CP Adhesive/Paint Removal Made SIMPLE

FrizzleFried

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Just about EVERYONE hates removing control panel overlays. The adhesive residue left over to remove... the sanding of the old paint... it's just a dirty, time consuming pain in the ass.

The first pain in the ass part about it is actually removing the CPO. I like to use either just a heat gun (as in the case with the Elevator Action CPO that I will be using in this example) or, if the CPO is being a real pain in the ass, I'll bust out the Harbor Freight heated decal remover... there are a few threads about that handy tool... do a search.

As I said though, this CPO came off "somewhat" easily with just a heat gun. About 7 minutes in and this is where I was at:

EA_CPRESTORE1.jpg


About 10 minutes later and the CPO was removed. Unfortunately, just like the majority of overlays out there... this one left a nasty adhesive residue. No... it wasn't "Atari" bad, but it was pretty gummed up. What to do?

Well, you could take a shit-load of time and scrape it all off using alcohol, WD-40 or Carb cleaner...

...or you could burn it off as some have done...

...or you can go with the SIMPLE method... SOY-GEL.

EA_CPRESTOREGEL.jpg


This stuff is just straight up BAD ASS. I applied the gel with a rag to the control panel and let sit for about 30-40 minutes... I was planning on just letting it sit 20 minutes but I got side-tracked with painting the coin door and a few brackets for this EA project. In any case... the following photos speak for themselves. If you've spent more than 15 minutes cleaning up a CPO... you're wasting your time! Check it out (and keep in mind, as I took this series of shots, I simply applied pressure to the right... while holding the camera with the other hand... and nothing "holding" the control panel other than gravity... yes...it's that simple.

(see reply thread)

EDIT: I'd already spent about 5 minutes scraping the top....it took a total of 2 coats to completely remove all the adhesive and paint from BOTH sides of the CP.
 
Oh yeah... I forgot to mention that the Soy-Gel stuff doesn't smell all too bad... and can be applied in a closed room without a mask... no headaches... no wife bitching about the smell... it's great stuff.
 
Dang... Nice!

Where does one buy this magic fluid? Home Depot, or online only, or...? :confused:
 
Don't keep us in suspense, Frizz. Where do we get it? I just spent about 30 minutes the other night removing most, not all, of the adhesive from taito CP with carb cleaner (first time trying it) and got light headed in my garage. I need to try this stuff.

Edit: Found it on Amazon for 21 bux for a quart. 65 for a gallon.
 
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That stuff looks awesome! I'll pick some up for my Centipede (yuck).

FWIW, I've had pretty good luck with a wire brush attachment on my drill.
21GHEpEuHEL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
 
Oh... and that CP is going on this cab... (sorry guys, I just can't stop posting it... the freakin' stencils came out so awesome...)

EA_FRESHPAINT1.jpg
 
Nice pics, I too have used Soy Gel and had good results. Did you buy this locally or did you have to order it? I ordered a bottle. The nice thing about it is you can use it in-doors.

edit: this is the kind of post you put up after you wait 30 minutes to hit submit. Sounds like you answered my question.
 
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You poor guys. There is a machine shop down the street from me that sandblasts/primes any CP I want for free.

I'd hate to have to do all that BS.
 
While any "maximum strength", "professional", "heavy duty" paint stripper will do the same job, it's nice to hear there are some odorless/fume-less solutions on the market.

And +1 for the wirebrush-on-a-drill solution to cleanup any misses afterward.
 
A couple of notes:

  1. Jasco will give you comparable results in that situation, though with terrible smell, and you don't want to get it on your hands or clothes
  2. On this strip you have the advantage that there is PAINT below the glue. Paint is easy to strip off of metal. Glue directly on the metal? Not so easy.

I'm currently dealing with a Frogger CP where the CPO was glued directly to the metal and I've tried everything and I'm making sloooooooow progress toward getting all the glue off.
 
I can strip any CPO in 5 minutes using Citristrip.Spray liberally,wait 1hr,peel off like skin or use a scraper. Rinse your piece with water,paint. done
 
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