Hi,

Has anyone has success with removing automotive paint from the tail light housing and the wiring harness? I think a 6yr old painted my car, as the harness and tail light housings are covered with a lot of red paint.


I searched the site and found several that used acetone. I tried this and it discolored my tail light housing. Anyone have success with something else that did not destroy the wire (eg remove stripes) or discolor the housings?

Thanks,
Dennis

I've removed paint from lots of plastic parts including the front vent air box and wire harness using brake fluid. You have to soak it for awhile (sometimes days) but it loosens the paint without harming the plastic. I think the same 6 year old painted my car. Calling it "over spray" is an understatement.

Brent,

thanks, I'll give this a try on my other housing. do you know if brake fluid will remove tbe color stripes from the wire?

Dennis

It didn't on mine. It actually brightened things up. Some pics of my harness cleanup start here http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?s=&...t&p=2552849 if you are curious. Of course, it will eat any paint it touches so be careful.

Here's a pic of the airbox after cleanup. This had paint all over it before.

lacquer thinner and a Scotchbrite pad work good.

Disclaimer! test a small patch, fresh air and put gloves on and go easy

even just sitting there on a rug, the air box taunts with its evil ways

Yeah, not looking forward to putting that back in the car.

My friend hit a can of blue spray paint on the road with his white pickup. WD 40 cleaned it up with minor rubbing and no paint damage
Good luck

A clamp reduces f-bomb use by at least 50%. Also way easier with the tank out

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Brake fuild OMG,paint thinners or acetone carefully used will do the job,lets keep brake fluid in the brake system...hate the sh#t personally.

this stuff worked well for me - link to post

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...47&hl=paint

Darren recommended using Brasso on the plastic housings. So I tried that on both the airbox and taillight housings. it shined them up, but did take some rubbing. on the plus side its not going to attack the plastic. I would be wary of solvents

JMHO

The problem I've run into with acetone and lacquer thinner is that it can etch the plastic and dull the sheen, especially if you are trying to remove paint that has baked on for decades. Same goes for Goof Off. They do a good job of removing the paint though. On my air box, I tried mineral spirits and lacquer thinner first. The spirits didn't phase the paint and the lacquer thinner left a dull spot which is hidden inside where I tested. In general, I agree about brake fluid, but I haven't found anything else that is as safe for the plastic and still takes off the paint yet. Always looking for a better option though.

Heavy duty lemon scented oven cleaner Lacquer thinner is way too volatile, and although paint stripper works on rubber, it is hell on plastic.

The Acetone dulled the sheen and discolored the plastic on the one tail light housing I tried, as Brent mentioned. There was a lot of paint on my housing, so I really had to rub it with acetone to get it off. I'll try the other things mentioned (brake fluid, Brasso,..) and see which one work.

Thanks Guys.

-Dennis

I'm curious to hear how the Brasso works. That sounds like a promising alternative. Good luck!

Brake fluid on wire harness. Used a one gallon zip lock bag. Coiled loom (sections)up and placed it in bag. Poured probably 4 to 8 oz of fluid in. Zip tied it shut the best I could and laid flat, shook, and flipped for couple of days. Scotch bright and firm brush helps too. Cleaned and rewrapped with cloth tape.

I did some goggle searches on using Brake fluid to remove paint on plastic. Several references cautioned against using brake fluid on plastic (especially ABS plastic) as it will make it brittle and prone to cracking. Brake fluid reservoirs are made of a plastic, but use specially formulated plastic that handles the brake fluid.

i planned to try brake fluid on my harness that has been painted completely red, but I sure don't want the insulation to become brittle. Does anyone have any experience with this?

This is very interesting because I found the brake fluid noticeably REDUCED brittleness of my wire insulation. I soaked many lengths of wire that I used to patch my harness in a bucket of brake fluid for several days until the paint softened. The wires came out more soft and supple than they went in. They looked and felt like brand new wire and have remained so several months later. My main concern with the brake fluid was having it soak into the wire strands, so keep the ends out of the fluid if you can. After rinsing mine, I sprayed 3M contact cleaner into the cut ends as an extra measure. Hopefully that was enough. I haven't seen any signs of corrosion.

No doubt that brake fluid is nasty stuff though, so you are right to be cautious. If I were doing this again, I'd try the Brasso or Graffiti remover suggested by others first.

Great advice on this thread that I obviously need unless I want to keep it two tone: Marathon Blue on Black Plastic.

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I wasn't smart enough to take a before pic of mine, but it was even worse that that. Took about a week to get off with the brake fluid. A few times a day I would slobber it on with a cheap brush and then lay plastic wrap over it to keep it wet. Less fluid used that way.

Installing.... I'm afraid if I use Ian's suggestions to reduce the f-bombs, my wife will worry I had a stroke if she doesn't hear them.

I second the use of Easy Off oven cleaner. I have used it to remove paint from plastic model cars with good results snd no harm to the plastic.