Super Clean Okay for a Diecast?

[Snake45]

Just had a weird thing happen. Was working on a cheap diecast last night, was planning to touch up the yellow paint and Snake-Fu the thing this weekend. Set it down on my bench overnight, today the paint is peeling off the right front fender in wrinkly sheets, as if I'd hit it with a stripper!  Dunno what it might have reacted with, but it was sitting next to a CLOSED tube of body putty. Some slight fumage escaping from the tube maybe? (I can't smell anything.) 

Anyway, looks like I'm now gonna have to strip the whole body and repaint it. Well, I've got a suitable color on hand, so not a huge deal. The question is, will Super Clean (dilute lye, basically) react badly with the diecast metal? I know you don't want to get Easy Off on aluminum--is there any danger like that? Anyone stripped diecasts in the Purple Pond? 

[Hotrod 97]

I haven’t used Super Clean, but I have used something called Aircraft Remover. I used to use that stuff to remove paint from small scale diecast cars, so it should work for a larger scale, too.

I will say, Aircraft Remover has some powerful fumes, so it should be used outside or in a well-ventilated room.

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

I have no first hand knowledge of this, but my understanding is that any of the Super Clean type de-greasers are very hard on metal.

I'm sure that you have likely heard that you should never store Super Clean in metal containers.

 

 

Steve

[Dave G.]

However you get it stripped you then need to pickle the metal ( white vinegar will work and rinse with distilled water)  and prime with a zink based primer before painting. Zink Chromate is best but zink phosphate will work too. Or a self etching primer should work. Avoiding these steps will lead you back to what already occurred, peeling paint.

[TarheelRick]

Just a word of caution, the label on Super Clean/Purple Power warns against using on metal.  I tried to strip a soft drink can a few years ago and all I got was a real mess; then I read the label, Doh!

[Deuces]

That's good to know..... Thanks guys!....

[935k3]

Lacquer thinner  would be good and safe on metal.

[martinfan5]

Air Craft Cleaner is the way to go.

[Snake45]

Thanks for all the input and ideas, fellas!

I looked for aircraft stripper at Walmart yesterday. Didn't find it, but then I didn't really want to spend $8 or (probably) more to "rescue" this 2nd or 3rd rate $5 diecast, which was supposed to be a quick, easy project, not a Major Big Deal. 

The damage was confined to the right front fender, and the right side of the hood, which is fortunately split into roughly "thirds" with a styling line (it's an '83 Camaro), and a little bit on the very front of the right door. I went looking around the Snakepit and discovered I had some old paint that's a near-perfect match for the color that's on it (kind of a school-bus yellow), so last night I carefully scraped and sanded all the wrinkled paint off the fender and right 1/3 of the hood. I'm gonna try to mask that area off, lay white primer on it, then airbrush the yellow. We'll see what happens. 

The body has a lot of chips in the paint all over, especially on front and rear edges. It could really stand to be stripped and repainted at some point, but I just don't want to do that right now, I just want to wrap up this "rescue" as quick and easy as possible. If the yellow bubbles up later, it'll give me incentive to re-do the whole thing "right." 

Thanks again, everybody! 

[Gramps46]

I used a tin bread pan to hold my purple pond and the next morning was surprised to find the purple on the floor and not in the pan.

[oldcarfan]

Definitely no Super Clean or Purple Power they will eat the metal up. I've heard not to use Simple Green either but have no direct knowledge. Aircraft Stripper or even regular paint stripper generally work. As has been said, wash it after ward with vinegar and then use zinc-chromate primer or similar.

[Pete J.]

Second the call for acetone.  I did a diecast 1/18 scale MGB-GT several years ago and acetone did the trick.  Stay away from anything with sodium hydroxide.  Oven cleaners and engine degreasers etc.  It will destroy the white metal. 

[Snake45]

Thanks for all the tips!

Yesterday I sanded the bare areas, degreased them with alcohol, primed them with Walmart white primer, let that sun-bake for two hours, then airbrushed on five or six coats of Pactra Odds N Ends yellow (a perfect match!) cut with lacquer thinner. So far it looks great. We'll see how it dries, but right now it's the best paint on the whole model. Fingers crossed! 

[madhorseman]

I myself would not use SuperClean to strip a die cast. Tried it a few years ago, and the whole body was "pock marked".

That air craft stripper works best, or brake fluid.

[Jantrix]

I haven't used it in years, but this was my go to stripper when I was heavily into bicycles.