Brake Fluid - The proof!

[TWINSET]

Just in case you never tried brake fluid on hard bodies...

This was sprayed with car paint I think, as nothing else would take the paint off without a lot of scrubbing.

It took about 48 hours to get like this, and the residue just washed off.

Gotta buy another couple of litres though, as fluid is not halfway up body - missed by about 1/2 an inch - doh!

[Zeemax]

How do u apply it?

[mr_lister999.]

Basically fill a bucket with fliud and stick the shell in it. Can't get any easier.

[TWINSET]

Big green bucket, marinate overnight, look at continuously, get bored, go back 2 days later.

Needs a bit of rubbing with a scouring pad where the paint goes on thick, but fairly effortless otherwise - which was nice

[mr_lister999.]

Any coulour of bucket works not just green ones

[TWINSET]

Well, the green one DEFINITELY works, why mess with proven science

[mr_lister999.]

true...

[volksrod68]

brake fluid is great, unfortunately being a poor (ex-)student, i couldnt afford a lot of the stuff, so had to put the body in 1 side at a time, then the roof, kept swilling it around every few hours to get it in all the corners

my scorcher shell from ebay cost me about ten quid, and was absolutely covered in thick black brush paint.

Inside and out.

after a day the fluid had started working, and i was able to scrape the paint off.

i cant believe i actually tried to strip the paint from it with thinners and a rag before i tried the brake fluid!

well, in my opinion, brake fluid gets both thumbs up!

cheers

Joe

[mr_lister999.]

I know it cost a fair bit on the initial outlay (about 20 - 25 pounds if you want to fill a big box to get a whole body and some bits in) but justifies it with the speed. If you can do the whole body in one go its much better than turning and "basting" it with fluid. I know that black buckets work as well

[jacolouw]

Yep Good old BF do work - Had bodys stripped in 24 hours - but currently my Pajer metaltop is in the BF for almost 7 weeks. Nothing wanted to lift the about 7 coats it has on. The paint is now coming off almost as a mould of the body in one big piece.

You dont need alot of BF I did the smaller bodies completely submerged but the bigger bodies like the pajero I wetted it once in 24 hopurs to dunk the whole body. Works really well

Even after all this time the jero is in the BF there is still no damage to the plastic!!!!!

Jakes

PS a Square plastic RED basin also works but not the YELLOW ones!!!

Of all the things I Lost - I miss my Mind the most

[TWINSET]

Never thought of a basin - woulda made the maths easier.

6 litres of BF doesn't come halfway up a 12 litre bucket, cos the bucket's tapered. They don't tell you these things when you're buying buckets!

[TWINSET]

"well, in my opinion, brake fluid gets both thumbs up!"

Joe - r u trying to get this a 15 rating too?

[rcfanatic]

I have had good luck with brake fluid also. The only problem I have had was when I went to strip some wheels that were painted gold on my brat. I put them all in some Dot 4 fluid and a couple days later the plastic felt softer and felt kind of crackly. I have put them back in thinking it may have just been another layer of white paint that didn't have to come off, but if it is, it is surely taking awhile to come off.

[jacolouw]

Just a small warning!!!!!

Make sure youre hands are very clean after working with bf!!!

I had 2 oopses so far by handling painted surfaces (which I did not want stripped) and the paint coming off. My workshop's door and a sprayjob I did for a friend on a hard body pajero - had to do the job over from the start!!!

Jakes

Of all the things I Lost - I miss my Mind the most

[TWINSET]

The fumes give you a quality headache too - don't leave it in your office all day!

BF don't work too fast on my blue RR though, I think it's painted with emulsion, as I can peel great chunks off with a scalpel (which I also drove into my hand) once I got the varnish off

[yankee(2)]

HELP!!!

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.)

[TWINSET]

I dunno if you're s'posed to use BF on lexan?

[netsmithUK]

Using Brake fluid on LExan is a very big NO NO. I speak from experience, it basically attacks the lexan, fogs it and can make it very brittle or even cause it to crack.

Sorry thats not much use if you have already done it.

[acprc]

Just to confuse things though my Astute Lexan shell was stripped using brake fluid and sat in it for a week. No cracks, splits etc etc. I have to say i would probably do it again. Not sure if the brake fluid i have is any different though (aircraft).

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=123&id=4

Cheers

Adam

[yankee(2)]

OOOOHHH. As I look back through the thread, I see you gents were talking about hard plastic (e.g., Sand Scorcher) bodies. (Picture me doing a big dope slap to the forehead right about now).

So....Anyone have a body (part#1825165) for a Tamiya Golf V5 (kit 58206)that they would be willing to sell me?

[SJoerD]

quote:

OOOOHHH. As I look back through the thread, I see you gents were talking about hard plastic (e.g., Sand Scorcher) bodies.

(Picture me doing a big dope slap to the forehead right about now).

So....Anyone have a body (part#1825165) for a Tamiya Golf V5 (kit 58206)that they would be willing to sell me?

---

id=quote>id=quote>

I heard about a product called Polythrol or something. They used it to make lexan bodies and SS/RR radio boxesw clearer and it hides small scratches as well. It's not going to fix cracks and tears, that is impossible. I haven't tried this myself but it might work for you.

One problem with the brake fluid: My dad has it, but he 'suddenly' lost it when he knew where I wanted to use it for.

Can you re-use the brake fluid after cleaning up a body, or does it's effect wears off? And can you filter brake fluid to use it again and again (and again)? This might make my dad less worried about his brake fluid.

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

[mr_lister999.]

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.

-------------------------

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

[synchrocnc]

I agree Mr Lister the effects of bad brake fluid can be very extreme in a car , the problem is that the moisture content boils and the pedal goes to the floor , then you become a passenger . people overlook things like this .

People seem to have the same attitude to real car tyres that they are all the same and just round rubber things , they are not at all .

More seriously though I can confirm that I use a clear container to strip my bodies in and it works just as well as a green one !!!! 10 litres of halfords finest and you are away .

Cheers Alan

[TWINSET]

If we're gonna start using a lot of fluid, maybe we should do some research into cost.

My local auto supplier charged me £20 for 7 litres, how much is it at Halfords?

[netsmithUK]

Last lot i bought at halfords was £12.50 for 5 litres I think...