"aluminum Looking" paint/ paint removal on 1975 flx "ribs"

[kbunnystarr]

Good morning everyone. I have an all white bus, from what I gather it has some sort of truck bed liner type paint all over it........not sure, it was done buy the Lake Havasu City guy that had it and died and his wife sold it to the guy I got it from. He said he put industrial paint on the roof, anyway, on the 'ribs", i guess they are called down the side, lengthwise, i would like to see some aluminum if i can, and i dont know the first thing about paint rmoval off metal, some have told me sandblast and walnut chips instead of remover, anyway, could be a mess since i dont know what is under the paint and dont know what the paint is exactly, maybe it would be nasty lookin. i have read about, aluminum looking paint, think it was in the archives on here, that its hard to tell if it is or isnt paint or bare metal........anyone got suggestions on this at all? sellabus.com is the only pic on line currently, 1975 flx all white center second row. anyway, is it an "impossible' task, or is ther a good paint that could look just as good if not better than removing the old off the ribs? and is there a paint on paint /type of paint issue as far as what will go on top of another paint?

[DrivingMissLazy]

I think you will have a very difficult time removing paint to allow the aluminum to show. If you blasted the paint off, it would leave the aluminum etched and that would not look good. You might be able to polish it out, but that is a lot of work and then needs re-polishing every few months as the aluminum would tarnish.

The aluminum may be anodized which would not look good if etched with soda or walnut hulls (instead of sand). I think the best thing to do would find the aluminum paint, maybe with some glitter in it, and just paint over the part you want to look aluminum.
Richard

Getting awfully close to 500!

Good morning everyone. I have an all white bus, from what I gather it has some sort of truck bed liner type paint all over it........not sure, it was done buy the Lake Havasu City guy that had it and died and his wife sold it to the guy I got it from. He said he put industrial paint on the roof, anyway, on the 'ribs", i guess they are called down the side, lengthwise, i would like to see some aluminum if i can, and i dont know the first thing about paint rmoval off metal, some have told me sandblast and walnut chips instead of remover, anyway, could be a mess since i dont know what is under the paint and dont know what the paint is exactly, maybe it would be nasty lookin. i have read about, aluminum looking paint, think it was in the archives on here, that its hard to tell if it is or isnt paint or bare metal........anyone got suggestions on this at all? sellabus.com is the only pic on line currently, 1975 flx all white center second row. anyway, is it an "impossible' task, or is ther a good paint that could look just as good if not better than removing the old off the ribs? and is there a paint on paint /type of paint issue as far as what will go on top of another paint?

[kbunnystarr]

yep, thats kinda the conclusion i came to, you wouldn happen to knwo any brand of paint, or specific color# would ya, there are some nasty looin "fke" aluminum paint colors out htey, too flat, or too shiny or battelship gray lookin, i want it to be nearly undetectable, yes the texture of the paint bothers me a tad, but i guess it is a live with for now, im guessing that job is thosands of hours and dollars....>>>?>?

[Dallas]

We have an old Holiday Rambler travel trailer here on the lot that the present owner bought last year.
The former owner user aircraft paint stripper on one side to remove all of the original baked on white paint.
That was 3 years ago. It still looks pretty good, although it could use a good cleaning and waxing from sitting out in the elements.

I found some pictures of it and am posting them below.

Dallas

[kbunnystarr]

  :DThanx so much for the pics Dallas!  and the info!