Brake Fluid Paint Removal

[RussellS]

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

[Bluefoot]

I have used brake fluid on styrene bodies, but not on wheels. I've had no problems like this. I have used various brands, dot 3 or 4 I think (not sure what the "dot" rating is).

Did the plastic crack because of the brake fluid? or did the fluid remove some paint which exposed the (pre-existing) cracks? 

[Renco5012]

I once had the same type of rims soaking in BF for close to a year and never had any of them crack. Like Bluefoot has said, I believe the cracks may have been under the layer of paint.

Good news is that with the re-release of the Grasshopper etc. you can get some brand new wheels for your SS, and they're very cheap! Well they are here in NZ anyway! []

Mike.

[Tamstar]

I think the rims are made of a different material than the body. I also used brake fluid and it did not harm the body, but when used on the rims the plastic got soft and you could scratch it with your fingernail. I also used a chemical to remove paint. No problems with the body, but the number plates (SS), steering wheel (hilux), wipers (SS) got soft or cracked.

[RussellS]

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.

[Dephcon5]

DOT3 brake fluid does not in any way attack the plastic either wheels or shell. I never tried DOT5 but I would think the crack in the wheels was there already but I could be wrong. For paint removal I used easy off oven cleaner on all my SS shells with excelent results. As for wheels its cheeper to just get new ones. The new re re frog uses the exact same wheels and tires the orig SS did.

good luck

g

[DeeMiller]

I prefer oven cleaner.

It works fast (temp. should be >15 deg C though).

I removed all the paint form my 936 in just one hour, great stuff!

This body was completely painted red...

As you can see, it worked outstanding without damagin' the body itself.

 

I just can't believe that brake fluid has broken your rims.

It's water dissolvable so no aggressive stuff for plastics like the body and/or rims.

I also think it was already broken or about to break.

 

Grtz Dee.

[RussellS]

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

[DeeMiller]

I use Muscle oven cleaner:

 

Grtz Dee

 

[T.C~Tamiya]

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.

 

Brake fluid needs a lot longer than an hour and a half, sometimes it can take weeks of soaking for the paint to come off.

In relation to Sand Scorcher wheels, I left some in brake fluid for about three months, I forgot they were in there but when I took them out they still seemed fine, no cracks like you experienced.

[Shodog]

I'll throw my $.02 in.  I have never had a problem with brak fluid but it is by far the slowest method to strip paint.  I am a big fan of Oven Cleaner just make sure you get the heavy duty stuff.

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.a...34664&id=34

another substance named Castrol Super Clean works pretty good also

[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

[quattrokid]

I think i may have some of that mr muscle lurking in the dark cupboard under the sink!!  I just knew if i kept it long ehough ,a use would become apparent for it..........

 

cheers

[DeeMiller]

I think i may have some of that mr muscle lurking in the dark cupboard under the sink!!  I just knew if i kept it long ehough ,a use would become apparent for it..........

 

cheers

Now that's a great quote!

You should change the "Mr. Muscle" into "Mr. Tamiya" though...

 

Grtz Dee

[DJTheo]

I had some ABS bodies in brake fluid for long time and I also noticed they became very brittle and easy to crack afterwards.

Cheers

[OCD]

another substance named Castrol Super Clean works pretty good also

Never knew about this stuff being used as a stripper!  How well

does it work compared to the Easy-Off?

(HD Easy-O 

works great by the way!)

[DeeMiller]

I had some ABS bodies in brake fluid for long time and I also noticed they became very brittle and easy to crack afterwards.

Cheers

Hmm, now that I think of it, brake fluid is highly hygroscopic (not hydroscopic*) so maybe it has something to do with substracting "weak makers" from the plastic in the long term.

Could well be.

 

Grtz Dee

*=Hydroscopic comes from "Hydroscope" which is an optical device to view objects far below the surface of water.

Officially, "hydroscopic" doesn't excists but is used anyway... 

