Stripping Brass Plating

[youth4him]

We're picking up our new-to-us 1996 Newmar Country Aire in a couple of weeks.

It's in wonderful shape, but holy cow, lots of brass, which makes me want to play some RunDMC and get out my parachute pants.

Fixtures, knobs, and towel hangers aren't too big of a deal to replace and go with a nickel or something more modern, but I'm really unsure what to do about the shower.

It's all brass, of course.

I've been reading that you can actually strip the brass plating off with oven cleaner (we use this trick in the hot rod hobby too), but before I do that, it would be nice to know what is underneath the plating on the shower surround.

Has anyone done this, or does anyone know what's under there?

I could also just disassemble, scuff, and rattle can it, which would hold up pretty well given the environment (assuming the moisture doesn't get to it, which it shouldn't), but if there is aluminum or something like that under it, it might be worth the effort.

Here is the stripping info I found: http://www.stylenorth.ca/blog/2011/02/strip-brass-with-oven-cleaner/

[Ozlander]

That's not brass, that Gold Plated.

Helped build a Prevost Couch, all the fixtures in the bathroom were Gold Plated.
All the gold was Gold.

[stripit]

I owned a stripping business that blasted with very low pressure and fine glass bead material on jobs just like this. It needed to be taken apart and the pieces brought in and the next day you had clean material that the powder coater could finish. Our costs would be about $50 for the cleaning and then whatever the PC company would charge, but I would guess about $100 for all the parts done in any color/look you wanted. A lot cheaper than buying a new shower unit.

[98coachman]

can't wait to see the results!!
Bill

[youth4him]

98coachman wrote:
I used to be a bodyman and painter and worked with aluminum all the time, get a good zinc chromate primer after you have scuffed it up then paint it the color you want. There shouldn't be a problem and it should look terrific. If it was mine, that is what I would do. Let us know how it turns out with pictures. 🙂

Good call, thanks!

[youth4him]

DutchmenSport wrote:
Personally, I think your shower looks really nice! Why do you want to change it?

I'm not a fan of the brass, but it might tone down once I swap out the towel holders, etc.

[98coachman]

I used to be a bodyman and painter and worked with aluminum all the time, get a good zinc chromate primer after you have scuffed it up then paint it the color you want. There shouldn't be a problem and it should look terrific. If it was mine, that is what I would do. Let us know how it turns out with pictures. 🙂

[DutchmenSport]

Personally, I think your shower looks really nice! Why do you want to change it?

[youth4him]

I should have clarified that my cobra replica has raw aluminum all over it, and with a self-etching primer, you can paint it, and it sticks quite well.

The downside is that you can't really get clear to stick without self-etching primer, so you have to put some sort of color on it.

I might try to go to the thrift store and see if I can find any parts and pieces that I can test on.

[vic46]

I had a closet with a polished aluminum casing. I wanted to paint the aluminum the same colour as the wall. I applied a primer called Kilz and then painted with a water based paint the colour of the wall. That was 7 years ago, all is still fine.

http://www.kilz.com/

[dons2346]

Just went thru the "get rid of the brass" thing. You can get the fixtures pretty easily. You don't have to buy a complete valve assembly for the shower, just the surround. Go to a good fixture supply house to order parts.

As far as the shower enclosure, you are out of luck. I went to a glass shop with a picture of what I wanted to replace. They came out, took some measurements, me hand over some cash and a couple of weeks later had a new brushed nickel enclosure the same exact size as what was removed. Not cheap but it is much better than doing a hack job with paint.

If you did strip all the finish from the enclosure, you will now have raw aluminum and that will not hold up cosmetically wise. The DW will never be happy.

Our enclosure looks just like yours. If you get a new one, you can get towel bars installed and even get the door to swing in the opposite direction.

[youth4him]

98coachman wrote:
Are you talking about the shower door? It is probably gold anodized aluminum. I would just scuff it up and paint it. Should work fine.
Good luck on the project.
Bill

Fixed the image, yes, the shower door and surround. As well as the other fixtures. I can replace the shower head and towel bars, etc, but the door and surround are a bit of a challenge.

[98coachman]

Are you talking about the shower door? It is probably gold anodized aluminum. I would just scuff it up and paint it. Should work fine.
Good luck on the project.
Bill