Stripping Plastic Parts, Thanks NJSteve!
 

I have an old Dixco hood tach that was in very good original condition but had been painted in the past by someone who did not put too much effort into their masking. The good news is, it also looks like they did not put much effort into prepping for paint either since it looked like the housing had not been sanded prior to paint.

I wanted to strip the housing without sandpaper etc. to preserve the originality of the tach. I remembered njsteve using a degreaser to strip parts on his TA project. I contacted Steve and got some details on the process and decided to dive right in.

The process is very simple. You will need a degreaser/purple cleaner such as Purple Power or Castrol Super Clean. The Purple Power was on sale at Napa for $3.99 a gallon so I went with that. All you need to do is find a suitable container to soak the parts in. Place the parts in the container and submerge them in full strength cleaner. Steve told me it could take from minutes to a few days depending on the type of paint, etc.

I let the parts sit for a day and could see the paint getting softer but did not see any delaminating. I went out of town for the weekend and just checked the parts today. The degreaser totally stripped the parts with absolutely zero damage. The paint rinsed right off with water and no scrubbing, etc.

I was hesitant to strip the lens with the degreaser. After seeing the results of the black pieces I decided to dunk the lens as well. I will post the lens results in the next few days. I thought this was a very cool process that could help many of us. Just thought I'd share.


Jason

Re: Stripping Plastic Parts, Thanks NJSteve!
 

Tach Before:

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...xcoBefore1.jpg

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...xcoBefore2.jpg


Disassembled:


http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/Dixco002.jpg

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/Dixco003.jpg

Re: Stripping Plastic Parts, Thanks NJSteve!
 

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/Dixco004.jpg

Degreaser and Soaking pot:


http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/Dixco006.jpg


Soaking:


http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/Dixco007.jpg

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/Dixco008.jpg

Re: Stripping Plastic Parts, Thanks NJSteve!
 

After the Weekend:


http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/Dixco009.jpg

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/Dixco010.jpg



Washed:

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/Dixco013.jpg

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/Dixco014.jpg

Re: Stripping Plastic Parts, Thanks NJSteve!
 

Lens:

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/Dixco005.jpg

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/Dixco011.jpg

Thanks Steve!

Re: Stripping Plastic Parts, Thanks NJSteve!
 

You're welcome! Glad it worked out OK. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

Re: Stripping Plastic Parts, Thanks NJSteve!
 

It worked well on the lens also with no distortion or discoloration.


Jason

Re: Stripping Plastic Parts, Thanks NJSteve!
 

McGyver strikes again!

Re: Stripping Plastic Parts, Thanks NJSteve!
 

No need to thank me, just go see my movie!

McGruber!

[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/headbang.gif[/img]

Re: Stripping Plastic Parts, Thanks NJSteve!
 

Be careful Steve, I went to that movie. It did a lot more blowing than blowing up.


Jason

Re: Stripping Plastic Parts, Thanks NJSteve!
 

I'm on some heavy duty muscle relaxers...and my spelling lately has been interesting to say the least...

I can't believe that I spelled that all correctly...LOL [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/hmmm.gif[/img] [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

Re: Stripping Plastic Parts, Thanks NJSteve!
 

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SuperNovaSS</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Be careful Steve, I went to that movie. It did a lot more blowing than blowing up.


Jason </div></div>

LOL!

Re: Stripping Plastic Parts, Thanks NJSteve!
 

assembled:


http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...sembled001.jpg

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...sembled002.jpg

Re: Stripping Plastic Parts, Thanks NJSteve!
 

Looks great Jason!

Re: Stripping Plastic Parts, Thanks NJSteve!
 

That's pretty good results from a backyard chemistry set. I've been getting like results from my basement lab using nothing more exotic ( read cheap ) than lye and vinegar. Only using them on cast iron or steel though, and not mixing the two chemicals together.

What does that Purple stuff do to aluminum?

Re: Stripping Plastic Parts, Thanks NJSteve!
 

Not sure what is does to aluminum. I know lye with take out aluminum. I have used it to get aluminum out of heat cross overs in steel heads before. I will have to put a piece of scrap aluminum in there to find out.




Jason

Re: Stripping Plastic Parts, Thanks NJSteve!
 

My son recommended Purple Power a few months back. He uses it in his parts washer. I bought a jug but haven't used it yet. Never considered using it for paint removal. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

Years ago we used Westley's Bleche-Wite® to remove paint from plastic model cars. Just let it soak overnight and scrub it with a soft toothbrush. Worked wonders.

Re: Stripping Plastic Parts, Thanks NJSteve!
 

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: John Brown</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> What does that Purple stuff do to aluminum? </div></div>

Just tried Purple Power out on an Aluminum Thermostat Housing for a sb/bb Chevy.

I won't do that again. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/thumbsdown.gif[/img]

I only had it in for about an hour. Full strength Purple Power took off some more of the left over paint and goo, but the bowl was foaming and the aluminum was changing color. The housing came out pretty dark. Luckily I didn't leave it in overnight like I had originally planned. I had a speedo reducer housing (zink?) and gears that I had left in for two days and the P.P. loosened all the old grease and crud. Worked fine on that. Gonna try some plastic parts next. I think I'm gonna like it though. Just don't put any vauluable parts in there with out trying it on a junk part first.

Re: Stripping Plastic Parts, Thanks NJSteve!
 

Good to know. Thanks for the heads up. I have left oven cleaner on intakes too long before and had the same result. A quick bead blasting returned the original aluminum sheen.


Jason

Re: Stripping Plastic Parts, Thanks NJSteve!
 

I would not let anything other than plastic soak in the stuff for any length of time, full strength. I will errode aluminum and discolor steel (and remove skin).