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XJ Wheeler
01-09-2015, 08:51 PM
I have been wanting an old metal military first aid box for a while to build a kit to keep in the jeep. Well, for Christmas my brother got me an old Bell Systems unit, not perfect but still cool. Over its life someone seems to have given it a coat of black over the original OD green and gold lettering. So, I am looking for a solution to removing the black without harming the base paint. Going for the aged, used look so I especially want the lettering to stay. Any ideas?

6820

bluedragon436
01-09-2015, 08:59 PM
I'm trying to think if they are powder coated (if not an old school version) or not originally... if so, I wonder if you might not be able to try some lacquer thinner on an inconspicuous spot first and see if it'll remove the black paint covering with just a little bit of light scrubbing.. would think if you get the stuff that evaporates pretty quickly and work a little bit at a time, might even be able to clean off the vinyl decals as well..

4.3LXJ
01-09-2015, 09:13 PM
Might depend on the vintage. On my Mighty Mite, I tried paint remover on it and found that it wouldn't touch the military paint

XJ Wheeler
01-09-2015, 09:33 PM
I'm trying to think if they are powder coated (if not an old school version) or not originally... if so, I wonder if you might not be able to try some lacquer thinner on an inconspicuous spot first and see if it'll remove the black paint covering with just a little bit of light scrubbing.. would think if you get the stuff that evaporates pretty quickly and work a little bit at a time, might even be able to clean off the vinyl decals as well..

I have no idea if its powder coat, enamel, acrylic. :confused: I did think about wet sanding it because I know it would allow me to remove small amounts at a time, but I think it would scar the base color and lettering. I may pick up some thinner though to give it a shot.

XJ Wheeler
01-09-2015, 09:34 PM
Might depend on the vintage. On my Mighty Mite, I tried paint remover on it and found that it wouldn't touch the military paint

Hmm, this gives me hope for the thinner method.

4.3LXJ
01-09-2015, 09:35 PM
The Vietnam era military paint uses acetone as a thinner. So if it is this era, thinner will not harm it.

Brasscatz
01-09-2015, 11:20 PM
Do a tester area maybe on the bottom, but maybe water it down a bit if it starts stripping the original?

XJ Wheeler
01-10-2015, 01:12 AM
The Vietnam era military paint uses acetone as a thinner. So if it is this era, thinner will not harm it.

As far as I can tell it is from that time. I've found these listed as 50s-60s and i'm thinking its an earlier model since some look to have a decal for the lettering versus individual ones.


Do a tester area maybe on the bottom, but maybe water it down a bit if it starts stripping the original?

Oh yeah, its like that on the bottom so i'll do that for sure. Watering it down a bit is probably a good idea. Especially till I find out how "affective" its going to be.