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Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers

Ransomes Ajax Mk 5- Paint removal.

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I've been using my Ajax Mk5 and have to say it's been a great machine and makes excellent stripes. Its also my first cylinder mower.

Im wanting to re-paint the aluminum sides and name plate, however Im stuck on what product to use to remove every last bit of paint.

When I first took ownership I removed the loose and flaking paint with a strong degreaser and a plastic scourer after trying Nitro mors, which was absolutely useless.

Can anyone recommend a paint stripper safe for aluminum and any thing to watch out for when dismantling the mower?

Thanks.

Forums

cwj123 Sat, 26/08/2017

I have had good results with DIALL paint and varnish remover also good results with polycell paint remover.Nitromors is not as good as it used to be.

JT992 Sat, 26/08/2017

Thanks for the info. I may give the Polycell a try.

I've heard that Nitromors is nothing to what it once was. Even then I still had to try it.

Thanks again.

wristpin Sat, 26/08/2017

The "magic ingredients" in paint strippers that worked were Dichloromethane (or Methylene Chloride) and Phenol - now banned in DIY strippers. Dichloromethane can be bought on the internet but it is nasty stuff. For the aluminium components maybe a soft wire rotary brush or bead blasting  - again using a soft medium.

JT992 Mon, 28/08/2017

I've bought the Polycell product so I'll see how that turns out. The paint on the aluminum is very thin and after removing much of it originally, hopefully it'll deal with the remainder.

Thanks for the info wristpin. If nothing else works I may end up going down that route.

While on the topic, I plan to etch prime all the Aluminum and top coat with a silver spray paint. The outsides of the rear rollers have no paint and I presume they were green originally?

How do you go by repainting the cylinder as the majority of the paint is still good and just needs a tidy up with a new coat?

Thanks.

Bozzy87 Wed, 30/08/2017

Hi, when doing mine i managed to use a small rotary wire brush to get remaining paint off (DREMEL) etc. with no harm to the aluminium, just need speed control and not push into it. As for the roller paint, i am unsure.. i painted mine green as to my preference, others prefer to keep it as it is, and just clean it up, gives it that well used but well looked after look.

To repaint the cylinder is a case of stripping it out, a shortcut would be to remove the cylinder gear and bottom blade/sole plate (to stop paint getting where it shouldn't and allow you to rotate the cylinder freely) then touch up where required.

All personal experience though, i am no expert on these particular machines.

JT992 Wed, 30/08/2017

Thanks for the info Bozzy87.

I'm trying the paint stripper soon but the rotary wire brush is certainly an option if needed. I think I'll give the rollers a good clean and keep them as they are though the green would look good.

 Regarding the cylinder, that's a handy tip and worth consideration if I decide just to tidy it up rather than back to bare metal.

Thanks to everyone helpful information.