[olddog]

Ed,

You or someone else suggested the vinegar to me right after I got it all polished off, so I never did try that.

Years ago, I had an aluminum boat that someone had painted with god know's what paint, but it was pealing like a house. Got it cheap. I stripped it. Then I used vinegar to etch the aluminum so the paint would stick to it. Someone told me to use vinegar or some other weak acid, so I chose the vinegar. The paint looked like new 5 years later when I sold the boat. I know it takes a while for it to work on the aluminum, but it does etch it after some time. So I would be careful with it. I know I neutralized it with soda before painting the boat.