Restoration help or ideas

[daktari]

I picked up a 1942 dated watercan that has been repainted and has been used to hold oil/fuel.

There seems to be dark green paint underneath. Should I just bead blast it or try to remove the post war paint?

If paint removal... how would you suggest going about it?

And lastly, anyway to clean out the can so that it could hold Potable water again? (not that i need to drink water from the can but just curious)

[Theodor]

Paint removal... difficult thing. It looks like the can has camo paint under the new paint, right? I would guess the original paint is very strong. But the interesting camo may go off together with the new paint. So maybe the best is not to try anything on it? Well, lets hear what the tohers will say.

As for water, I believe that a couple of days of intensive rinsing with strong dishwashing liquid and lots of water will remove all traces of petrol from inside. But why??? Washing the can will cause rusting inside. At the same time the petrol remainings inside prevent from rust. Better don't wash it, I think.

[Matt L]

If you're really interested in seeing what the original paint looks like, one of the best ways to get at it is to simply sand off the post-war paint. You ahve to use high-grit sandpaper and work gently. This could take quite some time, so it really depends on how serious you are to conserve the finish. If you don't much care and want to remove the paint and re-finish the can, a good chemical paint stripper might be a good idea- it'll take off the paint without harming the steel. Sometimes old paint resists the chemical (Methylene Chloride usually) so you may be able to remove the new paint without necessarily taking off the old as well. If this happens, a combination of chemical stripper and sandpaper may work- the stripper taking off the majority of new paint and the sandpaper cleaning off what remains. There will be a larg white cross painted on each side of the can to further identify it as containing water, so it might be nice to find this mark.

As for making it usable for water again, I wouldn't try it. If it ever contained gasoline, it'll be hard to remove all traces of it and you wouldn't want to drink contaminated water- if nothing else, you'd probably never be able to completely get rid of the taste. I agree with Theodor anyway- the hydrocarbons will help protect the interior surface. I have one myself that was used to carry fuel or oil or something and I think that's what has kept the interior so clean.

Matt

[georgecl]

Hi
I've had some luck,depending on the repaint, with formbys furniture stripper liquid not the gel..this seems to works well on spray paint removal without much damage to the original paint under this coat. Be very careful only apply the liquid to a old towel rag and work in a small area, until results you want.
I have cleaned helmet repaint with this, and they turned out pretty good..clean up with paint thinner after and water after that.


Good luck
George liuzunie

PS this method also has little effect to the original decals on helmets..just be careful in this area..