Re: Restoring (repainting?) apple components

[louiss@gate.net (Louis Schulman)]

In <4monf5$1ceu@usenetz1.news.prodigy.com>, TTSH35A@prodigy.com (Phil Abel) writes:
>Is there any solvent, etc that anyone knows of that can restore the color 
>to these components? (I know there is not much I can do about the 
>scratches...) And without damaging the plastic or electronics of course!
>
>I've also heard stories of people painting old II+ cases, etc. bold new 
>colors.  I have some cases that are discolored, scratched, painted with 
>ID markers, etc. beyond tolerance, and wouldn't mind converting a banged 
>up II+ and disk II into a fleckstone green or some other nifty color!  
>Esp with a CPU, it's easy enough to separate the plastic top from the 
>electronics, but what kind of paint is used?  Just a regular old plastic 
>model type enamel (I should think flat rather than gloss), possibly with 
>a protective clear coat on top?
>
>Will also welcome remarks along the line of "get real guy, who cares 
>about aesthetics, at least the stuff works!"
>
Best advice:  DON'T DO IT UNLESS YOU ARE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!  You
are 99% likely to ruin the appearance rather than improve it.  Almost any solvent stronger than
mineral spirits will eat into plastic.  Plastic model paints dry way too soft-they will never give
a hard durable finish.  To clean, use formula 409 or Fantastic, carefully scrape old glue, etc., and use
mineral spirits.  Plastic can be buffed to restore its finish with a buffing wheel and compound.

You are really talking about antique restoration, definitely not for someone not familiar with re-
finishing the materials involved.  Believe me, you will be sorry if you try this, unless you really
know what you are doing.

Louis Schulman   louiss@gate.net
*****Any opinions expressed herein are someone else's.  I wish I knew whose.*****