How to? strip paint from plastic

Whats the best way to remove a few coats of paint from plastic side covers and the tail?? Is there a safe chemical stripper or bead blast, sandpaper??
thanks
gregz

Brake fluid reportedly does a pretty good job removing the paint without damaging the plastic body parts.

Have never tried this, so please await more confident advice.

Good Luck!

Two words: Brake Fluid! It will strip paint and not do any damge like regular paint stripper will.

Get a soft bristle brush for the stubborn areas, use some solvent resistant gloves and try to do it in a well ventilated area as the chemical action might smell.

A through scrub with some hot water and soap should remove any residue.

MFolks wrote:

Two words: Brake Fluid! It will strip paint and not do any damge like regular paint stripper will....

That's pretty confident. :lol:

Good Luck!

Not only will I try it ,I will post before and after photos for future referance
Cheerz
gregz

I wish I had asked before I ruined a Z1 tail piece with aircraft paint stripper last summer. Applied the stripper and then hit it with the pressure washer. Totally ruined, I felt pretty stupid and mad at the same time. Curious to see the results from the brake fluid method.

GregZ wrote:

Not only will I try it ,I will post before and after photos for future referance
Cheerz
gregz

Please do gregz, I've got all the plastic body parts from my project bike to strip and I had the same question you did.

Love to see your results.

Good luck.

with a light sandblaster it is possible to strip paint from plastic as well. However an industrial gun will do some damage.

One of the warnings on a side of can of brake fluid is to avoid spilling it on any painted surface. If it does, rinse it at once with plenty of cold water as it will remove the paint. I have very successfully used brake fluid to remove paint from plastic model trains. Rarely have I heard of any damage to the plastic. As previously stated, use a soft brush and planty of cold water and soap to clean off the old paint and brake fluid residue. The original plastic mold color could be black, white or gray, and I have never had the plastic damaged. I would think that the motorcycle manufacturers would use better quality plastic on their bikes than a model boxcar manufacturer whose products are made is some plant in China.
However, if I had a spare side cover, that would be the place to start. good luck.

I've used brake fluid before to strip side covers. Worked great. I made a form-fitting "bowl" with alum foil to minimize the amount of fluid needed to maintain full coverage. I can't remember exactly how long I let it soak, but it seems like I left it overnight. There was no damage to the plastic. "Most" of the paint just slid right off. There were still a few stubborn spots, however, which I ended up just sanding off.

However, cleanup afterwards is very important. The fluid can hide out in microscopic pores in the plastic, and will emerge after you repaint to cause lifting of the new paint.

I cleaned the parts with soap & water as thoroughly as possible. Then I ran them through a dishwasher cycle just to be sure. Didn't have any problems after repaint.

PPG (and others) make a paint remover specifically for plastic parts. Any auto parts store should have or can get this for you.

Jeff.Saunders wrote:

PPG (and others) make a paint remover specifically for plastic parts. Any auto parts store should have or can get this for you.

Thanks Jeff and once again thanks for the great service at Z1 enterprise. top notch!!
gregz