[DJTheo]

Why do you say that in quote of my post, did I write anywhere hydroscopic in it?[*-)][8-)]

Btw hydro comes from hydor which means water in Greek, while hygro means generally fluid. Although hygroscopic is the common used term, actually according to the word roots would mean a material that observes/absorbs any fluid (not necessarily water), while hydroscopic would be the correct for water observing/absorbing substances, but its seems it scientists took the wrong word back then, like also for hydraulic machines which have usually oils and not water. Isn't it helpfull sometimes to be a Greek? []

Cheers

[DeeMiller]

Why do you say that in quote of my post, did I write anywhere hydroscopic in it?[*-)][8-)]

You didn't.

It's just additional info for whoever wants to read it,it's a common mistake.

My quote of your text refers to the "long staying" in the fluid so the plastic may be damaged by the hygroscopic feature of the brake fluid in that period of time.

Hope it's all clear now.[]

 

Grtz Dee

Btw,it's also "hygros" and "scopein"=see/watch

[jonny_bravo]

I find Brake fluid too slow,. (im impatient! []) ,. see my post here about caustic soda on my Scorcher, (the shell in question was the yellow Scorcher in my showroom)

http://tamiyaclub.com/CS/forums/thread/65455.aspx%20" target="_blank"> http://tamiyaclub.com/CS/forums/thread/65455.aspx

[DJTheo]

Btw,it's also "hygros" and "scopein"=see/watch

Nice that a google Greek now wants to teach greek to real one ROFL

hygros is adverb for liquid/fluid, liquid/fluid itself as word is hygro as I wrote above

skopein is the another verb form of the ancient verb skopeo/skopo which as I wrote above means observe, but later skopos came from it which means purpose.

Xeretismous (greetings)

[Shodog]

Never knew about this stuff being used as a stripper!  How well does it work compared to the Easy-Off?

(HD Easy-O  works great by the way!)

Honestly I haven't used it that much.  I bought a spray bottle of the stuff to try it out.  At first I sprayed it on like you would easy off.  Some paints came right off but others wouldn't budge.  It works very well with small pieces I am able to soak in the liquid.  I used it on my wild willy to strip the old red paint off the fire extinguisher and it worked killer. 

[DeeMiller]

Nice that a google Greek now wants to teach greek to real one ROFL

hygros is adverb for liquid/fluid, liquid/fluid itself as word is hygro as I wrote above

skopein is the another verb form of the ancient verb skopeo/skopo which as I wrote above means observe, but later skopos came from it which means purpose.

Xeretismous (greetings)

Ok, but now back to the point: which one is correct in this context of the topic:

"hydroscopic"' or "hygroscopic"? 

 

Grtz Dee

[DJTheo]

As I wrote above

"Btw hydro comes from hydor which means water in Greek, while hygro

means generally fluid. Although hygroscopic is the common used term,

actually according to the word roots would mean a material that

observes/absorbs any fluid (not necessarily water), while hydroscopic

would be the correct for water observing/absorbing substances, but its

seems it scientists took the wrong word back then, like also for

hydraulic machines which have usually oils and not water."

 in the context of this topic "hydroscopic" would be more correct, but its not an official term as scientists who first used/created it confused hygro and hydro, so hygroscopic is actually used as official term for something that has to do with water and should be actually called hydroscopic.

Cheers

[acorn]

Hi,

I've had the exact same problem

It seems to me that its restricted to the grey plastic wheels what came

with the sand rover. I got a job lot of old wheels , and had to strip

some of them. 3 of the grey sand rover wheels completely shattered in

to small pieces. I also noticed a temp drop in the wheels. They felt

very cold. Kinda like when you get petrol ( US - gas) in you skin. I

have never had any damage to the white frog type wheels or the solid

white body shells.

My assumption was that the really old wheels either have fine hairline

cracks as a result of the moulding process, or over time they appear. I

further guess that the break fluid both works its way in to the cracks

and as the temp goes down the fluid in the cracks some how causes the

shattering.

This is a complete guess, but I have definately experienced this on

several grey plastic wheels. I now avoid break fluid on the very old

wheels. I have never had a problem with the body shell though,

although, they do feel more brittle after stripping if BF, as others

have said.

Oddly, I tried the oven cleaner method, and it totally failed!!!