Brake Fluid - The proof!

[WillyChang]

quote:

I just painted my VW Golf V5 and it came out great. After a few days I applied a couple of coats of window tint and it bled right through the silver paint, leaving dark grey splotches on the roof and pillars. With the advice on this thread, I was able to just remove the paint on the roof, windows, and pillars using brake fluid, but now the areas are cloudy. Is there anything I can do to clear it up before I repaint? How do I apply the window tint successfully? (Note that it didn't even stick to the windows; it fisheyed and ran down into the roof, even with a light coat.)

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Your lexan is contaminated with oil... degrease it properly before painting. Dishsuds & warm water is the best for lexan.

Don't worry too much about the clouding, it usually disappears when you paint. You can even sand the lexan with fine sandpaper to key it a bit better fot paint, the scuffing disappears with paint.

If you've got cloudy 'glass' areas then you might want to paint it over with a gloss coat of TS clear. Thin coats still sticks reasonably well to lexan, even on runner bodies.

PS31 Smoke should be only misted on to create the smokedglass matte effect; recoat 3-5 times for darker effect. Thicker coats will cause it to become tinted clear.

Not sure how thick a coat you've been trying - suggest Pretty Darned Thick for it to run & eat into existing paint. The ideal thickness suggested above takes only 5 secs to touchdry; recoat in 10.

You're not using Tamiya's PC bottle 'Smoke' colour, are you?

[DJTheo]

5 sec dry, repaint in 10? My god it must be dry and hot down under

http://www.vintagetamiyarc.com/

[WillyChang]

Oh ya... wish I could say I was sitting in trunks by the pool being served a icy drink by a bikini babe... but I can't 'cos I'm stuck in the office doling $$$ out.

Ah well, least its not raining.

[SJoerD]

quote:

Once is used for stripping paint it can never be used for anything else. Never even think about filtering it and putting it in your brake system (if thats were you mean) You should always use brand new fluid in your brakes and you are not really meant to use an open bottle of fluid in your car as it attracts moisture which reduces braking effieiency.

You can keep on re-using the fluid for stripping as long as you want. If you fell like filtering out the bits you can but not important. Hope this helps.

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WHAT? Putting it back into a real car? Well, that's a big no no. I don't think he was going to use it again anyway, at least I hope so. (He's a bit of an expert on those thing too... )He was just worried he had to buy lost of it just to clean one single body, and then throw it away. Maybe I can get him crazy and 'borrow' me some after all. I only forgot which body I wanted to do...

At least it's a good thing to know it's effect on paint-stripping doesn't wear off. That was the whole point, not re-using it in a car's braking system.

Sjoerd

I love Sand Scorchers, but I don't have one... Please help this poor collector...id=size1>

[J3cubfan]

Has anyone used the BF on the windshield? My SS is basically epoxied in place and I am concerned that I will not be able remove it without destroying the windshield.

John

[DJTheo]

Had used BF on a Hilux body with a glued windshield, clear started getting milky only after many weeks and possibly not due to the BF but the solved paint/thinner in it...

http://www.vintagetamiyarc.com/

[WillyChang]

Doesn't seem much benefit from sealing your container of "BF-4-stripping"... BF itself shouldn't evaporate anyway. Yes its hygroscopic but water doesn't reduce its stripping ability either.

Maybe leave it unsealed and the solvents might slowly evaporate?

[DJTheo]

Didn't have it sealed, know that BF doesnt evaporate..

http://www.vintagetamiyarc.com/

[mr_lister999.]

Just better to seal it i find otherwise thats all you smell in your garage.

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If practice makes perfect, and no one is perfect, why practice?

[TWINSET]

The smell does go after a couple of days - I had a blinding headache for the first few days, all gone now.

Just been for a sniff, and the BF don't smell much at all anymore - it's gone yellow though

[SJoerD]

quote:

The smell does go after a couple of days - I had a blinding headache for the first few days, all gone now.

Just been for a sniff, and the BF don't smell much at all anymore - it's gone yellow though

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Is the yellow stuff still good for what WE use it for? (stripping paint that is )

I've got an evil plot to get a good 'paint stripper' for FREE Not tried yet, but I will...

Sjoerd

Visit my site @ www.tamiya.tk!

