Equal channel angular pressing was used to produce sub-micrometer size grain structures in two aluminum alloys (commercially pure 1200 and Al-Mn-Si 3103). ECAP was conducted at room temperature following the process via "route C," which involves a 180degrees angular rotation between passes and strongly affects material microstructure by reversing the shear strain every second pass. This unique characteristic of route C induced limited build-up of new high-angle boundaries, at least for the first three passes. The equal channel angular pressing was extended to six passes for both alloys; three passes by route C throughout the die were sufficient to produce a very fine-structured material for both alloys. High-resolution electron back-scattered diffraction pattern analysis was carried out to measure boundary misorientation within the deformed structures. Measurements of subgrain and grain spacing revealed a more effective microstructure refining effect in the 3103 than the 1200 alloy. Thermal stability of the severely deformed materials was studied at temperatures of 130, 240, 330degreesC, corresponding to 0.2, 0.35, 0.5 of the melting temperature. The results showed considerable grain growth in both materials solely at temperatures from and above half of the melting one. (C) 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers.