Jay Laifman

I need a really good epoxy remover. Acetone and lacquer thinner aren't doing anything to the stuff. Any good suggestions? Oh, and it can't be so strong that it will damage the plastic CIS air box or the aluminum throttle body.

Here's why I'm asking: some have seen my trials and tribulations in getting my CIS to work right. I had tested "everything" and replaced a bunch of stuff, all for the better. I had thought it was 100% cured. But, after driving, I still noticed some issues. In a final gasp of desperation, I was checking on the odd and impossible. In doing so, I found that when my "former" mechanic replaced my blown air box a few years ago, rather than replacing the large rubber o-ring that seals the throttle body to the air box, he epoxyed it down! And the stuff was/is nasty. It took my literally 45 minutes of tugging and twisting to finally get the thing to come off.

So, now I need to get the epoxy off. Like I said, this stuff is bad. A razor blade will only do so much. And, it won't go down into the groove for the o-ring without scratching the aluminum, and I'm worried about putting a gouge into the plastic airbox.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Peter Zimmermann

Jay, If room permits use a bastard file on the plastic surface. Regarding the throttle body, if you have a dremel I think that small wire wheel attachments are available. The wire will clean but won't scratch or remove metal...

rbcsaver

For the grooves you may want to CAREFULLY use some dental pick type tools.
Following Pete's Dremel brush suggestion, the wheels come in a variety of metals.
I would try the brass type wire wheel before the steel ones.

regards,
Steve

Jay Laifman

Pete, I was trying to give you a break, you've been helping so much!

The throttle body is aluminum right? Wouldn't that spinning brass still scratch it up? I do have a Dremel - that and duct tape and I'm set for anything!

Ages ago I bought a hard plastic scraper for painting. At some point, I found it made a great "soft" type scraper for other things and I've cut it down for smaller projects. Maybe that would help. What they really need is to create a synthetic finger nail!

Jay Laifman

Actually, I think I'm going to try the kitchen sponge with the rough side on the back. That may be just what I need.

rbcsaver

My guess is that the rough back sponge is sandpaper like and probably much harder than the brass.
A Google search found this link. "They" suggest paint remover or low level oven heat to make the epoxy "brittle."
http://www.usenet.com/newsgroups/rec.../msg00067.html
Steve

Peter Zimmermann

Jay: I agree with Steve, a light touch from a wheel spinning very fast is usually the best way to clean a surface like the one that you've got - that aluminum is tougher than you might think. A "Toughie-Scrubber" might act like sand paper much more so than a dremel wheel.

Dan Cobb

1- Be sure to stuff something into the throttle body (like a wad of newspaper or mabye a tennis/raquet ball) to prevent the parts that do come off from getting where they REALLY don't belong.

2- I'd use a shop vac in/around the TB BEFORE removing the item used in #1.

3- maybe removing it from the car (not sure if you did or not) could increase the number of repair options.
+++

Jay Laifman

I meant the teflon safe type scrubber, which tends to be pretty soft, not that tight scratchy type. Anyway, I did buy a Dremel brass wheel last night. But, I also bought a new sharper plastic scraper and used it first. With patience and persistence, it got most of it off. I also discovered that the air box portion is actually recessed a tiny bit, with a lip where most of the epoxy was binding.

Whatever this epoxy is, it's seriously tough. I'd like to have it for other projects - I'll bet it's illegal by this point, all good stuff like that tends to be!

From Steve's link, which was so appropo, I did find methyl ethyl ketone at the hardware store. But, it said it was actually not for cleaning, but for thinning things before use. And, I was also worried that it might make the airbox plastic more brittle. So, I didn't get it and figured I'd try non-chemical means first.

Thanks guys.

JasonAndreas

For softening epoxy & polyurethane, methylene chloride works better than MEK.

rbcsaver

I assumed from his description, that the parts were already off of the car. I wouldn't do this with the parts on the car. Don't want pieces of epoxy or chemicals in the motor.
regards,
Steve

g-50cab

Good luck getting it off - if it's really two part epoxy. My advise for the stuff on metal is to burn it off. get a map tourch - just be careful not to melt the metal. On plastic = use a dental pick - very few chemicals will soften hardend epoxy.

The checmicals - MEK etc - usually only work in the first 24 hours before it really sets.