In tearing down my 1966 Bahama Blue beetle, I was able save about 99 per cent of the original body-colour fender beading. However, it is almost completely covered by the pink paint that some PO idiot used on the car, and it has some rust stains on the blue. Any suggestions / recommendations from anyone who has successfully restored OE fender beads?
Thanks for the suggestions. I already tried vinegar (undiluted)...it took the rust residue off the black part of the rubber (vinyl??) and a bit off the blue part, but had no effect on the pink paint (which I suspect is automotive grade paint from the 70's). I'll try the other suggestions and report progress. Also plan to get some organic ('green') paint remover and give that a try. Other than lacquer thinner, we can't buy 'volatile' paint removers here in Canada anymore ...apparently.
Just a thought, I remember at a kid once I spilled som DOT 3 brake fluid on my motorcycle and the paint blistered and peeled right off to bare metal. Can you get DOT 3 brake fluid in Canada? That will peel paint for sure.
Hey ...you're right! That reminds me of something I saw a while back on one of the car repair - restoration shows on TV. They were using brake fluid to remove paid overspray on grill parts, etc. Worth a try ...definitely!!
Yes...I put my first batch of fender bead in a brake fluid soak yesterday (coiled it up like a small garden hose, and placed it in the bottom of a plastic container. About 2 inches of fluid is all this needed.) Already this morning the pink paint is starting to blister .....great!! I wonder what I can use to clean off the break fluid afterwards .....brake cleaner maybe??
Well, the brake fluid worked great to soften the pink paint, making it much easier to scrape / rub off. However, once the pink paint was off, another problem was revealed: the fender bead is badly stained ...likely caused by sanding before the pink paint was applied. Almost looks like coffee stains over most of the bead ....not all over, but lots of it (not caused by the brake fluid ...it was clear). I washed the brake fluid off with soap and water. Not sure what to do next. May try to scrape or fine sand the stains to see if I can minimize then. The light colour on the bead goes about 1/16th inch deep ...so there's some room to play with. Any other suggestions???
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if you are going to sand use color paper 2000 - 4000 grit and of course use soapy water. You can also try polishing compound. I have removed scratches with polishing compound from plexi-glass before. Just go slow.
I have done some test wet-sanding with 1000 grit (GatorGrit) paper, and the results are encouraging. I'll keep testing, perhaps with some finer paper, and report progress ...
