Anyone remember back when it seamed like we were headed for 10k separate posts on.. "These parts seem sort of yellow, is there a way to get them white?"
[quote="I'll check mine tomorrow and report back, All I did was boil the parts for 10 mins, changed the water with boiling water from the kettle, and let the pot naturally cool on it's own before rinsing and scrubbing them in warm water and a mild detergent.[/quote]
I'm going to try that next, no ice water sounds right. I used the ice water for dyeing parts, so I put that thought to the whitening project.
Oops, I forgot about this..... I checked under the front bulkheads of my gold RC10 and there are no noticable markings on the nose plate. The white parts were in a 3% solution for two days. The parts were then boiled for 10 mins and then dumped in fresh boiling water and let cool naturally. Once cool they were washed in warm water and dish soap.
Crazy, I hydro bathed a stock AE tranny brace, came out white, but while boiling in water it went back to yellow, it was the only part in the lot that did that. Put it back in another bath, not even 5 min. turned white, re-boiled, and turned yellow again. Any ideas.
There must be something absorbed into the brace....either from new (bad batch of nylon) or from use (like a lubricant). The hydrogen peroxide only whitens a very thin layer of the plastic on the surface. Subsequent boiling opens the pores of the polymer (polymers act as absorbents) and allows whatever is inside the pores to come to the surface. Chemically, this process is called an extraction and can be achieved with solvents, heat or both. Try soaking the part in acetone for a little while to see if anything comes out at room temperature. It won't hurt the plastic.
I just finished soaking my parts. I did a 2-day soak, both on sunny 80º days, with a blacklight used overnight. I did not achieve paper white like others have on here. Maybe I could have soaked them longer but they currently match a NOS front arm thats been in the dark since I picked it up years ago. Will post pics tonight. This is the first time I've ever stripped down the car to bare nothing. Will be fun building an RC10 like the kit it was back in 1984-85
Welp, here's my attempt. NOTE: The ball cups are brand new RPMs. I did not soak the originals. And yes, I realized I was using the wrong side of the aluminum foil
marlo wrote:Make sure you wash the parts, then a good soak, the hydo, WILL damage your finish!!
Yep I did. That one pic is after I boiled them. One thing I did notice is that the nylon seems to have shrunk slightly around the holes and the parts seemed to be softer and more flexible.