I's like to see some photos of how bad the wear is. I tend to leave things as they are. The aged look always seems to be more interesting than a refinished, unnatural one. These snares were never clear coated & shiny. (sometimes the best thing is the simplest thing. ...clean & leave it alone. )

Note: Link repaired.

Article about chemical stripping of powder coating:

http://www.choppersurplus.com/global/articles/howtoremovepowdercoating.html

Hope this helps.

I agree with tdennis, unless its horrible leave it alone.

Jeff C

Well....it is bad enough where I am considering removing the powdercoating and polishing it.....I'm not worried about any collector value, since as I said, its an early 80's Acrolite....Ludwig made hundreds of thousands of them over the years, so its not like its ever going to be worth anything huge.

Besides, don't you guys think that a highly polished aluminum shell would look real nice??

If memory serves, a couple members have had their peeling Supras (same

shell as the Acro) stripped of the chrome and polished; they looked terrific. I

also seem to recall a thread about someone stripping a powder coated Acro

and having it painted a color to match their kit.

Bottom line, it's your drum. Craigslist, flea markets, yard sales and pawn

shops are full of 'em for cheap. Do what makes you happy.

Good luck and pictures when you're done.

MW

Ya if thats what you want , go for it! They do look very nice polished up. Its true there are alot of acros around, wasnt really thinking of that.

JEff C

I've actually stripped the gray powder coat (or is it just paint?) off of an 80's Acro and had the shell polished with great results! I used Jasco paint stripper to accomplish this (found at Ace Hardware, Home Depot, Lowes, etc.). It was pretty easy, as the gray coating just bubbles up and scrapes away (I would use a plastic scraper for this job). This Jasco is really strong stuff, so make you wear gloves and goggles when using it. I even used this stuff to strip the roof of my '64 Caddy down to bare metal. After I stripped the shell, I took it to a local chrome shop and had it professionally polished to a high-luster, which looked fantastic! You could also have a clear power coat or other finish added over this to avoid scratches and such. I then added tube lugs, a P-86 strainer and single-flange hoops to come up with a really cool-looking drum. I ended up selling the shell to fund another project, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. As you mentioned...80's Acros are a dime a dozen, so go for it!

[IMG]http://i1130.photobucket.com/albums/m530/ElMoonlightDrummer/Snares/2012-01-24155216.jpg[/IMG]

I think that is a fine solution for an Acrolite. That snare drum came out looking great. I belive Purdie did the same to a seriously flaking supra. Polished aluminum is a great look and very durable.

Thanks, tnsquint! If you ask me...it looks bounds better than before. Purdie did the same thing to a seriously bad pitted Supra, but he stripped it and then had it powdercoated gloss black...looked really sweet! Not sure how he got the rest of the chrome off, though...hope he chimes in!