Removing Paint Job

[mallik]

Hi, I got a lThinkpad that has a paint job I would like to remove and restore back to original. Here are some images of the paint job:

What would be the best way to go about doing this? Would I need to take it apart?

 

[aphasia]

ideally yes, you'll need to take the casing off, if not to keep the internals free from damage (if sanding) but for ease of doing the job.

if the casing is made of metal/aluminium, save yourself some hassle and drop it at a paint strippers (chemical bath). won't cost much, 10 - 20 bucks.

if the casing is plastic, you'll need to strip the paint off the hard way (sanding).

 

[mallik]

Thanks for the info. I'm not sure what material the casing is made out of for a Thinkpad T20, but a quick search indicates that it may be titanium composite.

If chemical paint stripper can be used on this, what kind of place would do this?

 

[twelveparsex]

Thanks for the info. I'm not sure what material the casing is made out of for a Thinkpad T20, but a quick search indicates that it may be titanium composite.

If chemical paint stripper can be used on this, what kind of place would do this?

make sure you mask off all the plastic parts; if it really is metal go to an autoparts store and find "aircraft paint remover" brush it on and wait about 15 minutes it will make the paint start blistering and it'll come right off if you scrape it with an old credit card or something similar

 

[Bosom]

Also, be careful about breathing the fumes. There can be bad stuff to inhale from the paint stripper/paint.

 

[atarione]

i'm about 95% sure them thinkpads are plastic bodied


i have what i think is a brill idea

go on ebay look for broken (intact case of same model / screen size)

due transplant to new case


I did this for a thinkpad with a broken hinge / case cracked also paid like $15 for the case on ebay found the field service guide for the lappy online swapped all the bits to new case... figured out at the very end i'd forgot one piece of foam padding on the bottom...got mad... took it apart again put it back together


you'd spend more on supplies probably trying to paint it back to the orig color.

 

[aphasia]

i'm about 95% sure them thinkpads are plastic bodied


i have what i think is a brill idea

go on ebay look for broken (intact case of same model / screen size)

due transplant to new case


I did this for a thinkpad with a broken hinge / case cracked also paid like $15 for the case on ebay found the field service guide for the lappy online swapped all the bits to new case... figured out at the very end i'd forgot one piece of foam padding on the bottom...got mad... took it apart again put it back together


you'd spend more on supplies probably trying to paint it back to the orig color.

yeah this is probably the smart money decision.

if you can't get a 'donner' casing (and the shell is in fact metal), trip down to your nearest paint stripper. i'd avoid if all possible doing a chemical paint-removal job myself, that shit is almost as bad as sanding.
getting a professional to dunk the dismantled case in a bath will provide an almost perfect job. no mess, no fuss.

you could go a bit silly and ask the paint stripper to drop it in an etching bath then take the shell to a powercoater. a job that small would cost almost nothing. if you're nice to the painters, ask them to chuck it in with whatever other job they're currently doing. just a thought, course if the thing is plastic, all bets are off.