RussellS

I didn't realise that you had to leave the items soaking in brake fluid for so long. As I said earlier, I have got some ModelStrip, but only one tub which I don't think will be enough and it is quite expensive. I will definately give the oven cleaner a go and use it on the rear wheels first just to test because, as stated by Dephcon5 new wheels are reletively easy to come by. I will try Mr Muscle Oven Cleaner which is a common brand here in the UK. Regards

You may well be right that the cracks were already there. However, I wasn't that happy with the paint removal qualities of the brake fluid, the rims were soaking for about 1.5 hours and the paint didn't seem to be very soft. I may try the oven cleaner method. Can anyone recommend a particular brand of oven cleaner available in the UK or let me know the active ingredient to look out for. Thanks for the responses Regards

I'm pretty sure the cracks weren't there before and the plastic did go sort of soft and powdery on the surface. Anyway, I'm not going to risk it on the body (not so easily replaceable), so I have bought a pot of ModelStrip which I hope will do the job.

Hi all, newbie here, I am currently in the process of renovating a Sand Scorcher that has been sitting unnused in my loft since about 1985. I wanted to remove the paint from the body and wheels so after reading these forums I decided I would try the brake fluid method. I didn't want to risk ruining the main body of the SS so I decided to just try it on the wheel rims first. I soaked them in the brake fluid for about an hour and then noticed that there was a crack in one of the rims. Then after a little while longer, the same rim had another crack appear that then meant that it had split into two pieces and the other rim had a crack in it as well. These cracks were obviously caused by the brake fluid and was wondering if anyone else had a similar experience. Maybe it was the type of brake fluid I was using - it was Halfords High Performance Brake & Clutch Fluid (DOT 5.1 Non-Silicone Base). Luckily, I have glued the rims back together again and after sanding and subsequently re-spraying they don't look too bad at all. I just hope they don't crack again in use. When I get some time I will post some pictures of the restoration in case anyone is interested. Well, that's my first post out of the way Regards Russell