I had some questions on this in the past as I was working on it and wanted to post what worked the best to strip the frame and refinish it. <p>I ended up not bead blasting as the finish was too hard to removed with bead, I ended up using aluminum oxide to blast the frame - it was the least aggressive material that actually would touch the finish - I blasted the whole frame, which gives that nice sandcast look to the castings, then brushed the frame spars and tubes - to do this I used some 180 grit aluminum oxide sand paper (3m) which gave a nice finish to the blasted areas that I wanted to look brushed with very little effort. I then used a scotchbrite pad to smooth out the brushed areas - looks just like new! I think I am going to coat with a product called everbrite that is a spray on clear that is more of a resin and really tough and durable - I am also clear powdering a piece to see how that looks.<p>That is what worked for me in case you are thinking of tackling a refinish of the aluminum.<p>Rob
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roadkillrobert@yahoo.com