Best way to remove paint from plastics...

[hikermikem]

My 550E project was rattle can painted grey when I got her (quite ugly). I've been repairing all the cracked plastics, & was just going to rattle can paint them again with a nicer color (medium blue).

Just making her presentable - this will be my son's first bike & he'll be learning, so I imagine it will be dropped a few times in the process...

Seemed like the PO simply sprayed the grey over the factory paint without any kind of prep - the grey chips off in big pieces & the red paint underneath is nice & shiney.

I was considering getting all the plastics media-blasted, but the local outfit I spoke with indicated they had bad experiences blasting plastics, as the finish usually came out looking like the surface of a walnut. He suggested using a chemical stripper - something that could be used to take the paint off fiberglass would work he suggested.

What do you guys think? Again, not trying to "restore" this thing, just clean in up & paint the tank & plastics with rattle-can engine enamel (because it resists oil & gas).

[cowboyup3371]

I'm preparing to do my bike and I spoke to a fairly reputable person at my local paint shop. I'm told the best thing to do is simple hand sanding to get ride of the old stuff.

[Matchless]

Someone posted a while back that he used brake fluid to get the paint of the side covers, have never tried it myself though...

[Jason the terminator]

Has anyone tried soda blasting? Not sure how it would work for plastic but is save for most other finishes.

[Nessism]

I've done the soaking in brake fluid trick before, and while it does work it takes a long time and a lot of brake fluid.

[Matchless]

I've done the soaking in brake fluid trick before, and while it does work it takes a long time and a lot of brake fluid.

Unless it drips on your new paint, then it works fast! Murphy's law!

[cyclefvr2]

i would not use brake fluid!, if the fluid soaks in the plastic, no paint will stick to it again, it will peel through all new primer,and paints
check with a paint dealer, i need to do this as well on my side panels

[tkent02]

Has anyone tried soda blasting? Not sure how it would work for plastic but is save for most other finishes.

I have an extra side cover, with cracks and everything, and a little soda blaster gun, I can try this.

[don_gibb6512]

i would not use brake fluid!, if the fluid soaks in the plastic, no paint will stick to it again, it will peel through all new primer,and paints

Hmmm. Haven't heard that before. I used brake fluid to remove the paint from both my side covers and the front fender and haven't had any problem with the new paint. That's been about 2 years now. Will have to do some research on this. Thanks for the tip.

[Matchless]

I will be doing my plastics sometime in the future and it will be good to know the best and easiest method.

[don_gibb6512]

I will be doing my plastics sometime in the future and it will be good to know the best and easiest method.

I've done both sanding and the brake fluid method and brake fluid is by FAR the easier of the two. Brake fluid is pretty cheap over all. I soaked my plastic side panels and fender in a tall kitchen garbage bag after I used a paint brush to thoroughly coat them with fluid. Let it sit for about 3 days, re-applying a good coat of fluid each day and it just wiped off with some paper towels. Yes, it was that easy. I washed them in the sink with soap and water and used a scrub pad and a tooth brush to get at any bits left in the crevices. Took it right down to the original plastic surface. I used a few coats of plastic primer and then plastic specific paint (rattle can job) and they turned out pretty good. I didn't use any clear coat and that's a mistake. I'm going to use several coats of that the next time I do this.

Good luck.

EDIT: Nothing higher than Dot 3

[nvr2old]

Just sand the pieces and you should be fine. They're small parts, how hard can it be? 180 grit will take it right down. Paint strippers and other chemicals are bad for plastic or fiberglass. Sanding is 99% of any paint work, prep-finish.

[wirelessguy]

Here is some good news for you on the paint removal front.

I'm in the midst of my own stripping and prep for an overhaul on my bike and just tested this out.

Like you hear everywhere else... try this on some small portion of the plastic item before slathering it in paint stripper. I bought my paint stripper at Lowes/Home Depot. It is gel like and goes on as a thick coating (stroke in one direction only).

For plastics I would not leave the stripper on for an extended period of time but rather watch the paint bubble and flake off then remove with a paper towel (while wearing rubber gloves, so you don't burn your skin). Took me a few applications but worked great and did not burn thru any plastic I had.

Photos...
With stripper applied to my fender...


After water bath and wipe down...


Good luck.

[sschering]

The plastic model train and car folks use EZ-off oven cleaner to strip paint.. (Yellow cap can)

I have a few junk side covers I could test it on.

[Nessism]

Holy crap man, be careful using paint stripper on plastic parts. May be okay if not left to dwell too long, but sounds risky to me.