Removing Rhode Island Nickel

[pelletman]

My dad's term for aluminum silver paint, that one of his friends used to use in place of nickel and chrome in restorations.

I am wondering if anyone has any easy way to remove the stuff short of regular old paint stripper? I have used Easy Off oven cleaner successfully in the past but it stinks and it is kind of corrosive to your skin and it still takes a while and needs to be scrubbed. I an thinking something out there must take it off without damaging the underlying metal and maybe not damaging the nickel that may be underneath it. Anyone have any experience? Thanks!

 

[seber]

Acetone.

 

[JR 42]

I don't think most common solvents will damage existing plating (unlike acids or bases), so yeah, acetone or MEK or xylene for starters.

Acetone (in carb cleaner, I think) took aluminum high- temp exhaust paint off a drop tube in a heartbeat when I had a brain fart and sprayed it to clean off some crud, but didn't hurt the factory finish (zinc galvanizing, on carbon steel, affordable Walker exhaust IIRC). Most hydrocarbon solvents don't interact with steel or plating metals.

 

[ThePostman]

Brake/parts cleaner strips paint better than paint thinner. Certainly removed some Rust-Oleum overspray from vinyl siding today better than paint thinner with no adverse effects. You still have to scrub, don't be pusilanimous about it.

 

[pelletman]

Ahhh, thanks for the replies! I actually have some parts soaking in goof off right now which I think is probably acetone so I will see what they look like in the morning. One thing I should have mentioned was some of the parts are fairly large and I would like to be able to submerge them in a kids pool or something. I was hoping for a cheaper solution like citric acid or something.

 

[JR 42]

Brake/parts cleaner strips paint better than paint thinner. Certainly removed some Rust-Oleum overspray from vinyl siding today better than paint thinner with no adverse effects. You still have to scrub, don't be pusilanimous about it.

Paint thinner is great for thinning liquid alkyd paint (most times, not always, read the label to be sure), before you apply it. It doesn't do **** for dried alkyd paint, or latex paint, or epoxy paint, or much of anything else... sorry, this hits a nerve. Paint thinner is a mild nonionic solvent, nothing more, nothing less.

 

[pelletman]

I agree on paint thinner, lacquer thinner, on the OTHER hand....

 

[Jagmandave]

How about good old brake fluid? Sure takes the paint off a car fender when it squirts on it and you don't get it neutralized with water quickly enough!

 

[pelletman]

Polycarbonate and Goof Off don't play well