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mheald

Stripping Lexan Bodyshell...RESULT!

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Hey guys,

I've not taken any photo's yet as its still going on, but I just wanted to share the fact that I've had total success stripping the paint off an old lexan shell!

I got an old Tomy Intruder a while back and wanted to attempt stripping the shell and decided to try the DOT4 brake fluid route. Some say its a winner, some it doesn't work and destroys the shell. And to my delight, its a winner!

From the examples I've read, people seem to say you only need to leave the stuff on for an hour, but ****, if the paint is on thick and is a good quality, it needs WAAAAAAAAAY more than that. I'm on stripping run number 4 and each run is being left on for 24hrs! But the results are ace!

What I have discovered is that the best way to make it work is by filling the shell with kitchen roll and then pouring the DOT4 into the paper filled shell. Just pouring the stuff in neat seems to leave a cloudy result and is very, very slow to work.

Anyway, yeah, just thought I'd share that. I'll post piccies when the shell is done. Likely Monday at the current rate.

Mike.

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Hmm, I tried DOT4 on a Dark Impact buggy wing in the past, and after just a few swipes with a paper towel the polycarbonate crazed, cracked, and crumbled in my hands. I had to throw it out and buy a new one. DOT3 is much more gentle on polycarbonate, and I've successfully stripped paint over a period of days with it.

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[EDIT] DOT3.....NOT DOT4 [EDIT]

I've used the DOT3 with success before on a body, too. Messy, smelly, and a PITA, but it worked.

Edited by lawdog

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How bizarre. I cant for the life of me understand why the results are so varied. I've heard of some folks managing the whole process smoothly in under 2hrs, others like me where it takes forever with lots of elbow grease, and then others where it goes totally wrong and ruins the shell.

I wonder if there is a dramatic difference between brands of DOT4, in the same way as there are performance oils and basic oils. Hmmm. I'm using el cheapo £2 stuff from a local hardware shop.

The Intruder shell is probably the flimsiest shell I've ever seen so if this was going to kill anything it'd certainly kill this.

Hmmmm.

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4x24hrs.... multiply the remainder... carry the one... add your age... Bloodihell that's 96 hours! And it's still not done? Wiping with Cellulose thinners always worked for me, doesn't effect the lexan or require soaking and is a lot quicker than that.

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I believe tar & glue remover (used in car valeting) works really well too

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The more transparent / new the brake fluid (regardless of grade) the less corrosive it is. Old stuff has reacted / gone browny/orange and is much more corrosive.

My experience using it to strip a bodyshell wasn't very successful, it got the paint off but it screwed the shell up symultaneously, sending it cloudy and brittle :(

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Yep the beefy one is right about this stuff it's excellent just takes a bit of elbow grease but it works great

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I've used purple power degreaser to remove paint from several bodies, when I tried on an old Tamiya S-10 body. It ate a hole into it. I wonder if the age of the body plays into the factor?

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I have a lexan shell for my LB and I had it painted with acrylic enamel paint that started chipping.

When removing that paint, DOT3 brake fluid did nothing but oil up the paint. But DOT4 actually started to dissolve the paint... kind of like sand in water or something. DOT4 was definitely effective.

But when the paint was removed there was a cloudy sheen to the lexan, although I'm not sure what caused it... might have been all the scrubbing and toothbrushing I did during the removal process.

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