Removing powder coating...

[Gerard]

Hi!

How can I get powder coating off a aluminium heatsink?

I've got this Soundstream Reference 405 amplifier which has a huge
aluminium heatsink covered in blue powder coating. It has some chips and
scratches on it and I decided to remove the powder coating and give it a
good bit of paint. Not interested in simply spraying over the powder
coating. I can't get the powder coat off.

I've tried sandblasting it, but that took off about a 2 inch long bit of
powder coat after much blasting. I dumped mineral spirits, spirits of
salt (I think this is hydrochloric acid), brake fluid, paint remover and
carb cleaner on it. Nothing. It went a bit soft, but that didn't help
much. I set the thing on fire as well. I lit some carb cleaner on it,
but nothing happened.

I need a good, quick way of removing the stuff otherwise this looks like
another one of my 10 hours jobs for a tiny piece of this car of mine.
Any ideas? Should I just dump some parafin on it and light it and let it
go for a while?

I left some brake fluid on it for the past few days, but will only see
if it made a difference when I get home tomorrow evening.

Another question: where can I get my entire car body done in this stuff?
:) Just kidding.

G.
--
1989 Audi 200 (still not done...)