help for removing DIY paint flashes from SX200 panels

[retrorich]

Bought an original set of SX200 panels in good undamaged order. They are in original white but have had some home customising done many years ago. A blue zigzag stripe has been painted on with metalic paint. Runs from front to rear of both panels and stripe is 2 inches wide. I want to get this off but can only think of a very fine wet and dry paper to remove. Concerned I might take the original paint down. Is there a less harsh process to get this paint off without potentially removing the original white?

[coaster]

It will have been done in cellelose if it was done some time ago so I would use celleose thinner. Tackel a small area at a time useing a rag dipped in a little thinner. Stop when the original paint starts to show through. Use cutting compaund (Fefacella G3 is good) to remove the final amount and polish up thr whole panel. Will take some pacience and time though

[retrorich]

Thanks Coaster. Is there anything I can mask off the original paint with so I don't rub over and remove any surrounding area? I think insulation tape might end up being useless if thinners gets into adhesive.
Cheers

Rich

[coaster]

....Is there anything I can mask off the original paint with so I don't rub over and remove any surrounding area? I think insulation tape might end up being useless if thinners gets into adhesive.

You should'nt need to soak the whole panel although it won't really matter if you get a bit of thinner on the surrounding paint just so long as you only rub on the area where you want to remove the paint. I have also heard of grafitti remover being used for removing layers of paint but haven't tried it myself. You mentioned using wet&dry which would also work but I'd be inclined to use nothing courser than 1200 grade towards the edges. The main proble you will have is if the panels are original paint, it will only have 2 very thin coats of paint so it will be fairly easy to expose the primer. Take it very slow and careful working on a very small area until you get a feel for it and work out what works best. Take some pics as you go and show us your progress.

Good luck

Colin

[retrorich]

Thanks once again. The white paint is original but I am comfortable tackling this from your suggestions. I intended to put photos up on my first post but have been unable to get this done. It does not allow me to post pics. (I guess I am doing something wrong)

Rich

[coaster]

Oops, I have just had to amend my previuos post, it was meant to say that you SHOULDN'T need to soak the panel. I envisage wraping some cloth around your finger, dipping in some thinner and then rubbing a patch on the panel.

As for posting pics, you will need to register with a picture hosting site, they are all free and All the info you need has been compiled by the very nice Eden that administers this site follow this link to enlightement http://scooterotica.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=22

colin

[Daggs]

I'm posting this just to ease your pain if it goes wrong.
I have just done the same thing with some Li panels, It took me around ten minutes to realise i was wasting my time. In the end i rubbed the flashes off taking some of the other colour too (not original in my case, though it was Cellulose) Then i re-sprayed them totally........jobs a good 'un.

[vegansydney]

159+ pages of tricks and tips: http://www.germanscooterforum.de/topic/ ... ack-topic/

[retrorich]

The panels are coming up very well with the cellulose thinners. Got the thinners from a guy I know who is a time served coachworks repairer. Not sure if his stuff is more effective than usual retail stuff. He did mention that if the original white paint was not cellulose, the thinners would be less effective and, will not be as removable which has been the case (so I got lucky on this one). He did say to wipe the area clean with a wet cloth straight after I have finished removing the unwanted cellulose paint as a precaution to stop "softening the original paint" Once finished I guess these panels will be as good as you can get for 45ish year old original items. Will use G3 and wax polish to complete them. I will endeavour to try and get 'before and after' photos on but tried the method mentioned in a earlier post without success.

Thanks for all the advise fella's

Rich

[coaster]

Will use G3 and wax polish to complete them. I will endeavour to try and get 'before and after' photos on but tried the method mentioned in a earlier post without success.Rich

Brilliiant, after the G£ you will need some paint restoring cream, McGuires do a good one which is a lot finer than G3, follow that with some McGuires Carnuba way (smells nice you could spread it on toast) and you won't go far wrong

Re the photo posting, have you signed up with any of the hosting sites mentioned? won't be possible if you don't