Painted actuators

[Ken C.]

Previous owner painter my headlight and wiper door actuators on my 72, What would someone suggest i use to remove paint without harming finish underneath.(if possible)
would like to attempt paint removal before i decide to sent out for replate
thanks

[Harmon C.]

Re: Painted actuators

The original finish is easy to remove so I doubt you will have any luck. They were probably painted because they looked bad. If you try to remove the paint start on the bottom or back with any remover and see what the results are.
Lyle

[Joe L.]

Re: Painted actuators

ken-----

There's no way that you'll remove the paint without removing the irridite (gold) overplate, assuming that there was any left, anyway, when the previous person painted them. However, your best bet in removing the paint will be to use a chemical stripper like Jasco. Don't let ANY of it get on the rubber seals or boots, though. You'll likely end up having to re-plate the actuators.

[Chuck S.]

Re: Painted actuators

You should plan on replacing the seals anyway, but I would leave them in place until after plating. The boots you can simply remove and store. It's probably a good idea to find some rubber stoppers for the tubes, or simply tape them up to make sure no stripper finds its way inside.

With the tubes tightly stoppered and effective seals in place (confirm that the actuators hold pressure/vacuum), the actuators are waterproof and can be plated without concern for damage to the diaphragms. If the plater doesn't know this, better make sure he understands not to expose the inside diaphragms to plating solution. The plater will also have to tie them down for full immersion, or they will bob in the plating baths like big bazooms, leaving a line across the actuator (you can guess how I know this).