"CadillacPat's DieCast Customizing Tutorials, Stripping DieCast "

[CadillacPat]

Here's Part 2 of this series of CadillacPat's DieCast Customizing Tutorials!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

STRIPPING YOUR CASTING:

First make sure you have left no plastic parts attached to your disassembled casting body.

Stripper melts plastic.

Here’s an area where I stand my ground firmly for one and only one type of Paint Stripper.

KleanStrip AirCraft Remover liquid in the can.

Sold in quart and gallon quantities at AutoZone and Walmart.

You will read on the Internet about people suggesting for you to use a myriad of second rate and third rate useless Paint Strippers.

Lucky for you I have found the only product that works completely first time everytime.

You’ll be told by some “How-To’s” to use Orange Juice, Diet Coke or 7-Up.

They’ll suggest Transmission Fluid, Camel Urine, Carburetor Cleaner, Plumbers Helper and boiled Perrier water.

They’ll tell you to strip your cars in the same water you bathe your dog in.

Well now hear this,

I only use one thing because it works completely First Time Everytime.

I don’t use Pine-Sol, Simple Green, or Clorox, Lacquer Thinner or Acetone.

When you read other suggestions of Paint Strippers a single phrase always lies at the end of their recommendation.

These chilling words are, ”Whatever paint is left that the Stripper doesn’t remove can be picked out with a sharp knife or wire brush.”

That’s enough to send a cold chill up the back of any Customizer.

I mean, why use anything if it doesn’t do the job completely the first time.

Just as with the other products and tools I suggest in my Tutorials, I have searched for the Holy Grail of PaintStrippers.

I have discarded all but the ONE product that does the job completely and perfectly.

I use and recommend nothing but KleanStrip AirCraft Remover.

It works without failure First Time Everytime.

I recommend always drilling out (tapping) the Rivet posts of your casting before proceeding to the Paint Stripping stage.

This way if you accidentally drill off center and destroy the Rivet post or drill through the body of the car you can just toss it and try another before wasting Stripper.

For the most part I usually strip several castings together for two reasons.

First, it is not unusual to come up with different ideas for the same casting while working on the first one.

Second, if I don’t strip anything for several days and the Stripper dries up into a paste, I have extra stripped castings to work on.

Keeping the lid on your jar or can will allow the Stripper to remain fresh for several days.

It can be reused over and over.

However, the liquid will dry to a paste and need to be discarded and replaced eventually.

For these reasons only pour enough Stripper in the jar to completely saturate the castings.

The tools needed to strip your castings are simple.

A medium glass jar, Pickle jar, Mayonnaise jar, or clean quart paint can from Home Depot (about 2 bucks).

A bent coat hangar or stick with a bent nail in the end for safely retrieving stripped castings from their container.

I use a gallon paint can because sometimes I strip as many as 25 castings at once.

If you’re only stripping a couple of castings at a time I suggest the Mayonnaise or Pickle jar.

You can purchase the KleanStrip AirCraft Remover in quart cans and if you only strip a casting or two at a time your Stripper will last you quite a while.

Be sure the jar is glass with a metal top.

The Stripper will melt any plastic.

I strip my castings on the side of the house by the water hose.

Drop a casting or two in your jar and pour in about 1 inch of KleanStrip AirCraft Remover.

Screw on the lid and gently swirl the castings around so they are completely covered with liquid.

Wait 5 or 10 minutes and holding the jar facing away from your body gently back off on the seal to allow the pressurized gases to slowly escape, then unscrew the lid.

Cold weather will impede the speed with which AirCraft Remover works.

In the warm Summertime it cuts paint like butter and when the weather turns cold it takes a little longer.

Unscrew the jar slowly allowing expansion gases to escape.

Do not inhale while doing this, and retrieve the castings with the stick and bent nail I mentioned or a bent coat hanger.

Hold the casting over the jar for a minute to reclaim any excess Stripper dripping off the casting.

Drop the casting on the ground and wash it good with a strong stream of water from the hose.

Once it is soaked with water you can pick it up and hose it off inside and out, nice and clean.

Be careful the water does not splash back at you. You may want to wear eye protection when doing this.

Water deactivates the Stripper, so if you get any on your skin, and it won’t take long to tell if you do, you can just hose it off without harm.

Is KleanStrip AirCraft Remover powerful?

Yes it is, but common sense allows you to use it safely.

After all it is sold in the store and is not on any Homeland Security list of controlled substances like uranium or plutonium. That was a joke.

When you are not using the jar or can, keep it in a shady spot and not in the hot sun.

This will lengthen the life of the Stripper.

If you choose to use a paint can to strip your castings you will need to drill a 1/16” hole in the lid to equalize pressure.

As the Stripper works, its dissolving action releases volatile gasses that expand and create pressure within the can.

For this reason I drill a tiny hole in the lid if using a can or slowly unscrew the lid when opening if using a jar.

So, the safety measurements required to use KleanStrip AirCraft Remover far outweigh the use of inferior products.

I’ve used it for years now.

Here are a few pics of how I strip my cars.

The screen grate keeps the castings off the ground and out of the dirt while I hose them off.

Tap water in many cities will leave a hard water scale on your stripped cars.

It’s not harmful but it may hide any imperfections on the surface of your raw casting.

You will want to brush them off with a soft fine wire brass brush before you start your process of filing, sanding and modifying.

Stay Tuned for Part 3

CadillacPat

[Dr. Cranky]

Wow, thanks for the tutorial, Pat. I love the eye candy.

[CadillacPat]

Thanks Doctor Cranky, much more to come,

The Caddy's you see being stripped here are the from a set of 125 that Jenna Jameson ordered for one of her Movie Premiere's.

Stay Tuned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CadillacPat