I picked up a nice wall mount tire repair parts tin box that someone painted gold. Original graphics are under it and i want to save it. What have you found that will take off a top coat and not effect the original. Thanks, I'd post photos but the new camera photos come out too large to post. Bob
Lacquer thinner is the old stand by for this. Slowly and carefully. I just bought a product at a local paint shop the other day called "gun wash", that seems like a lacquer / acetone mix of some sort that seems a bit less aggressive. It might do an even better job. Unfortunately it's something they buy in bulk and package in their own branded cans, so I can't really give you any details.
I would use very fine wet sandpaper. start with 2000 grit and see how it goes. any chemicals that would remove the gold could also remove the paint underneath.
All due respect, there are some terrible ideas here. Lacquer thinner and MEK will destroy all the paint on that box. Acetone will likely do the same. VM&P Naptha may take off the gold if it is cheap spray paint. The wet sanding idea is a good one too if you use very fine paper (600-1000). Take it slow and try a small area first. If you find a light solvent that works, keep moving and don't stay too long in one spot. Post up your results so we can see how you do. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Easy Off in the yellow can. I'd do a small area or three on a lesser seen side to figure out how long to let it sit. start with spray and let it sit just a minute or two. if that don't get it try 5 minutes. and so on. i've stripped complete repaints back to og paint on cars like this. oh yeah when you're grabbing the easy off grab a big pair of rubber gloves.
I'd be careful about using Easy Off, as your original finish is extremely thin. Bob, whatever you decide to try, experiment in a spot that won't show as much and watch it over a number of days- certain chemicals may react slowly.
I fussed around with it for a half hour today, used all the above except the Easy Off. Gas just cleaned off the grime, Laquer thinner seamed to be the best, then I hit it with some GIBBS, for some reason it seamed to help. I've done whole cars with a razor blade but this stuff was too thin. I did get some of the original lettering to show. That Bowes Seal Fast combination of cream red and black just look so ringht to my eye. If I could resize the photos my new camera takes you could all see it. Bob
Bob: I have also used easyoff to strip paint off model cars, it does work. try a spot on the back. Also, I may be able to help you re-size your pics if you want. Tim
The idea of using any type of chemical stripper here seems like a bad one to me. If it will remove the new paint, there is also a good chance it will remove the old paint you want to save as well. You also won't have much control over how much paint the chemicals will remove once it's on there. If you use a fine sandpaper, you can just stop sanding in a spot if it looks like you're where you need to be. I think that offers the most control
Your camera is probably set to shoot at the maximum image size, which might be 8 or 10 megapixels or more. Scroll thru the camera's menus and see if you can find a way to reset the image size to something like 800 x 600 or 1600 x 1200 pixels.
Boat guys use brake fluid, to strip paint off of the huals of baots. it has a slow stripping effect. Thedo this when people have painted of some of those hevay metal flake paint jobs, to try and save them.
I don't know how the original paint and lettering was applied, I think it was some sort of baked on deal There are sections with letters that stand above the base color, there are also sections were the letters are sunk below the surounding color. I'm going to take Timwit up on the photo resize offer. Mark I did try some blue masking tape and nothing happened. Bob
I think you would need something stronger than the blue tape. Blue is made to come off without removing the finish underneath.
I would use the oven cleaner. We used it to take lettering off cars without disturbing the original paint. Do a small spot a few inches square, wipe it off and neutralize it as soon as the paint lifts. The original baked enamel is very durable, the easy off won't hurt it if you are careful. But, try it on a small spot on the back or inside and work your way around to the front. By the time you get the back and sides done you should have the knack.
if you look at the truck in my avatar. I removed the spray bomb primer with a maroon scotch bright pad and medium reducer, like what you use for reducing paint before spraying a car. its like acetone but slower and more controlled. It worked great and did not appear to do damage to the under paint. i used a spray bottle and worked in small areas but was able to get the whole truck done in a few days
Oven cleaner is a well known surface paint remover. Google "vw oven cleaner paint" and go to the Samba site as well as look at google images.
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