Canadair CL70 CFR 58-91588

[Robin Craig]

I have plotted and schemed on most of this project and either found solutions or found money to pay for solutions. However I am stumped with the data plate removed from the rear car.

It is a typical plate with likely silk screened areas and stamped in data in the appropriate places. Regrettably it has some rather clumsy and thick paint that has been splodged on top.

I have tried pushing it off with my finger nail, some success but not much. I put the plate in the freezer to make the paint more brittle but it didn't do much. I am reluctant to take any kind of tool to it, even though the slodges are thick and should just spall and fly if enough sideways pressure is applied.

Does anyone have any earthly clue as to how to clean it without damage? It is the part that is most impossible to replace.

[Robin Craig]

My partner Jan found this page from Popular Science published in 1959 that is wonderful if you enlarge it. Jan is also a wonderfully tolerant lady on top of her research skills!

[James P]

Re. post 81, try brake fluid. Do a test on a area (like what would be covered by a screw head) first to see if it is safe at lifting the paint and not the silk screened art.

[charlie fitton]

Originally Posted by James P

Re. post 81, try brake fluid. Do a test on a area (like what would be covered by a screw head) first to see if it is safe at lifting the paint and not the silk screened art.

Futher to what James has suggested.... Get a similar plate and try a heat gun.

Patiently....very patiently


f

[David Herbert]

I like the heat gun idea. Possibly screw the plate to a piece of wood first to make it easier to handle when hot.

Any similar plate of that era will be black printed with similar ink so experimenting with a scrap plate from something else would tell you how much you are risking the black by using a particular process. I certainly agree that it would be very easy to scratch the plate with any kind of metal tool but possibly a plastic tool (PVC, not acrylic) would outlast your finger nail.

How about a hot water pressure washer ?

David

[David Dunlop]

Robin.

Try your local Auto Body Supply Shops for tools that are used to lift the modern glued on chrome letters and numbers from body work without damaging the paint. They are usually nylon and the good ones come with various shaped edges and are big enough to get a good, controlled grip on them with your hand.

One of those tools will be a big help on your data plate, with or without a heat gun.

David

[rob love]

Originally Posted by Robin Craig

Does anyone have any earthly clue as to how to clean it without damage? It is the part that is most impossible to replace.

I have a bowl of dot3 brake fluid which I use at work for that purpose. I put the whole data plate in the fluid and let it sit overnight. The brake fluid doesn't seem to effect whatever the ink is they use on the data plates.

Afterword, I lightly scrub the plate with 0000 steel wool to bring up the shine of the aluminum, then a coat of wax to retain the luster.

[Robin Craig]

Oh my goodness Rob, I don't know if I would be able to sleep doing what you suggest, I will have to think about that for a while. All great suggestions from you all by the way. Fear is disabling in its own right.

[Paul Singleton]

Hi Robin,
I read somewhere about putting the data plate in a slow cooker with water and leaving it overnight to loosen the paint. I haven’t tried it myself, but at least you wouldn’t be using any harsh chemicals. I don’t know if the hot water would damage the silk screening though.

[rob love]

Originally Posted by Robin Craig

Oh my goodness Rob, I don't know if I would be able to sleep doing what you suggest, I will have to think about that for a while. All great suggestions from you all by the way. Fear is disabling in its own right.

I just did all the data plates (and there were a lot of them) from the M62 wrecker at work in the last few months. Some were original to the vehicle, while some were added later (heater data plates). None suffered whatsoever from the brake fluid.


If overnight scares you, then try for just an hour. Or grab a data plate of something you don't worry about like a heater or an Iltis and give the brake fluid a test run. I think you will be happy.

[Robin Craig]

Well, as an act of pure faith I am following the suggestion of Rob Love and have the plate sitting in a Pyrex bowl immersed in store fresh DOT 3 brake fluid. I will be looking at it periodically (every 5 minutes most likely) and will meddle with it around bedtime.

Fingers crossed at this time.

[rob love]

I sure hope they used the same ink in the process that the American plates were made with. But deep down I am sure you are going to be OK.

[Robin Craig]

It is now 6am my time, plate has sat overnight.

I am happy to report the printed portion of the printing is intact. As far as the paint we are trying to remove, it has not appreciably reacted to he brake fluid, I was expecting some wrinkling and softening, i can barely chip an edge with my finger nail after rinsing in warm water, honestly, not much change.

Either it hasn't been long enough or the rinsing is neutralising any progress. Plonked it back in the dish. Time may be the healer here.

Happy so far that nothing negative has happened.