Priceless

[jonrpick]

2 cans of self etching primer and 2 cans of hammertone gray paint... < $20
having a pro do the sandblasting on your axle and brake backing plates $60

Using brake cleaner to clean off some dirt and finding out that it completely dissolves the paint on said axle and BRAKE parts...

PRICELESS.

 

[Copasetic]

 

[jonrpick]

Thanks Charlie...

At least someone can benefit from my agony. Now I gotta decide whether to strip and repaint, or put a more resilient paint over the finish coat.

Of course, stripping the axle should be pretty easy... 2 cans of brake cleaner and a soft bristle toothbrush oughta do it.

 

[Copasetic]

Thanks Charlie...

At least someone can benefit from my agony. Now I gotta decide whether to strip and repaint, or put a more resilient paint over the finish coat.

Of course, stripping the axle should be pretty easy... 2 cans of brake cleaner and a soft bristle toothbrush oughta do it.

Any time!! Meh, screw the brush, just use a blow gun on a compressor to knock all of the crud off after you soak it real good.

I laugh because that's actually how I came to put the WARN stickers on my square light covers. On my old truck I was cleaning up an oil change on a generator I had on the tailgate. Well, being as smart as I am I decided to take off down the road with all of the brake cleaner in the pockets of the inside plastic tailgate cover and it ran all down the outside of my tailgate. Instantly screwed. So when I got my light covers off I hit them with some brake cleaner on a rag and it knocked the print right off of them. Now I look like I've got some high dollar WARN lights!

 

[Randy92782]

Dude that REALLY sucks.

I thought you woulda knew that already. I learned the hard way myself

 

[jonrpick]

Any time!! Meh, screw the brush, just use a blow gun on a compressor to knock all of the crud off after you soak it real good.

I laugh because that's actually how I came to put the WARN stickers on my square light covers. On my old truck I was cleaning up an oil change on a generator I had on the tailgate. Well, being as smart as I am I decided to take off down the road with all of the brake cleaner in the pockets of the inside plastic tailgate cover and it ran all down the outside of my tailgate. Instantly screwed. So when I got my light covers off I hit them with some brake cleaner on a rag and it knocked the print right off of them. Now I look like I've got some high dollar WARN lights!

Yeah, I figure it won't be too hard to get the paint off. That sucks, because I really like the way this paint looks on the axle, and it would probably be really easy to keep clean.

 

[jonrpick]

Dude that REALLY sucks.

I thought you woulda knew that already. I learned the hard way myself

So does brake cleaner do that to ALL paint, or just certain ones? Cause a lot of folks have painted brake backing plates like me.

 

[bp71k5]

Pretty much any paint will do that. Maybe an epoxy paint and probably powder paint might hold up better. It's the same problem with brake fluid.

 

[jonrpick]

Pretty much any paint will do that. Maybe an epoxy paint and probably powder paint might hold up better. It's the same problem with brake fluid.

Well I just spent a little time Googling and reading. Apparently there's a VHT Brake Paint, and some folks are using high-temp paints.

What's the deal? Just avoid using real brake cleaner if I want the paint to stay intact? Is carb cleaner as corrosive to the paint as brake cleaner?

 

[bp71k5]

both brake cleaner and carb cleaner will eat through lots of stuff. That's what makes em so good for cleaning. I used brake cleaner to clean the high-temp engine paint off of my intake manifold.

I've found a cheap pressure washer attachment ($8.00) for an air compressor works pretty well with different water soluble degreasers like simplegreen, etc. Then scrub it down with a plastic bristle brush and hit it again with the degreaser and water. Then dry it off quick.

 

[jonrpick]

both brake cleaner and carb cleaner will eat through lots of stuff. That's what makes em so good for cleaning. I used brake cleaner to clean the high-temp engine paint off of my intake manifold.

I've found a cheap pressure washer attachment ($8.00) for an air compressor works pretty well with different water soluble degreasers like simplegreen, etc. Then scrub it down with a plastic bristle brush and hit it again with the degreaser and water. Then dry it off quick.

Damn... Well, I think I'll leave the paint as-is, and just touch up the area that got messed up on the axle. I'll follow your example when I take things apart for service or inspection and use a water-soluble cleaner to avoid stripping the paint.

