Found two good ways to remove paint

[vwjuice]

Ok I know a lot of guys have tried various methods and have come up with very mixed results. Well I wanted to try on a couple worn out bodies I was planning on throwing away.

I tried it on the body from the Rad2 that I just got, and old outrage body, and on a Short course body on my daughters slash. The trick worked on both, but worked best on the old paint on the rad2 body.

I tried easy off, brake cleaner, and dot3. Yes I know these have been tried.

The first two didn't work. The dot3 didn't work...........at First.

I coated the rad2 body with dot3 brake fluid (just cheap generic stuff) and I used a foam brush to spread it evenly on the entire body both inside and out. I spread new on every hour for half a day and didn't see any progress. I got busy with other stuff and set the body in a tupperware box with a lid half on and set it outside on the back deck and forgot about it. I went and grabbed it tonight (6 days later) and to my surprise I could peel the pain off with my fingers. I pulled several layers of paint off and then used my nail to scrap more off. To my surprise there wasn't any hazing of the body. It looks hazy, but it's overspray on the inside which I verified by scraping it off with my nail.

Anyway I tried it on the short course body and it did the same trick although didn't work quite as well. It didn't damage the body at all, but it will take a litle bit more effort to get it off. The body will be saved though which is great.

I also was cleaning my race truck body today with some simple green straight out of the bottle without diluting it. I had too leave and go help my wife when her car broke down. Came home about an hour later and the paint had peeled on the inside of the body. I know the paint was Parma Faskolor and it was about two years old. Came up easy. I tried it on another body that I screwed up painting and it did the same thing.

So if you use faskolor paint, simple green works amazing. If an older body, dot3 that soaks for a week works pretty well also.

[RC104ever]

Very cool - I will have to try this!

[Lonestar]

good to know, thanks.

On the faskolor one, sounds like you painted it in the first place. What's your prep method?

Cheers
Paul

[Coelacanth]

I still have a body painted decades ago with Pactra that wasn't fully removed by the brake fluid method, but what the heck--I'll coat it and let it sit for a day, as you suggested. The body's already a write-off so it can't hurt. FasKolor is relatively new so it wouldn't have had the opportunity to bond over decades like Pactra would have. If the original vintage paint was Tamiya acrylic, that doesn't take much work to remove.

I'll also soak a piece of nice, clean, clear unpainted Lexan in DOT3 brake fluid for a few days and see if any hazing develops.

[justinspeed79]

Dot 4 brake fluid worlds better than dot 3, it will only take 3 days. Lol....

Your findings with the simple green surprise me. I only use Faskolor/Createx paint for Lexan, and I only use simple green for all-purpous cleaning, I have never seen any evidence of the simple green removing paint. Makes me wonder if there isn't some other factor at work. Faskolor is water based, so if you keep it wet long enough just about any liquid will take it off.

[vintage AE]

Cool, I'm going to try it on a body too.

I'm still trying to find out how to paint lightening bolts btw. I hope you aren't in a hury.

[vwjuice]

I use faskolor and creatix. As with any paint job I do (I'm not very good) I wash the body with warm water and dawn dish soap. Use a shammy(?) too dry it and let it sit for about an hour by the heater vent in the winter or by a window in the summer. I will put the paint next too it as well so they hear up and bond better. I then use steel wool or 200 grit sandpaper and lightly rough up the inside of the body for better adhesion and then wash and dry it again.

Mask it off and start painting. I do the same method for all paints.

I let the brake fluid soak for 6 days. I used dot3 since dot4 seems too leave things very hazy and brittle.

I was very surprised by the simple clean. I've always used simple green to clean my tires and the truck in general. I was trying to clean the body on my Blitz that I had just sold and wanted too make sure it was all clean.

I am trying my daughters slash body now. It has new tamiya paint backed with pactra that was for the flames. We will see how that one goes.

[vwjuice]

AE no worries. You've got a few months to perfect it before I'll be ready.

[Coelacanth]

Dot 4 brake fluid worlds better than dot 3, it will only take 3 days. Lol....

Your findings with the simple green surprise me. I only use Faskolor/Createx paint for Lexan, and I only use simple green for all-purpous cleaning, I have never seen any evidence of the simple green removing paint. Makes me wonder if there isn't some other factor at work. Faskolor is water based, so if you keep it wet long enough just about any liquid will take it off.

Water is only used as the medium for applying the paint; once the paint has dried & fully cured, it's supposed to bond to Lexan, just like Pactra did. You can only use water or another liquid to remove FasKolor paints within a day or so of painting it, it's supposed to get very difficult to remove after the paint cures.

[vwjuice]

Well I can tell you that simple green straight from the bottle without being diluted will strip it with ease a couple years later.

I don't know what paint was used with this body, but it looks like the same shade of pactra that I use too use. Simple green allowed to soak for an hour and a plastic bristle brush used for cleaning and it started coming off.

This is my blitz body with all faskolor and faslucent paints that is two years old.
You can see the paint peeling off.

[Coelacanth]

Simple Green isn't water, though.

[vwjuice]

I've always used simple green, but its usually only a couple ounces of simple green to about a quart of water. I was wanting too make the green look as good as new so I used straight simple green and it did that.

[REMJ666]

Simple green will also take the ano off of parts...

[vwjuice]

Oh good. Easy off wasn't working as well as it used too

[LTO_Dave]

I had the same results with DOT3 and Pactra. I soaked rags in the fluid and placed them on the inside of the body. I waited several days and the paint came off easily and the body didn't fog.