Removing paint from plastic body parts ?

Is sanding the only good way ? I'm afraid of incompatibility of the new and old materials . I would like to start from bare plastic if possible . Any tricks ? Thanks .

Its been my experience that any type of remover has a detramental effect on the plastic, and i am sure you dont want that. I just got done sanding my side covers down to the plastic. Then you know the drill.... primer, sand, primer, sand......... prep is key!! Good luck!

jrjstuff wrote:

Its been my experience that any type of remover has a detramental effect on the plastic, and i am sure you dont want that. I just got done sanding my side covers down to the plastic. Then you know the drill.... primer, sand, primer, sand......... prep is key!! Good luck!

I concur:)

That's what I thought I would hear . No big deal , there really isn't that much plastic on these old bikes anyway .

i just used some "citristrip" ,on some sidecovers
i tried it on the back overnight and it just dulled the plastic shine a little

You can try brake fluid but you must make sure that the parts are totally cleansed of the fluid before painting or your paint will be ruined.

I just painted over my factory covers with lacquer and no problems so far. If I could get by with that, I'm sure you will be fine. This old paint is very stable by now. I will say that I did strip the tank and yes it was a pain in the butt.

I used a wheel on the pin striping that was clogging up the sandpaper on the orbital sander. Made really ugly furrows in the plastic. Oh well. For the side covers I will just stick to the sand paper and change it often for those damn gummy stripes.

sharp blade:

scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape scrape

Abrasive drywall pad:

scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff scuff

Comet Cleanser, Barkeeps Friend, or Finishing Compound and a kitchen sponge:

buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff buff

Get it?

I just scuffed them up w/rough sandpaper, to give the primer something to hold on to, then used a "filler primer". Then sand(medium), reprime, sand,...etc until defects were smooth, then came painting/clearcoat.

Qdude wrote:

I used a wheel on the pin striping that was clogging up the sandpaper on the orbital sander. Made really ugly furrows in the plastic. Oh well. For the side covers I will just stick to the sand paper and change it often for those damn gummy stripes.

Try a hair dryer on the pin stripes to heat up the adhesive backing and make the old pin stripes less brittle, then carefully peel up an edge of one and pull it off. It will probably break several times but this method worked best for me.

I used brake fluid on a pair of side covers. It worked well for removing the ugly laquer paint that the PO had applied. It also removed the factory pin stripes that the the PO painted over. :blink:

Soaked it in a brake fluid bath overnight, and in the morning, everything just slid right off.

It did not do much to the underlying factory paint. Maybe dulled it a little.

Afterwards, I cleaned them up real good, then ran them through the dishwasher. Worked quite well.

You are either single, or sneaky;) ,
OR I want to meet your wife's sister if she has any.

I slept on the couch for putting my tank in the dryer (wedged with towels with steel bb's in it tumbling to remove rust).

Why aren't women more impressed with our ingenuity?