Metallurgical question
 

OK one more for the infinite knowledge of the board, I have finally received my AFR 315 cnc'c and most of the engine parts I need for assembly, My brother used to have a polishing business and he wants to polish the whole top 1/2 of the motor since it will all be aluminum. I have the Gill exhaust manifolds and if i am not mistaken they are aluminum. He came up with the idea and i agreed to polish them and put a candy clear blue on the manifolds. the problem comes in with stripping of the old powder coat. :confused: I have read the posts about stripping it off and i have tried the PVC primer the thin stuff and the gooey stuff. neither worked very well. I can send the manifolds to a plating contractor just north of here that dose small lots for us. He has a salt brine stripping tank that is 800 deg F. I have a limited amount of experience in the metallurgical field and i know there are structural changer that occur between 400 deg and 700 deg F with ferrous steel. I am more than a little apprehensive to dip these in the tank because of possible changes to Perlite or stelite, and i know aluminum or the alloys in the gills may not have the same properties as ferrous metals i am positive there will be a structural change of some sort. Will the 800 degree dunk affect the durability of these manifolds? Is there any other way to strip the old powder coat off of the manifolds?

Re: Metallurgical question
 

I had my Gil's stripped in a Caustic (High Alkaline solution ) and then walnut shell Blasted.
no need for the High temps

Rob

Re: Metallurgical question
 

Where can i send them to do this? Phone #'s please.....

Re: Metallurgical question
 

I stripped and polished my own Gils. It's not Powdercoat that they use. They call it Gilcoat and it is more of a rubbeized coating. I had to burn it off with an acetyline torch. Holding the lever down like you are cutting steel, but moving around enough that you simply blow the coating off. Then sand and polish. Have fun.
I had mine powdercoated after polishing, candy apple purple..

Re: Metallurgical question
 

Thats the answer i was looking for.... i have a oxy act setup in the garage.

Re: Metallurgical question
 

Some pics would really be good of your finished product. Sounds great to me!

Re: Metallurgical question
 

I will post pics of the complete engine before i drop it in.

Re: Metallurgical question
 

I won't be on my home computer for another week. Let me see if I can find some pics I posted last winter.

Re: Metallurgical question
 

Here is a link to a thread I started last spring about my Gils. Be prepared, they get real ugly when you burn that Gicoat off. But it can be cleaned up nicely.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...highlight=Gils

Re: Metallurgical question
 

I did 2 sets and sand blasted them with coal slag. It took about 1.5 hours on each manifold. I did this to repair leaks were the core plugs are. If you decide to go ahead with the job make sure you pressure test them after removing the coating. I've found that the coating can actually hide some small leaks.