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Removing Old Protective Plastic

zemon

Member
Van's has a nice letter on their web site for folks like me who are considering buying a second hand RV kit. Among lots of good info, it says, "The plastic that coats the aluminum may be (extremely) hard to remove if the parts have been stored for many years, especially in hot climates." The empenage of the kit I am considering is from 2002; the wings and fuselage are from 2003. It's all been in a St. Louis area oven, er, garage for the past five years.

If the plastic is going to be "extremely" hard to remove, is there any way to tell before buying the kit? Is it fair to ask to peel significant chunks of it away to test? And if it is stuck on, how is it best removed?

I did some Googling and found people removing similar protective coatings from stainless steel using everything from MEK to acetone to Goo Gone to household ammonia, depending on the type of glue behind the plastic. Can all of those be used on aluminum? I am most curious about the ammonia.

Thanks,
-- Art Z.
 
First, the plastic should peel off. It may leave a bit of a adhesive residue which is easy to take off with acetone and probably lacquer thinner and lots of other stuff. I wouldn't try ammonia; not that I know anything about it but the petroleum based solvents won't hurt the aluminum; ammonia might.

I don't think it is unreasonable to ask to peel off some of the plastic. Van's advises that it be removed ASAP, so no harm should come from removing it. Besides, it gives you a chance to check for corrosion under the plastic; it does happen especially near edges. Holes are edges, too, so inspect around holes as well as edges.

If you buy the project, the easiest way to remove large sheets of plastic is to peel off 2 or 3 inches, tape that to a broom stick or similar object and using vice grips for a handle on the broom stick, roll the plastic up on the broom stick.
 
Warm it

We started our kit in early 2003 & finished early this year. The plastic sheet does become harder to remove over time, but warming it either by putting a heater on the other side of the aluminum or by using a heat gun set on low makes a big difference. The plastic peels off more easily and leaves a lot less adhesive residue.

If everything else is good don't let the vinyl film put you off.

Dave
 
We started our kit in early 2003 & finished early this year. The plastic sheet does become harder to remove over time, but warming it either by putting a heater on the other side of the aluminum or by using a heat gun set on low makes a big difference. The plastic peels off more easily and leaves a lot less adhesive residue.

Dave,

What solvent did you use to remove the residue?

Thanks,
-- Art Z.
 
re: 6yrs

I started on my RV10 in November 2003. I had read/heard the film was tough to get off after some time. so within the past 6 months I removed all the film from the tail, wings, and the fuselage. I had no problems at all. All mine was the blue stuff, I've heard the clear is a little more difficult. Don't know for sure though.

Marshall Alexander
 
I know that there are many variables that may influence how hard it becomes to remove the plastic covering, but my wings were stored in our basement since their completion over 10 years ago. After bolting them to the plane, I found that they just pulled right off, leaving no residue. It was a non-event.

Having stored plastic coated parts in extremes of temperature or sunlight probably does have a negative effect, so your mileage may vary.

Good luck.
 
RV-6A kit 10 years old with clear plastic and..

It came right off. I started with a soldering iron to melt-cut riveting track lines. Later, the remaining squares came right off. Inside the tank skins, I removed the entire plastic with no problems.
 
This is a good topic to search on, as it comes up from time to time. Lots of good suggestions out there.

BTW, my trick is to use WD40 and then roll it off with a section of PVC.
 
it depends on which plastic

Some older RV kits have a white plastic coating. I can tell you from experience that this coating is almost impossble to get off if it has become brittle. You will know if it has become brittle if you attempt to peel it off and whatever you pull on simply breaks off in a tiny piece so it is impossible to peel.
I got the coating off a couple of small parts (fortunately all that was necessary) by heating with a gun and scraping the softened plastic with a paint scraper. Paint remover and goo gone didn't work well.
No seller should object to you trying to pull a piece of the plastic off to see if it comes. If you have large parts with this problem, it would be tempting just to buy a new part rather than fighting with the coating.
Bill Brooks
Ottawa, Canada
RV-6A finishing kit
 
Blue plastic

My experience is that if the plastic has been exposed to sunlight for extended time it will be very difficult to remove. The bottom of the wings were easy but the top was a different story. The plastic breaks up into little tiny squares sort of like a dry lake bed. I've used Xylene but it is nasty stuff. In the big picture of things it wasnt a major part of the construction., so I wouldnt let that be a deciding factor.

Matt
C-GVMK
 
I took the protective blue plastic off of the tail kit I purchased from another builder with no problems or residue. It had been in a self storage yard in the high desert for many years. I'm sure it got very hot there. I used a section of PVC pipe to roll it up and off the aluminum.
 
I just bought an entire rv6 kit for $2500 still in the box from 1996:D. Some of the plastic peels right off, but some of it is stuck like chuck. Does anyone have any ideas to get this off? its the old clear plastic and im down to heat gun, wire brush and razor blade. I've tried MEK, alcohol and ammonia! nothing still stuck on there :mad:

view
 
UV can remove the white protective plastic

The white plastic, once it becomes brittle is almost impossible to get off.
I found out by accident, that the UV (ultra violet) is the ONE thing that gets it off easily.
Simply leave the sheet in the direct sun for a few months and the plastic simply flakes off.
I'm guessing a UV-lamp might also work.
 
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My empennage is serial# 80566, from 1998. I pulled it out of the box in Nov 2014. The plastic came off just fine. It took a little work. But, nothing I'd consider too difficult.

A little acetone and a soft cloth took all residual adhesive off, no sweat!
 
I ruined (put a crease in it) an elevator skin of my RV-8. I think I could have made a part that would have been safe to fly BUT I did not like the way it looked so had to buy a new skin. S/N: 80012 has been sitting a long time. Had I just been slow and not in a hurry to take the plastic off, the skin would have been fine.
 
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