Topic: side cover stripping question

[cbjunkie]

hmm...i dunno bob - where i'm from there's no better reason for a beer than to watch cars rust in the front yard...why wouldn't watching paint dissolve provide just as much entertainment? 

[Terry in Australia]

what's it called, oh prophet.
...since on this whole thread, you are the ONLY person to come up with some helpful alternative to tedious hand-sanding... 

We, I'm miffed CBJ, I told you all about my ol' Dad using a non caustic oven spray cleaner that he uses for his fragile plastic model planes and you didn't call ME a "prophet", and yet when someone comes along with something that'll slowly strip paint offa big thick placcy bumpers, and still require sume sand-paper work, you fall on your knees like a 2 dollar whore! Well that's it mate, I was gonna show you how to get those nasty dings outta that tank too, but as far as I'm concerned, you can stew in yer own fetid juice!

[cbjunkie]

HAHAHAHAHAHA - whew! thanks peg-boy! that was funny...

[Terry in Australia]

 

[Bob Wessner]

I told you all about my ol' Dad using a non caustic oven spray cleaner

Oh "Prophet Terry"  what would be the name of this product?

P.S. And we don't want to hear it's only available in OZ.

[Terry in Australia]

Thank you for that term of respect Grasshopper, the product of which you enquire, is called "Mr Muscle Non Caustic" and is made by a US company called Johnson, which I believe was named either after a US President, or someone's penis...............  Cheers, Terry. (the "Prophet")

[cbjunkie]

yes. MrMuscle...that is what it's called... 

[magnus72]

Resurrect

Anybody used this Bumper stripper? If this doesnt work, its back to the pads.

http://www.wmbarr.com/product.aspx?catid=1&prodid=45

[Klark Kent]

i believe Bob has since stripped his PO rattlecanned side covers with a long soak in none other than, my friend and yours, simple green.

[Terry in Australia]

SteveK0 showed me a pair of sidecovers and a headlight bucket that he stripped completely using dot 4 brake fluid!

No BS, this stuff took it back to shiny bare plastic, it looked like my mother-in-laws bones when I pulled them outta the acid bath!

Apparently it's a long and lonely process too, but the results are incredible, they look like they just rolled off the factory floor! Cheers, Terry.

[Roach Carver]

Getting in late on this one, but anyway.... I just stripped a plastic fender with a glass beader. worked great. took off the paint with no apparent damage to the part.

[magnus72]

SteveK0 showed me a pair of sidecovers and a headlight bucket that he stripped completely using dot 4 brake fluid!

No BS, this stuff took it back to shiny bare plastic, it looked like my mother-in-laws bones when I pulled them outta the acid bath!

Apparently it's a long and lonely process too, but the results are incredible, they look like they just rolled off the factory floor! Cheers, Terry.

the last paint job slathered on there was some pretty stern stuff. Brake fluid did nothing at all. I have some leftover aircraft stripper. I'm tempted to hit a corner with it. I bet I can catch it before it eats the plastic.

[spitfire]

Here's what I did.

Cheers

Den

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=24344.msg249978#msg249978

[Brantley]

I bought a '74 350 twin for parts a few years ago with non-broken sidecovers that had the same ol' "PO liked rattle can black better than stock color" story. I figured I could do a bit of experimenting on parts from a bike I paid $10 for... Dot 3 Brake fluid works, but it's time consuming. I put a cover in a freezer bag, pushed out as much air as possible, poured enough fluid to get good contact on as much surface as possible, sealed the bag and placed it in a 5 Gal. bucket in case of leaks. Rattle can black was gone in 24 hours with some original paint beginning to bubble. Wiped off what was bubbling, changed fluid and repeated. I think after two or three more tries it was clean of even factory paint except for a few stubburn spots to sand. No damage to plastic. Just takes a while and is messy.

[AndyH]

Resurrecting this thread after a LOOOONG time! 

I'm in the process of restoring a CB500 Four K1 and need to remove goodness knows how many coats of paint from the side covers.  There's been heaps of great tips in this thread but after all said and done it seems that the "elbow grease" method is the best/safest method.

I doubt that "Terry from Australia" is still around, but he was planning way back, to do a swap-over service for side covers.  I wonder if it happened?

Cheers
Himble (Andy from Perth WA)

[Terry in Australia]

Wow, 11 years later, and I'm still alive, and like of of my plans, it went nowhere! Oh well, as long as I've still got my health............

[Magpie]

I'm in the middle of this as well. I've just used sand paper to get the many layers of paint off. My painter said to use a high build primer and finishing putty to fill the nicks and old cracks. A long process but it's prime and sand, prime and sand, repeat as necessary. No short cuts. As some one said it's 90% prep and 10% paint.

[iFart]

Did the same; I sanded the brown paint off my K2 project and discovered it used to be the sunrise orange but was just painted over.

Once saved I primed and then painted with flat black.

[Gordon]

Wow, 11 years later, and I'm still alive,

Nobody is more amazed by this fact than than all of us here!   

[nvr2old]

After reading this whole thread, it's my opinion after painting bikes for 40 years, is to just grab some sandpaper and go to it.  Nobody likes to sand, but with plastic parts, using any chemicals is bad.  It may not look like it's soaked in or contaminated the plastic, but it's so much better to be safe then sorry.  Most people are afraid to start with an aggressive sandpaper.  It's your best friend and saves a lot of time and energy.  Start with 80 grit if it's 20 coats of spray can paint on it.  At the very least you can start with 180 grit and maybe finish with 320.  You need a little tooth on the parts for the primer to adhere to.  I've had great success with polyurethane high-build primers.  No flex agent need.  Block sand it with  400 grit, spray a couple more coats of primer, block it with 600 and spray your base coat.

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, and rubbing back a couple of sidecovers and a headlight bucket doesn't take that long.

[AndyH]

Yep, already started on the headlight bucket, it's coming up (or should I say, paint's coming off!) quite well!
I'm probably using too finer grit (180) to start with, so might take nvr2old's advice and get a bit more aggressive to start with.  The side covers will definitely need more effort! 

[Terry in Australia]

Well I think 180's about the course-est an inexperienced painter should use mate, only because 80 grit is like hitting it with a file, so if you're not careful you'll end up with deep scratches that are hard to fill. The plastic is quite soft, so marks easily. I'd rather go a tad less aggressively, and it'll be a bit easier to finish. Not arguing with nvr2old, he knows his sh1t, but he's been doing it for 40 years. Cheers, Terry.  

[b52bombardier1]

A double action (aka "DA") sander really helps to remove those layers of paint in a hurry. You can't get into the tight spots with the DA but it'll make short work out of the gentle contours in the covers.

Rick

[AndyH]

OK another question:  I'm a tad confused over the best primer/sealer to use after sanding off the paint. 
What is the best for side covers and h/light bucket (plastic) bearing in mind brands/types in Australia may be different to what's available in the US.
TIA.