Any good at Striping Body shells? Look! (UK)

[Zeemax]

Hi guys if theres any 1 in the Uk

Good at stripping lexan bodys plz let me no.

I have a 5 turbo and its gone sort of bad.

i want some 1 to take it off my hands and make it clear again.

I will pay u 4 your time and efford.

Please i realy stuck here - as if i do it ill end up destroying the body shell.

Thanks

adam

tamiyapoulton@hotmail.com

[SJoerD]

Hey Newbie,

Do you have any bached up (non tamiya) shells to 'practise' (read: experiment till destruction [}] ) your cleaning skills on? Then you can try all sorts of brakefluid, nitro fuel etc. on them, just to find the right method. That's what I am going to do when I get myself some crappy shell (I remember one in the trash lnog time ago, regret I didn't just take it.. [] )

If you use new BF (brakefluid) it's a little more aggresive than a used one. (used as in: 'used in a real cars brake system'). You can get yourself a can of that stuff from your local garage for free: it's chemical waste and they have to PAY to get rid of it. If they want to charge you something then move on to the next garage. They would be silly if they didn't give you some. []

Then if you found a very safe and effective way of stripping you might want to try it on your Renault 5. I advise using iit on a crappy useless shell first, as all methods may have side-effects. Watch for white 'fog' on the shell after cleaning, this is not bad as it will go away when repainting. Only bother if it's on the windscreen you want to leave clear) . Good luck! [^]

Sjoerd

Sjoerd

[mickeyos]

This has been discussed several times here: DO NOT USE BRAKEFLUID ON LEXAN!

There's been several reports of people destroying their lexan bodies with BF.

I just wanted to throw this out here before anyone got started on it.

[Shodog]

I agree with Mickeyos don't use Brake Fluid on lexan. It turned my lexan shell an opaque white. Definetly don't use Easy off on lexan as it will cause it to become brittle and break into thousands of pieces.

on another note -competent shops would never let you take used brake fluid. It is both a liability and an environmental hazard.

Jim

[WillyChang]

quote:Originally posted by Shodog

...on another note -competent shops would never let you take used brake fluid. ...

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Go find an incompetant mechanic shop, Adam.

Can't be *too* hard to find...! []

[aaronmihe(2)]

ohhhh good call Willy

Actually I've heard the words Metho and Turps thrown around a lot. Might try a little soak of both and see

[WillyChang]

It really depends on the paint... helps if you know what it is.

Last night's project:- stripping the white off some BCGs []. They spent a day covered in EasyOff... but only made the paint scrapable. Poured on some metho... paint fell off in less than 2 mins.

But one of the wings (in a strange 'darker' plastic) promptly fell into 4 bits... am praying the caustic stuff didn't make it brittle.

[SJoerD]

As said, if you try BF (or any other cleaning stuff) on a lexan body, get yourself one to 'pracitce' on first! []

I heared stories of the lexan becoming brittle, but also about an Astute shell which was done with it, and that one looked fine. As far as I remember he used BF from an aircraft, don't know if that's many difference.

The 'free' brakefluid: Do you really think those garages should care about that? [] If they can get them rid of a little waste (we not taking 100s of litres, do we?), they will give you some if you ask nicely for it.. [|)]

Sjoerd [8D]

[Shodog]

quote:Originally posted by Sjoerd

The 'free' brakefluid: Do you really think those garages should care about that? [] If they can get them rid of a little waste (we not taking 100s of litres, do we?), they will give you some if you ask nicely for it.. [|)]

Sjoerd [8D]

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Here in environmentally and sue happy California, you probably won't get any free brake fluid. An example of its liability is if someone is to take that used fluid, put it in there car and then have a brake related failure and end up crashing. I would bet they could find a jury of 12 like minded idiots to side with them against a perceived deep pocket defendant.

You don't need any examples of an environmental hazard. Those are obvious. Recently I just had my car smogged. here in Cali you have to have your car tested for excessive tail pip emissions every two years. Other than checking the exhaust pipe for emissions, there are a number of additional checks that have to be made. like making sure the gas cap is sealed. Making sure the gas filler pipe is intact. Checking the EGR valve. Visual check of the catalytic converter system. Now this technician could have skipped all that and just checked okay on all those parts. But what if I was an inspector sent by the bureau of automotive repair to check on this shop. He would have no way of knowing who I was. By not doing his diligence, his license to do Smog tests could be revoked. The same applies to asking for used Brake Fluid which is an enviromental hazard. There is no way in badword that a shop owner is going to risk his license to give me used Brake fluid. All of this hassle over a $3 container of Brake fluid? Don't cheap out get some new clean stuff.

[DJTheo]

quote:here in Cali you have to have your car tested for excessive tail pip emissions every two years.

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In security and enironment happy Germany think you have to check your emissions and whole car every 2 years since 1970! []

[SJoerD]

I believe California is the area where the governement has the highest emmision / polution standards. There is no comparison with that to any other part of the world.

Of course I'll tell the owner what I use it for, he will understand I am not going to use it in my car (not that I have one). If they would give it to me for use in my car, that would be a different story. But that's not the case here. [] I would be called at least 'dumb' for asking it to use it in my car, then they'd never gave me some (of course)... [xx(]

Sjoerd

[DJTheo]

quote:I believe California is the area where the governement has the highest emmision / polution standards.

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I also think so, just meant that the emissions/technical checks were invented and started along before in Europe, when the average US car was consuming 20+ lit/100km, actually still many US cars still do so [][]

[WillyChang]

quote:Originally posted by Sjoerd

The 'free' brakefluid: Do you really think those garages should care about that? []

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Well, they might if there are laws regarding its disposal.

