum, they use it to strip paint on alloy rims https://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/arti...poke-rims.html

its a giant bowery frame, which is quite scratched up.
i live in the uk so there is no walmart, i bought a paint removing gel today that i was told would not effect the metal, but im still a bit concerned as to whether or not i should try it out.....maybe sanding it would be a better idea.

don't sand it.
unless your arms are the size of a pro's legs
an you have about a year spare time

sand blast > primer > spray paint

You'd think that since most planes are made out of aluminum, the "Aircraft Remover" would be perfectly safe....

you must either one of the following if you truly believe that
laziest person alive
weakest person alive

Use Aircraft Remover. It's made by Kleen Strip, if that helps. No, it will not attack or trash your aluminum.

Once the finish is off, you can scuff it with 240 or 320 grit sandpaper, and then spray on an aluminum conditioner, if you can find one. The only one I use is PPG's DX533. Its got both phosphoric and chromic acid in it, and helps with adhesion.

After that, I would use a fill primer that can be sanded. Then you can proceed with whatever paint process you plan on using.

You obviously have never sand blasted aluminum. It will eat it up. If you can afford to take it to a media blaster then they can blast it right, not with sand though. Or just use some off the shelf paint stripper. It wont damage your metal, its just a volatile chemical held in a gel or foam so it doesn't evaporate like a can of stripper or xylene would.

let us know how it goes if you end up going on with it. should be cool to see the end result.

Rough it up with fine sandpaper, then rattle can that mo' ****er

exactly. This is how I like to do it. Painted an ol mtb like this a couple years ago. new paint adheres really well to properly prepped factory paint.

air craft stripper then primer then paint then gloss

cheers... i shall let you know how i get on...ill probably do it at the weekend.
now all i need is a colour scheme.....im thinking of purple frame with a few white parts here and there..

I used paint stripper worked like a charm. The nooks and crannies are stubborn though.
Then I primed it with metal primer... brush on though.. that kind of stunk.
2 coats of purple base, 2 coats of metallic purple, which didn't show up because....
2 coats of clearcoat. "high gloss", but it was hot and dry outside so I think the paint ended up drying a little before it even hit the frame. So it's now a matte finish.

Save yourself a bunch of hassle and don't bother stripping the paint. You will never be able to do a better job than the factory did, just rough up the factory paint and use it for a primer.

Personally, I like the bare, brushed aluminum look. I wouldn't bother repainting it. If it gets scratched up you can just brush it out with steel wool again.

this is true....if it was to be left as bare aluminium, would it require a lick of some sort of conditioner or treatment? hah...sounds like im talking about a haircut

I painted my bike a few weeks ago and I just used whatever paint remover gel crap they had at the hardware store. I ended up using a compound called 5f5, which worked well, though it required 3 very thick coats of the stuff to get the frame down to an almost paint-free level. I then sanded the frame with 180 and 320 to get it scuffed up and smooth down some of the remaining paint.

It's kind of a bummer to see my newly painted bike get dings and chips in the finish, but I guess it's an inevitable part of painting a bike with cheap hardware store spray paint.

Oh, use rubber kitchen gloves when painting on the remover. It's not the kind of thing you want touching your skin.

No. Aluminum oxide acts as a barrier against further oxidation, so there's no need to protect it further.