Restoring old park light/turn signal lenses

[BuckeyeBuicks]

This may not be an earth shattering tip for some buy it worked well for me so I thought I would pass it along. I have several good used park light/turn signal lenses from 65 Skylarks I have stripped from parts cars over the years. As you know they are back painted silver. I found it is a pain to try to remove the paint by sanding, or any other method. I happen to think that to remove paint from old model cars( yes, I still play with model cars at my age) I soak them in brake fluid for two or three days so I put an old broken lens in the stuff for three days.  I took it out tonight and after draining the excess fluid off I wiped the old silver right off , no problem.  You are left with a nice clear lens ready to wash in soapy water, dry, scuff up a little, mask off the part that need be and hit it with argent spray paint. Call me a tight wad but I can use that 100 plus bucks to buy other parts the car needs
Now on to the next of many projects!!

Mike(BuckeyeBuicks)

[elagache]

Dear Mike and mid-60s Buick owners with diverse interests, . . .

I happen to think that to remove paint from old model cars( yes, I still play with model cars at my age) I soak them in brake fluid for two or three days . . . .

. . . . WHAT!?!?!??  You waste your time with model cars when you could be playing with these? . . . . 

This may not be an earth shattering tip for some buy it worked well for me so I thought I would pass it along. I have several good used park light/turn signal lenses from 65 Skylarks I have stripped from parts cars over the years. As you know they are back painted silver. I found it is a pain to try to remove the paint by sanding, or any other method. I happen to think that to remove paint from old model cars( yes, I still play with model cars at my age) I soak them in brake fluid for two or three days so I put an old broken lens in the stuff for three days.  I took it out tonight and after draining the excess fluid off I wiped the old silver right off , no problem.  You are left with a nice clear lens ready to wash in soapy water, dry, scuff up a little, mask off the part that need be and hit it with argent spray paint.

Okay, I learned this trick on model rails instead of model roads, but I also have used brake fluid to strip paint from models and then applied it on parts of my wagon.  It was especially handy to strip paint off of some areas of the dash - where no reproductions are available.  It is important to handle brake fluid with care.  I always used disposable gloves for example.  However, I'll definitely second the motion that brake fluid is a useful product to strip paint and should be part of the arsenal of any classic car restorer/caregiver.

Thanks for the tip! 

Cheers, Edouard