I have a GS air cleaner that has a substantial amount of over spray inside the fiberglass lower portion of the scoop. Someone must have left it on the car while painting. Its way too tedious to try to sand in between the ribs inside the scoop. Is there a good way to remove the paint without harming or "tainting" the fiberglass? I tried a little brake cleaner and that didn't have any effect. I have some paint stripper, but I don't know if it will soak into the fiberglass and contaminate it. Thanks for any recommendations!
Glass bead then clear coat ,...matte it gloss either looks nice,..you can also blast it then run a propane torch over it,...but no thinner won't hurt it,..when stripping a Vette that's what you do,..thinner rags layed on it
Hugger Thanks! The Corvette fiberglass is what I was thinking about, I had a guy I knew many years ago that put paint stripper on his vette and had a hell of a time getting paint to stick after that because it soaked into the fiberglass. I'll try the thinner or bead blast the inner part.
Stripper yea it will make a mess,...the thinner will evaporate out,..that's why vettes get razor blades and thinner rags
Whatever type of paint is inside the scoop is pretty tough stuff! I've had a lacquer thinner soaked rag sitting on it for 40 minutes and its still not wanting to come off. I used some steel wool with the thinner and some paint did come off, but not like I had hoped. I've got some water based paint stripper that I might give a try. I might need to try a bead blaster if these chemical methods don't work! Thanks for all the input!
The fibreglass on my GS air cleaner was painted black. I sprayed it with Easy Off oven cleaner, stuck it in a black garbage bag, laid it in the sun to sit. The paint came off like a charm.
Thank you for the tip! I ended up using some water based paint stripper. It didn't work the greatest. Between the stripper, thinner and some scotchbrite, the paint finally came off. I still needed to bead blast some of the scoop cup interior areas. I sanded the whole fiberglass area with 320/600 grit and it looks pretty good. Still need to satin clear the part. It was kind of a PITA, but at least its done! As a side note, this air cleaner fiberglass (9/9/70 date code inside the air cleaner) has a more black appearance than my March built 70 GS455, which is more gray, with the "fibers" more obvious. Is there a date range when they changed the fiberglass part? Thanks to all for the tips!
Scott - not sure what the paint on the air cleaner is, but note that lacquer thinner will not dissolve enamel paint. That's how you tell if you have lacquer or enamel paint.
Bill, The paint was a Maroon metallic...beyond that I dont know much about it. That makes sense about the type of paint though. When I bought it, I really didnt look that closely at it.... It was a good deal and wanted it for a project. I guess I should have beat him up a little on the price
Im sure Buick had multiple vendors for the same part. It might of just been the batch of fiberglass the particular vendor used.
As a side note, this air cleaner fiberglass (9/9/70 date code inside the air cleaner) has a more black appearance than my March built 70 GS455, which is more gray, with the "fibers" more obvious. Is there a date range when they changed the fiberglass part? Thanks to all for the tips![/QUOTE] I seem to recall that the snorkel assembly changed from fibreglass to injection moulded plastic at some time in production. That may be what you are noticing. Cheers
I had a '72 snorkel that was cracked, (but complete) courtesy of the USPS. I gave it to a board member and distinctly remember it being more plastic than fiberglass. I had actually considered trying to plastic solder it but decided to let someone else deal with it.
