Safe paint remover for vintage wheels?

[THE H.P FREAK]

HI!... Just wondering what you guys have found that works best on removing light paint from vintage Jelly Bean rims? I've bought a few RC10's lately that have Jelly Bean wheels on them. I'd like to save them. They are lightly painted on the face side. It does flick off if I really scrape it with my finger nail. I'd just like to submerse it in something strong enough to remove the paint but not damage the wheels themselves.

I heard Purple Power works good, but I can't find it anywhere here in Canada. What about brake fluid? Would it eat the Jelly Bean wheel?

Thanks :

Neal.

[Coelacanth]

I had to use baths of both brake fluid and Easy-Off heavy duty oven cleaner to remove paint from my Kyosho Optima & Turbo Optima nylon wheels. I tried soaking the wheels first in brake fluid and some of the paint came off, but it was very pesky to remove. I rinsed them off and sprayed them with Easy-Off. I found the Easy-Off worked a little better, but it took soaking overnight. Assuming your wheels are also nylon, I wouldn't think they'd be harmed. I'd love to find Purple Power too, I've never seen it anywhere here in Alberta.

Don't breathe in the Easy-Off fumes, and wear rubber gloves when using it as it will irritate your skin.

[Lowgear]

http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=17019

[bearrickster]

Purple power!! removes paint, glue, chrome, and lots of skin anything you want but wont hurt the plastic

[shirochanwrx]

Before the advent of the generic "Purple Power" product (which, if available in Canada would be available in WalMart), the name brand product of choice was "Castrol Super Clean", not coincidentally also purple in color and packaging. I don't know if it has been reformulated since I last used it, but I've used it in the past and it has been great, gentle on plastics, brutal on acrylic and lacquer paints and primers, and (last time I checked), biodegradable.

It is listed in the Canadian Tire website, below, so you can probably source it there.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/CarWashingCleaning/InteriorCarCare/PRD~0392965P/Castrol%252BSuperclean%25252C%252B710mL.jsp?locale=en

If you try it out, please post back and let me know if it worked for you.

[THE H.P FREAK]

HI!... Ya I've been everywhere in town. No one has heard of Castral super clean or purple power. Must be a U.S only product. Going to see if the local Home Depot has some Citristrip.

[jwscab]

depending on the type of paint, acetone will also take it off, and should not damage the nylon, but test first.

it will melt anything that has abs or polystyrene content, so use caution. jelly bean wheels should be OK, but just be careful.

[bearrickster]

HI!... Ya I've been everywhere in town. No one has heard of Castral super clean or purple power. Must be a U.S only product. Going to see if the local Home Depot has some Citristrip.

Home Depo carries purple power here in the US

[THE H.P FREAK]

HI!... O.k, I've been everywhere in town. No one has heard of or carries Purple Power or Citris-strip. I've checked, Home Depot, Canadian Tire, Walmart, Zellers, Home Hardware, Parts Source, and a ton of small auto parts stores. Apparently I've been told those products have chemicals in them that the Canadian government deems harmful and won't let them in the country. WTF!!!!! I guess I'll have to make a trip to Home Depot or Walmart in the U.S next weekend when I go to pick up more RC stuff from the UPS store over there.

The only things I can find close are :

[RedScampi]

One quick comment on Purple Power. I cleaned some rc10 rims in it an it did a fantasticc job of removing the paint. What I didn't expect was that it also actually impregnated the nylon with the purple dye to some extent. These wheels were pretty beat up so no great loss. Here's what they look like next to a "white" wheel.

[RedScampi]

HI!... O.k, I've been everywhere in town. No one has heard of or carries Purple Power or Citris-strip. I've checked, Home Depot, Canadian Tire, Walmart, Zellers, Home Hardware, Parts Source, and a ton of small auto parts stores. Apparently I've been told those products have chemicals in them that the Canadian government deems harmful and won't let them in the country. WTF!!!!! I guess I'll have to make a trip to Home Depot or Walmart in the U.S next weekend when I go to pick up more RC stuff from the UPS store over there.

The only things I can find close are :

Super Clean is the same stuff - used to be Castrol Super Clean.

[THE H.P FREAK]

HI!... Ya, now you got worried about using the Purple Power on the parts. All the parts I'm trying to strip paint off of are white. I'm leaning towards the Citris-strip currently.

[bearrickster]

that rim was dyed the super clean wont change the color. I soaked this whole car in it. everything is nice and white

[SFC K]

Purple power!! removes paint, glue, chrome, and lots of skin anything you want but wont hurt the plastic

It will also remove anodizing from aluminum too if in there long enough...Easy off works great on removing paint from plastic. It does leave a residue on the plastic that can be washed off with dish soap.

[shirochanwrx]

?

That "Super Clean" stuff is the one to use, I included a picture of it in the link above, as available at Canadian Tire, which, I believe, has branches in Canada.

The Zep product is a powerful cleaner-degreaser, but I haven't used in in ages. I'd have to check the ingredients, but my guess is that it is the same as the Purple Power and formerly-Castrol Super Clean product, just a clone by a different manufacturer.

I've never heard of any of these products making anything purple ... my guess is that it was there to begin with.

I'm confused about the story I keep hearing about Super Clean not being available in Canada. I just looked at the MSDS sheet on their website and it is pretty hazardous stuff. Definitely wear gloves! It doesn't look like the kind of thing that should be washed down the drain, but one of its listed uses is as a drain opener, so I guess you can send it down the drain.

My feeling about it are now a little more ambivalent. I think that you should try (for general cleaning projects) either brake fluid or Simple Green first, which are far more benign chemically, and then use Super Clean for "problem" cleaning issues.