Just looking on the best way to clean my Nathan Airchime K3HA’s. They don’t seem to be that bad just a little dirty. Plus I plan on painting them flat black. What is the best way to get them paint ready?
Anybody?
I don’t have airchimes but someone here will know how to help you.
BUMP
What do they look like right now. Just dirty or did you want to clean the old paint off them?
You can bead blast them if you have access to one. I do not recommend sand blast though. Bad things can happen. If you don’t have access to any of those, Green’s liquid paint stripper is available at most ACE hardware stores and usually cost about 20-25 per gallon. I normally get about 4 gallons and put as many parts as I can get into a 5 gallon bucket and then let it all soak over night. The next day, the paint just falls off. Thick rubber gloves are a nice thing to wear when handling this stuff. Or, if you want to spend the money, find an auto paint supply store near you and ask if they have aircraft paint stripper. This stuff is NASTY, but works very fast. As for crud cleaning, Gunk brand engine cleaner and a scrub brush works great. The nice thing about this stuff is that it washes off with water. Good luck with your cleaning.
Thank you for the very helpful and educated post Izzy. Greatly appreciated.
Can take apart back caps and diaphrams if you know what you are doing then clean the whole bell out and reinstall. make sure everything goes back in and id dry because alluminum will corrode and look like white rust.
Good Luck,
John
You dont have to buy the best equipment, you just need to have the knowledge to do it correctly.
How do you clean the diaphrams and cushions? Is there any thing to look for? Just clean regularly???
They are not bad. Just a little dirty. I mainly want to know what I need to do to them to prep for paint. Since I heard that using sandpaper on them is not good.
I just clean the cushion rings and diaphragms with soap and water. Make sure you get it all dried good though. If you’re picky like me and want the diaphragms shining their best down the throats of the bells, use some rubbing alcohol afterwards. It evaporates quickly and doesn’t leave any residue.
aircraft paint remover…and aluminum brightener acid…it would clean everything just take the cushion rings out…wear some gloves jeans.and long sleeve shirt…stripped paint burns!!!
Ok guys thanks for all the help. But what if my horns don’t have any paint on them now and I want to paint them. Do I just get a can for automotive primer and a can of flat black and go to town or is there anything I should do to the horns first?
just clean them good…and spray the paint…flat black sometimes comes with primer already in it…rustoleum and krylon paints work the best
Has anybody thought about spraying the horns with Spray-in Bedliner material? I just thought if if is going to be under my truck why not have some protection on them.
Guess not!!
i like the idea
Well I just decided to go with the flat black. But I did put a clear coat on it so it doesn’t have the flat black look. I have the back caps and manifold done. I just put primer on the horns this morning and I plan on painting the horns either tonight or tomorrow.
Well I finally finished painting my horns yesterday. I just got through putting them back together. Here is a before and after.
Before
After
I was going with the flat black. But I decided to put a clear coat on them so they turned out shiny. Oh well I love the look now. I can’t wait to get them installed.
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