There's also the logistics issue... usually if there's laws about any waste's storage/disposal, there'll also be things like inground tanks, secured waste tanks etc so you can't easily knock it over. Some modern garages have systems where oil goes straight from your sump into a big funnel into a underground collection system.

Some of these tanks might also not be accessible to the public, only the waste pumper truck can get the stuff out. These trucks are big business now.

quote:Originally posted by Sjoerd

If they can get them rid of a little waste (we not taking 100s of litres, do we?), they will give you some if you ask nicely for it.. [|)]

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You'll need approx 1L to do 4 wheels, and 20L to dip a whole body comfortably - even more if your container is bigger than ideal.

Imho the best way to get used brake fluid is to go buy fresh stuff, then flush and refill all your family's cars. (Assuming your family all trusts you to mess with their brakes, that is - don't go kill anyone ok?)

[WillyChang]

quote:Originally posted by DJTheo

...when the average US car was consuming 20+ lit/100km, actually still many US cars still do so [][]

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AMG Merc ML55 and BMW X5 4.6 don't sip much less either... or are these SUVs considered "US" cars now?? [:I]

[67CamaroSS]

Nitro Fuel works, it takes some time but it works, and depends on how thick the paint is. Here is the proof

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=1193&id=135

email me if you want more details

[DJTheo]

quote:AMG Merc ML55 and BMW X5 4.6 don't sip much less either... or are these SUVs considered "US" cars now??

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First of all every rule has is exception, also the new Maybach consumes 20+L/100km but these are special cars, the average fleet consumes less than 9 []

Second you can actually consider both above "US" cars as they are produced in USA, were released mainly to cover the need of luxury SUVs in USA and are sold mainly there [] Shame that BMW doesn't bring the X5 Lemans prototype with 700PS and more than 300km/h to production... []

[WillyChang]

quote:Originally posted by DJTheo

Second you can actually consider both above "US" cars as they are produced in USA, were released mainly to cover the need of luxury SUVs in USA and are sold mainly there []

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That's what I meant... don't think they build them anywhere else in the world, do they?

quote:Originally posted by DJTheoShame that BMW doesn't bring the X5 Lemans prototype with 700PS and more than 300km/h to production... []

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My vote's for Pike's Peak!! [)]

[Rammer]

I've recently used Nail Varnish Remover on a lexan shell - it can 'cloud' it if left on too long but seems to remove paint very quickly.[8D]

[wldnas]

NITRO FUEL!!!!

its one of the best thigs you will find to strip lexan, it aint cheap though, so buying enuff to fill a bucket so you can soak a body in it could easily bacrupt a person. the other method is to dab a bit on an old (clean) rag and start rubbin' it can take a while, and if the body was painted with anything other than Polycarbonate paint ot Acrilic then it may struggle to shift it. and after prolonged use it makes your fingers feel all funny and the fumes are a bit funky but not as bad as some other chemicals Ive used.

but its kind to the lexan, dosent mist or scatch it like Brake fluid and Nail polish remover would, but it can be tricky to get into the tight corners especially on the spoiler side battons so use cotton buds for that. it might not get 100% of the paint off and you may be left with some small patches of the old paint which you can gengerly scrape off with a craft knife or small pin.

OH and another thing its highly flammable (so take great care to keep it away from any possible scorces of igntion and also when youve finished with the rag dispose of it safely, even though if left to dry the nitro eveporates quite readily leaving very little residue on the rags except for the paint youve just rubbed off.

and above all else DON'T knock the Nitro bottle over its easily done... TRUST ME Ive been there [V]

[Marc Brevoord]

is that for shure that you can't use brake fluid for lexan body shells??????????????????

marc

[Shodog]

quote:Originally posted by Marc Brevoord

is that for shure that you can't use brake fluid for lexan body shells??????????????????

marc

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Well Marc your mileage may vary is the answer. I have heard of people using brake fluid on Lexan shells with good results. It has been my expirience that it turns the lexan a milky white color so I don't use it. I have heard all kinds of ways of stripping paint. Some sound like they would damage the body. This is what I have actually used and I'm not just repeating what I have heard works. For

Hard plastic bodies I use Easy off oven cleaner in the yellow can and for Lexan bodies I use nitro fuel.

Jim

[Bibbo]

I have just done my first paint stripping job.

It was on my Ranger body because I messed it up too many times and decided to go back and start again.

It had a lightish layer of undercoat and then a really light coat of metalic blue. I think these were Tamiya paint. They were there when I got the car. I painted over this with Tamiya paint, then rubbed it back because it was the wrong colour and tried using car paint. But I messed it up[V][V][V][V]

I put it in brake fluid, but on one side at a time because I did'nt have a very big bucket. The first side was perfect, after 1 day the paint just rubbed off with a toothbrush and a little bit of rubbing compound ( like polish with very fine grit ).

When I removed the other side it took ages to soften and then it still took a lot of rubbing. It also made that side quite "white". These bodies are made of dark blue plastic. The only reason I can think of is that the brake fluid was contaminated from the first sides paint. It has come up perfect now though. I have just finished the Tamiya fine primer layer and it's good.

Just wonder if the "old" brake fluid was'nt so good

[Travill]

I have just stripped a lexan body which had thick paint on for 10 years! I used white spirit and a cloth, it came off a treat with a bit of elbo grease. I tried meths, turps and a bit of fuel before the white spirit but found this best. It didn't cloud at all (i left it in there a couple of days!) and now it looks like new.

JT

[Marc Brevoord]

so Travill, you just put your lexan body in a basin with with spirit or do you rub in on the body with a cloth???

Marc

[bholio]

Can someone tell me the American term for 'white spirit'?

Is that Vodka?