 

[bp71k5]

I actually found this degreaser called "Oil Eater" at Costco that works really well and is supposed to be non-toxic and all that. You can dilute it with water or use full strength. For big-time grime, it takes more elbow grease than the good stuff, but you don't have to worry about paint so much.

 

[Clod_King]

I know for a fact that brake cleaner will NOT eat through powder coating. I work with powder coated valves all day long, and we just shoot brake cleaner at the threads before we epoxy paint them.

I cannot say for sure or not on whether the brake cleaner will eat through the epoxy paint but I can try it tomorrow at work.

There's loads of dry epoxy paint all over the shop I can test on if people want to know the outcome??

 

[dbabicky]

Clean it up and paint your axle and backing plates with POR-15. It'll stand up to just about anything. I don't know if you've used it before but it is really thin, but don't get it on anything you don't want painted. It'll be there for life.

 

[jonrpick]

I know for a fact that brake cleaner will NOT eat through powder coating. I work with powder coated valves all day long, and we just shoot brake cleaner at the threads before we epoxy paint them.

I cannot say for sure or not on whether the brake cleaner will eat through the epoxy paint but I can try it tomorrow at work.

There's loads of dry epoxy paint all over the shop I can test on if people want to know the outcome??

I figure for now I'll just repaint the messed up spots, but for future reference, I'd like to know what will resist the brake cleaner. Isn't powder coating chemically the same as certain paints, just in a dust form that's baked to get it to "flow"?

Clean it up and paint your axle and backing plates with POR-15. It'll stand up to just about anything. I don't know if you've used it before but it is really thin, but don't get it on anything you don't want painted. It'll be there for life.

Well, that probably would be good to use. Thing is, I chose this paint for a reason. I hate the idea that in order to have a durable paint job I'll have to go with something else.

Edit: I may POR-15 some of the brake parts that I'm not able to find in parts store to preserve them. Namely the parking brake strut and lever.

Does there actually *need* to be rust present in order for POR-15 to adhere?

 

[thatK30guy]

Fuuck that POR-15 shiit. I can't stand anyone using that stuff. It makes for next to impossible removal when the time comes that you want to remove the stuff. I'd rather paint whatever the part is and have it strippable later when you need to do it.

 

[dbabicky]

No, you do not have to have rust present. See the funny thing with any metal is, it starts to corode from the time it's manufactured. You may not see it, but there is always some form of corrosion. Yes, Captain obvious is correct, once you put it on, it's a BIT*H to remove.

 

[jonrpick]

No, you do not have to have rust present. See the funny thing with any metal is, it starts to corode from the time it's manufactured. You may not see it, but there is always some form of corrosion. Yes, Captain obvious is correct, once you put it on, it's a BIT*H to remove.

Well, that's the product for me...

I don't want it to come off... I want it to keep protecting it for a LONG time.

 

[dbabicky]

I've used it and I have friends that swear by it also. The standard POR-15 leaves a semi-gloss to gloss black finish. Looks good when dried. Good Luck.

 

[Clod_King]

Okay so I did a few tests...

I tried the brake cleaner on a section of dried epoxy paint. I sprayed it then wiped it off immediately. It fogged the paint, and the rag (a pretty rough one) and you could see the marks it left, but not much of the paint that I could see would come off. I did this about 5 or 6 times, and the paint stayed there, it would just pick up more marks.


Then I soaked a rag in brake cleaner and put a another epoxy coated piece on it, and left it for 15-16 minutes. The paint did not really bleed onto the rag. But if I rubbed the part with the soaked rag, I could remove enough to see the surface underneath.

I also tried the brake cleaner on a powder coated valve. I did not let it sit there in brake cleaer for 15 minutes because I didn't want to rebuild the valve, and get in sh!t for my experiment (the bosses wouldn't understand I don't think).

I sprayed then wiped it off. Nothing happened, no fogging, no nothing. It just kinda shined it up really. And I saw sections some of the brake cleaner evaporate without leaving a mark. I'd say powder coating is alright with brake cleaner.

But I know for a fact that varsol/paint thinner will fog the epoxy coating.

P.S. I used a brake cleaner made by "GUNK". I couldn't see it being a good brand because my bosses are on the frugal side when it comes to consumables like that.


I hope that helps someone.