that old question: How to remove paint from Polycarbonate Bodies

[whahooo 465]

Heollo fello TC members.

 

I have some old Lexan shells and i want to remove the Paint.

I´ve heard several solutions, but either the do not work, do not remove the paint, ruin the Lexan or are not easy to get because they are aonly available in Countrys around the Globe.

 

A lot of people used "desolve it" grafitty remover ore some Product from Australia, but that product seems not to be around anymore.

So i purchased some "multi gel remover", it seems to be the same stuff, but even better, because it comes as a thick gel that sticks to the Surface.

https://multigelremover.eu/store/

 

 

I hope thats the right product and i can show some good results.

[acprc 1443]

Hi, 

I would pay good money for a solution that removes paint easily. I have a stack of bodies that I would like to remove the paint from but simply cant invest the time that it normally takes. With regards the Gel I would recommend a test on something you can afford to damage first!

[joeling 1649]

Tamiya body cleaner is your friend

 

 

[whahooo 465]

I already ordered that multi Gel remover.

I will Test it and will show the results.

I heared it is ok for Polycarbonate.

[wtcc5 4896]

After several years of restoring cars, my experiences vary strong on this topic.

Tamiya paint remover or Carson Paint Killer or „I forgot the name of the chemical“ or nail color remover all will work with PS and TS color.

A huge difference makes the age of the lexancolor. I had a hard time removing 20 year old color especially with Tamiya Paint Remover and Carsons Paint Killer. These will also make the old bodies very brittle and can cause the clear lexan to become white. You will also need a lot and they are expensive.

I heard good things when using brake fluid, but haven’t tested it myself, yet.

[J@mes 2326]

I had a bad result with Carson paint killer. The lexan it touched turned opaque white.

I had good results with the Tamiya polycarbonate body cleaner. 
 

I was working on 20+ year old body painted by others with who knows what.

[SupraChrgd82 1425]

There's only 2 things I have seen work without damaging the polycarbonate -

1) Tamiya Polycarbonate Body cleaner + patience + lots of elbow grease 

2) 30% nitro fuel + patience + moderate elbow grease

 

Do not use lacquer thinner or methylene chloride based paint stripper.  D-Limonene (active ingredient in Goo Gone) may work; I have not seen anyone test thus far.

 

[67CamaroSS 304]

21 minutes ago, SupraChrgd82 said:

There's only 2 things I have seen work without damaging the polycarbonate -

1) Tamiya Polycarbonate Body cleaner + patience + lots of elbow grease 

2) 30% nitro fuel + patience + moderate elbow grease

 

Do not use lacquer thinner or methylene chloride based paint stripper.  D-Limonene (active ingredient in Goo Gone) may work; I have not seen anyone test thus far.

 

I completely agree on the above,  Nitro fuel is also way cheaper. 

Finally, with so many re-res and repro bodies available, you should always aske yourself if its worth the HOURS of your time to remove that paint.  As an example, about 20 years ago, I used nitro fuel to strip a 959 body.  It came out pretty good.  But if I were in the same spot today, I would just buy a new repro body and use the buckets, spoiler and other plastic parts off the original.  

[Willy iine 18806]

Motor spray also works..  but make sure to wear gloves as it will dry your finger tips like mad.  And just in case, test in a small area of the body before going all in to ensure the product is safe on your particular body and to confirm you're committed.   

[whahooo 465]

I used Nailpolish remover in a Ford Body, it worked fairly good.

Aß the bitte was empty i got anotherone and it Made the Lexan cloudy....

 

That old de solv it Graffiti remover has some chemical in it that sholt work Like heaven. But that Chemical ist banned in Toolshop products because it harmful to the invirorment or something.

That Gel remover has the Same ingredients i think.

 

Its the same stuff as this:

https://www.diy.com/departments/de-solv-it-graffiti-remover-0-2l/258775_BQ.prd

 

[Finnsllc 917]

TAMIYA BODY CLEANER !!  I have stripped 3 shells completly back to clear with it. Yes it takes some patience but it does the job. And you can controll the results

[Max Power 5]

I've used bendix cleanup with some success, however I don't think it works on Tamiya PS. 

https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/bendix-bendix-cleanup-brake-and-parts-cleaner-400g/288356.html?gclid=CjwKCAjws8yUBhA1EiwAi_tpERjzTGJtQzqVlvWnibgOq9Vr8dpIdpa3qBTw6PswaV54fq5xA_UNwhoCXz8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[whahooo 465]

I tried it Yesterday.

It doesn't Work aß fast as i thought.....

I used it in an old Bodyshell that i used Nailpolishremover and ruined the Body with. It got cloudy....

The White Part of the Sparetire was Not removable with the Nailpolishremover....

 

 

But the Multigelremover worked instantly.

 

So now i need some Lexan and PS Colors for Fürther Testing.