Aluminium and silicone

[wayfarerfan]

I am sure this has been covered before, but I can't find it , our Wayfarer is covered in silicone, I swear the past owner worked for a silicone factory, on the window frames we have used a pad on the grinder which got it off super easy and buffed it up a treat, but for the main part of the van, where they have squirted it along every line, gap groove and even just randomly blobbed it on I cant work out how to get it off, so far have tried;
grinder with soft buffing pad, still scratches the surface to much
white spirits and petrol, did nothing, soaked it then tried to scrape it
heat gun and metal scraper, did ok but scraper no matter how much I try scratches occasionally
I did find one post that mentioned a plastic scraper which wont budge it at all.....Someone please tell me there is a magic trick, I want it all off as it is various in colour and looks a mess, I would like to remove it all and seal it up with sikaflex neatly and polish up the rest of the aluminium, but with efforts so far I am thinking it might stay the way it is with just a reno on the inside

[DC3Td]

Hi W/fan. No real quick fix. Soaked rag in petrol/white spirits does work once the silicone is softened by it. Scrape with plastic (blind) blade. I say blind as there is no cutting edge. Its a long tiresome process. Can`t think of the name,maybe Septone? from Supercheap or such like outlets is supposed to be good. Good luck. Cheers gordon

[Franklin1]

G'day wayfarerfan,

There's plenty of tips in this thread...

silcone removal problem


All you have to do is try every one of the tips, and report back on which ones are successful and which aren't. You'll be saving future restorers a heap of frustration.

cheers,
Al.

[wayfarerfan]

cheers Al that was the post I could not find, I will report back hopefully save someone else the cost and time of testing all these ideas, I just had a brain wave, might try the sprits or petrol in spray bottle, I found it hard to get the rag wet enough to really soak the silicone, off to buy a spray bottle and a plastic scraper. See you in a few years I reckon lol

[frankidownunder]

The method I used to remove silicone from painted Aluminium was to carefully scrape off as much as I could with one of those razor blade type paint scrapers then using a turps soaked rag wipe /rub over the area, wait a couple of minutes then use the scraper again to remove the now softened silicone. Do a small area at a time and clean up that area fully before moving to the next area. It takes ages to do but then a good job is never quick.

Frankidownunder.

[relmhayd]

Hi Wayfarerfan, couldn't help stressing the fact re. silicone removal. Franklin1 referred you to the relevant site and in that i made mention of the experience i had with silicone. The citrus base product softens the silicone to a jelly like consistency and is removed quite easily.
Regards
Bob

[jonnno]

I'm pretty sure i saw something in the paint section at bunnings for stripping silicone, but probably cost a bom as you sound like you need gallons not ml's. maybe a mini wire brush on a dremmel?

[maddatto]

Hey Guys,
One of the best ways of removing old silicone, double sided tapes etc is a rubber wheel that you can put on your drill. These are avilable in most auto paint shops and maybe even hardware stores. They are used in automotive to remove old urethane from bodywork without damaging original paint. They work quite well. Hope this helps...

[griffin]

I've found scraping off the excess then using a rag with some wax and grease remover to be very effective. My van is fiberglass so there's no problem with the surrounding finish. You would need to take care if trying to remove it from an acrylic paint finish though. If it's enamel it should be fine but certainly test it first.

George