Prepping anodized aluminium for paint

I have a coule of instrument panel overlays that were anodized and dyed black at one time. I'd like to paint them and relabel the knobs and lights, what is a good procedure for prepairing the surface for paint?
TIA

Bjorn, Go over them with a scotch-brite pad or fine (320 grit) wet or dry paper to get rid of any surface corrosion and to give the primer a "tooth" to hold on to. Wipe the panels down with a dry cloth but don't wash or rinse them as that will encourage them to start corroding again (bare aluminum is reactive enough that it starts to form surface corrosion in about .07 of a second). If you can find it, a zinc chromate primer is good to use; the zinc is there to act as a sacrificial element to protect the aluminum. Once the zinc chromate primer is thoroughly cured hard and no longer feels tacky to the touch, paint and label as desired.

Thanks Leonard, I do have the zink chromate primer (thanks to Cabell), so I'm good to go. I usually let the primer dry for several days.
I have a screen print set-up in the basement, so I may go that route for the lettering.

Re: RE: Prepping anodized aluminium for paint

cranetruck said:

Thanks Leonard, I do have the zink chromate primer (thanks to Cabell), so I'm good to go. I usually let the primer dry for several days.
I have a screen print set-up in the basement, so I may go that route for the lettering.

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the zink chromate primer is the KEY to priming the aluminium.

over night for the zink chromate should be fine, give it a light skuff like mentioned above and use the regular primer over the top of the zink chromate, let dry over night and skuff again to prepare for top coat.......

Good Luck,

C'dub

Re: RE: Prepping anodized aluminium for paint

Cdub said:

.....
over night for the zink chromate should be fine, give it a light skuff like mentioned above and use the regular primer over the top of the zink chromate, let dry over night and skuff again to prepare for top coat.......

Good Luck,

C'dub

Click to expand...

Thay's what I have done on other parts for the 8x8, lots of aluminum here, just wasn't sure about the anodized surface.

RE: Re: RE: Prepping anodized aluminium for paint

Great information! This will help me with my Mighty Mite and aluminum Arctic top!