[TWINSET]

The yellow stuffs great - for some reason it changes colour every time I dip a car. Will have to contact manufacturer to see if it goes a certain colour when it needs replacing

[flyby]

I used and old ice cream tub, worked great aswell,

Sjeord, hope your idea for getting free brake fluid is all leagal and above board Don't want anybody loosing their brakes

My mate has his own garage, i'll just ask him to fill me up a few cans of what he throws out. Wish i'd thought of that before

[WillyChang]

Hmm... wondering if brake fluid is same as "hydraulic oil" as used in excavators, backhoes, cranes etc etc - y'know, the real big yellow 1:1 Tonka toys.

btw:- Brake fluid does not change colour to show its 'used'. I've bought several brands etc, and usually the 'normal duty' stuff is green or blue, and the 'heavy duty' stuff is yellow.

Good idea, but limited in application anyway -- there just isn't enough room for the fluid to circulate in your car's system. You can only see the fluid in the reservior, but the bit that you want to rely on is the few ounces near each brake cylinder. This portion gets exposed to brake heat and starts boiling first, so you don't want much water in there or else the pedal goes spongy.

[DJTheo]

Think hydraulic oil would also work well for stripping bodies, am not sure though for car brakes

http://www.vintagetamiyarc.com/

[flyby]

I don't think hydraulc oil has any stripping abilities, apart from maybe sticker residue? it never took the paint of my old jack before i threw it away, and that leaked all over it.

[mr_lister999.]

oh yeah, i would not recomend using a blow tourch either, it tends to get a little hot...

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If practice makes perfect, and no one is perfect, why practice?

[SJoerD]

quote:

I used and old ice cream tub, worked great aswell,

Sjeord, hope your idea for getting free brake fluid is all leagal and above board

Don't want anybody loosing their brakes

My mate has his own garage, i'll just ask him to fill me up a few cans of what he throws out.

Wish i'd thought of that before

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My 'method' is completely legal (not tried it yet, I will soon):

I might be able to get used BF for free from a garage: It's chemical waste so they would be really glad to get rid of it for free!!! (Else they have to pay for it) If they want to charge you for it: just go to the next garage, they would be stupid if they wouldn't give you some.

As for the evil part of the plan... muhahaha Hint: This might be a good opportunity to teach certain drivers from hitting the right pedal to much... LOL

(Why does everyone still calls me Sjeord??? It starts to annoy me... LOL)id=size1>

Visit my site @ www.tamiya.tk !

[simensays]

I used a clear plastic box with a lid, no smell and it requires less fluid like someone mentioned then a bucket.

I even filled out some of the extra space around the Sand Scorcher body with plastic bottles filled with water (so they dont float), and it saved me another three litres of brakefluid!

It all worked very well for me anyway.

[TWINSET]

Just stripped another body, 10 months in an open bucket, and it still works[]

[dave.t1]

I use Delta Activator to strip all my bodies, especially lexan ones. It costs about £8.00/ltr plus shipping. As an example, it took 30mins to completely strip a lexan dyna storm body with about as much liquid as you would need to half fill a 330ml car-paint can lid. You just keep brushing the liquid over the area untill it's clean. Then rinse off with soapy water and maybe just a wipe over with the liquid on a cloth to remove any residue.

You don't need to worry about fumes, disposing of the used fluid, poisoning yourself or any other nasty issues. It comes in a handy easy to use bottle with a spray head. If you want to see before, during and after pics I am just about to do a mates TR-15T shell....

[netsmithUK]

Sounds like the miracle stripper we have been looking for - where do you get it from? What is it normally used for?

My brake fluid is getting a bit tied now after many strips - had a ford ranger in it for two weeks now and its only starting to shift the paint. So I wen ti bought myself another couple of bottle of halfords dot 4 this morning and poured it onto a Hilux body and the paint was virtually coming off as I poured it on. 4 hours later all the paint is stripped? Not sure if its the new fluid or the paint used.

Chris

[fury_dice(2)]

quote:

Originally posted by netsmithUK

Sounds like the miracle stripper we have been looking for - where do you get it from? What is it normally used for?

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The original discussion of this stuff is on this thread, including the contact details for the company:

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4451

As I remember, it is for graffiti removal originally.

HTH

David

[dave.t1]

Spot on with the link. I can't be the only one using this stuff )