Sand, blast, or paint remover on plastic Harley parts?

[big stinkie]

Couldn't find anything specific when searching the forum, so I'll ask my questions here.

I painted over my Harley's factory paint a couple years ago. Worked fine, but now I'm tired of it and need to squirt new paint. As I understand it, painting over 2 paint jobs simply isn't wise. The paint must come off. With that in mind, here we go:

1. Can a person use chemical stripper on plastic parts like the faring, saddlebags and side covers? I've heard that doing so can contaminate the plastic and cause problems when re-painting. Being an innately lazy person I'd like to let chemicals do all the hard work if possible, but I have a DA sander that I can use if I must.

2. If I use stripper I will eventually reach the Harley factory paint on all the parts - plastic or metal. HD paint is known to be fairly resistant to chemical strippers. Is the factory paint on the plastic parts the same as the factory paint on the metal, and will it be as difficult to remove chemically?

3. I have used aircraft stripper on HD factory paint with minimal success. Is there anything new out there that will effectively attack the stock paint?

4. Assuming I must sand the plastic parts, would you recommend I sand all the way to the plastic, or just down to the factory paint and start priming/painting from there?

5. If I elect to have it all blasted, is it possible to successfully blast the plastic parts?

Thanks.

 

[TAZ]

If I have to strip parts, I normally just have them media-blasted.
This way, I don't have to buy chemical stripper or sandpaper.

Normally they come back very clean, and have very minimal sanding to do.
Then just prime and your ready to spray.

I also make sure I use duct tape to mask up all the holes.

I get charge $25 for each fender or tank.

I don't think I've every did the chemical stripper way.
Too messy. Learned that from doing cars.

 

[big stinkie]

Thanks. Probably the right way to go. I'll talk to some local painters/paint suppliers and see if they know of a reputable blaster. If a guy adds up what he will spend on chemicals, and also take into consideration the time needed to scrape and sand, it makes perfect sense to have them media-blasted.

But just so I have it straight, it is OK to blast the plastic pieces?

 

[801Rider]

I think Klean-Strip (???) makes a stripper for fiberglass but I'm not sure if it works on plastics. It worked well on the fiberglass lol.

 

[TAZ]

Thanks. Probably the right way to go. I'll talk to some local painters/paint suppliers and see if they know of a reputable blaster. If a guy adds up what he will spend on chemicals, and also take into consideration the time needed to scrape and sand, it makes perfect sense to have them media-blasted.

But just so I have it straight, it is OK to blast the plastic pieces?

I'm not positive on that. We normally just have the sheetmetal parts done.
Be sure to find and use a 'media-blaster'. NOT a sandblaster.

 

[bullrider_1822]

As long as it is a media blaster you can blast the plastic and fiber glass pieces. When you go down to bare plastic you need to use a plastic prep and adhesion promoter, depending on what paint company you are going to use its can be up to a three step deal. Then always use a flex additive with plastic

 

[ANDY G.]

I can answer the one about stripper on plastic--no. It will eat away at the plastic and when you scrape off the paint plastic will come with it. I tried it on a kz1000 tail peice once and it was not good. By the way klean strip is what I used. Great on paint, but will soften the plastic.

 

[big stinkie]

Thanks for all the replies. Now I have all my "ducks in a row" and understand the situation. Found a reputable local media blaster and I'll start taking the bike apart this week. It has finally become cold here in eastern Kansas so I can't ride without fear of frostbite...might as well be painting.

FWIW, I've had great success with Zip Strip. Nasty stuff, but most paint (except for Harley factory paint, of course) just about leaps off the metal. OK...I exaggerated a bit, but it really works wells for me.