MIL-DTL-53072E
painting.
3.2.1.2 Vehicles. Ferrous metal surfaces of vehicles shall be cleaned for painting in accordance
with 3.2.1, except as specified herein. Surfaces that cannot be cleaned by blasting shall be
cleaned to base metal by alternate means such as three dimensional/abrasive cleaning, chipping,
powered wire brushing, or grinding to the required degree specified for commercial abrasive
blasting, if authorized by the contracting agency. Sheet metal and sheet metal parts of 8 gage
(0.164 inches or 4.166 mm) and thinner shall be cleaned to bare metal by acid pickling in
accordance with TT-C-490, with a maximum of five percent sulfuric acid included. However,
chemical cleaning shall not be approved for use on assemblies which entrap acid/alkali or when
for any reason chemical cleaning is considered inadvisable. Wire brushes used to clean ferrous
surfaces shall be either steel or stainless steel. Brass brushes shall not be used, as there is a
possibility of depositing brass particles on the steel surface, potentially accelerating corrosion of
steel surfaces. Hand tool cleaning shall be in accordance with SSPC-SP2 and power tool
cleaning shall be in accordance with SSPC-SP3.
3.2.2 Zinc surfaces. Zinc surfaces, including zinc-coated substrates, shall be cleaned and
activated prior to being pretreated for painting as specified in 3.3.
3.2.3 Aluminum and aluminum-alloy surfaces. Aluminum and aluminum alloys shall be cleaned
in accordance with 3.2, followed immediately by treatment as specified in 3.3. Aluminum thicker
than 1/8th inch and fabricated from 5000 series armor grade aluminum shall be abrasive blasted.
3.2.4 Magnesium alloy surfaces. Magnesium alloy surfaces shall be cleaned in accordance with
SAE-AMS-M-3171, followed immediately by treatment as specified in 3.3.
3.2.5 Cadmium surfaces. Cadmium surfaces shall be cleaned in accordance with SAE-AMS-
QQ-P-416, followed immediately by treatment as specified in 3.3.
3.3 Pretreating. Chemical surface treatments for metallic substrates provide improved adhesion
for subsequent coatings and temporary protection from corrosion. For best results, the
pretreatment shall be applied as soon as possible after proper cleaning (see 3.2). The three most
common pretreatments are chromate/chromium, phosphate and organic-modified conversion
coatings.
3.3.1 Ferrous metal, zinc or cadmium surfaces. These surfaces shall be treated as soon as
possible after cleaning as specified in 3.2 with one of the following:
a. Zinc phosphate conforming to TT-C-490, type I.
b. Wash primer (DOD-P-15328 and MIL-C-8514) conforming to TT-C-490, type III.
c. Pretreatments qualified under TT-C-490, including organic and inorganic
pretreatments and pre-primer coatings conforming to types III, IV and VIII, class A or C.
3.3.1.1 Organic pretreatments (Wash Primer). The organic pretreatments in 3.3.1 b are applied
to clean metal surfaces to prepare for a more permanent protective anticorrosive primer.
Although wash primers afford some protection for up to 24 hours, they are not intended for
permanent protection and these surfaces shall be overcoated with epoxy primer as soon as
practical, however no more than 24 hours after wash primer application. After more than 24
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