NeXT
Veteran Member
When I got my Lisa last year it was apparent that someone thought it would be cool to paint the system black. It didn't look good at all and I had no choice but to try and remove it so I researched and experimented with several methods.
I knew from a previous test that DOT 3 brake fluid worked best at softening the pain without doing anything to the plastic that I could see. The problem was that the brake fluid thinned out and I lost a lot of the stripping efficiency.
The experiment consisted as follows:
-A bottle of DOT 3 brake fluid
-Metal cookie tray (grab an old or a cheap one because you don't want to use it again after this)
-Cheap non-synthetic paintbrush
-Paper towel
-Small Plastic container (a small peanut butter or jam jar will do)
-Putty knife
Start off by placing the panel on the tray and start using the brush to cover the panel with brake fluid.
Once that's done, place a sheet of paper towel on top and soak it using the paintbrush and more brake fluid. The paper towel helps keep the panel soaked by preventing the brake fluid from easily flowing away and into the tray.
Leave the panel alone after this for a few hours.
I came back and checked on my piece after four hours and lifting up the paper towel showed that the black paint had wrinkled which meant that it had been stripped off the panel.
Now take off the paper towel and if you have more pieces, put it in the tray under the panel so it does not make a mess, otherwise put it in a bag and throw it out.
Now take the putty knife and start scraping the paint. You should not need much effort and the result will look like this:
The paint will have completely separated from the plastic leaving a skin of black sludge.
Continue scraping off the sludge and use the small jar to put the toxic scrapings into.
Once you have scraped off all you can (there will probably be a few places where you can't get the paint to come off) you can take the garden hose or something with a sprayer and blast off any residue.
You can see that for the most part it was a total success with the exceptions where I didn't properly coat or in the vent grilles. For the most part you can get the last of it off using a bit more brake fluid and a toothbrush but otherwise the plastic is fine.
It's likely that if someone however had used the specialty plastic paint though this might not work but it's always worth a try as it appears to not affect the plastic at all.
I knew from a previous test that DOT 3 brake fluid worked best at softening the pain without doing anything to the plastic that I could see. The problem was that the brake fluid thinned out and I lost a lot of the stripping efficiency.
The experiment consisted as follows:
-A bottle of DOT 3 brake fluid
-Metal cookie tray (grab an old or a cheap one because you don't want to use it again after this)
-Cheap non-synthetic paintbrush
-Paper towel
-Small Plastic container (a small peanut butter or jam jar will do)
-Putty knife
Start off by placing the panel on the tray and start using the brush to cover the panel with brake fluid.
Once that's done, place a sheet of paper towel on top and soak it using the paintbrush and more brake fluid. The paper towel helps keep the panel soaked by preventing the brake fluid from easily flowing away and into the tray.
Leave the panel alone after this for a few hours.
I came back and checked on my piece after four hours and lifting up the paper towel showed that the black paint had wrinkled which meant that it had been stripped off the panel.
Now take off the paper towel and if you have more pieces, put it in the tray under the panel so it does not make a mess, otherwise put it in a bag and throw it out.
Now take the putty knife and start scraping the paint. You should not need much effort and the result will look like this:
The paint will have completely separated from the plastic leaving a skin of black sludge.
Continue scraping off the sludge and use the small jar to put the toxic scrapings into.
Once you have scraped off all you can (there will probably be a few places where you can't get the paint to come off) you can take the garden hose or something with a sprayer and blast off any residue.
You can see that for the most part it was a total success with the exceptions where I didn't properly coat or in the vent grilles. For the most part you can get the last of it off using a bit more brake fluid and a toothbrush but otherwise the plastic is fine.
It's likely that if someone however had used the specialty plastic paint though this might not work but it's always worth a try as it appears to not affect the plastic at all.
