SignalTraffic Forums

by **agaessco** on Sun Aug 11, 2013 10:49 pm

Why is everybody in such a hurry these days? It's not like the POTUS has even mentioned outlawing or requiring background checks for traffic signal ownership. I invested in a soaking box for stripping paint and/or Kroil and/or Evapo-rust soaking, in the case of rusted screws/bolts. Lacquer thinner and lacquer thinner fumes will strip every paint I've run across and even multiple layers of paint; you just have to have patience. What the thinner doesn't get, Citrus Strip usually will. Preserving history takes time and the final result is well worth doing it right the first time.

by **gwlreno** on Mon Aug 12, 2013 5:57 am

I've still got my barrel of Butcher's Bare Knuckles floor stripper. Send me the Ruleta and I'll gladly strip it, rewire it and powder coat it. Of course then I'd have to mount it to a pole, connect it to a controller and conveniently forget where it came from......

by **SignalLab** on Mon Aug 12, 2013 9:30 am

gwlreno wrote:I've still got my barrel of Butcher's Bare Knuckles floor stripper. Send me the Ruleta and I'll gladly strip it, rewire it and powder coat it. Of course then I'd have to mount it to a pole, connect it to a controller and conveniently forget where it came from......

A+++++

that reminds me I wonder if Gordon still has finished my AGA 2way? :shock:

by **gwlreno** on Mon Aug 12, 2013 9:47 am

SignalLab wrote:
gwlreno wrote:I've still got my barrel of Butcher's Bare Knuckles floor stripper. Send me the Ruleta and I'll gladly strip it, rewire it and powder coat it. Of course then I'd have to mount it to a pole, connect it to a controller and conveniently forget where it came from......

A+++++
that reminds me I wonder if Gordon still has finished my AGA 2way?

Golly Dee, it must be around here somewhere!

by **SirMarbelot** on Mon Aug 12, 2013 12:44 pm

agaessco wrote:Why is everybody in such a hurry these days? It's not like the POTUS has even mentioned outlawing or requiring background checks for traffic signal ownership. I invested in a soaking box for stripping paint and/or Kroil and/or Evapo-rust soaking, in the case of rusted screws/bolts. Lacquer thinner and lacquer thinner fumes will strip every paint I've run across and even multiple layers of paint; you just have to have patience. What the thinner doesn't get, Citrus Strip usually will. Preserving history takes time and the final result is well worth doing it right the first time.

I get what you're saying. I am not in the habit of restoring metal items, and I have one signal that I would hypothertically like to restore. The little bit of effort I have put into it so far has only resulted in some snapped bolts and a pin deformed just enough so I can't remove the reflector frame. I am as equipped for restoring this as someone climbing Mount Everest in tennis shorts. I applied Citristrip per directions, with garbage results. This leaves me thinking I have no practical choice but to slap on some paint which will, in a couple hours, make it look much better than it does now (especially since the Citristrip did its crappy job on a few parts).

by **SirMarbelot** on Mon Aug 12, 2013 12:53 pm

gwlreno wrote:Of course then I'd have to mount it to a pole......

To a mast arm, actually!

by **agaessco** on Mon Aug 12, 2013 3:51 pm

This is a pic of a section and door sitting inside of my tank. Please notice that there's not a lot of lacquer thinner -the parts are not submerged - but the lacquer thinner fumes have wrinkled the paint anyway. You should be able to do the same thing in a 55 gallon drum or whatever steel, aluminum - metal, not plastic - container you can find that's big enough for your Ruleta sections. You will have to scrub the parts to remove the loose paint and then repeat the process until you are satisfied with the result. It's really not that big of a problem or hard to do, you just have to give the thinner fumes enough time to work. The nicest thing is I don't think there is any time limit, you can leave yours parts in for a few days or a few months, as the thinner isn't going to harm any metal. Just be sure you have a good fitting top on your container where the fumes are trapped inside.

by **SirMarbelot** on Mon Aug 12, 2013 9:50 pm

Actually, I suppose the whole darned thing could be dropped in. Thanks, that is a compelling idea. Even if I don't do a full resto, it would be nice to get all that paint off.

by **agaessco** on Mon Aug 12, 2013 11:08 pm

I dab a little C/S on any screw heads, just to get the paint out/off of them and just scrub the wrinkled paint lightly with a plastic fingernail brush. I also use a ratchet and socket with a screwdriver head to break them loose, after I apply Kroil. After the little bit of paint is removed and the Kroil has had a day or two to soak in, you can usually apply enough downward pressure to the screw head with the ratchet/socket setup. You also don't have to worry as much about stripping out the slot in the screw as you would just using an oversized screwdriver. Most of my tools are Craftsman because of the easy of buying them and the warranty, but I like the Snap On screwdriver sockets because they seem to be a lot stronger than similar Craftsman screwdriver sockets - and those also come with a warranty. I know Ruletas aren't as hard to come by as they used to be, but I just hate to see one mangled in haste, especially since I don't have one. Good luck Francis!

by **agaessco** on Mon Aug 12, 2013 11:15 pm

PS Francis: My tank is 16x16x16". I usually put in a 2-3 gallons of lacquer thinner where the actual depth of liquid thinner is 2-3". If you seal your container and leave the parts in long enough, the fumes will strip paint all the way to the top of the parts.

SignalTraffic Forums

Ruleta re-paint dilemma.. strip the SOB or just slap on mo'?

Re: Ruleta re-paint dilemma.. strip the SOB or just slap on

Re: Ruleta re-paint dilemma.. strip the SOB or just slap on

Re: Ruleta re-paint dilemma.. strip the SOB or just slap on

Re: Ruleta re-paint dilemma.. strip the SOB or just slap on

Re: Ruleta re-paint dilemma.. strip the SOB or just slap on

Re: Ruleta re-paint dilemma.. strip the SOB or just slap on

Re: Ruleta re-paint dilemma.. strip the SOB or just slap on

Re: Ruleta re-paint dilemma.. strip the SOB or just slap on

Re: Ruleta re-paint dilemma.. strip the SOB or just slap on

Re: Ruleta re-paint dilemma.. strip the SOB or just slap on

Who is online