Case Interior Paint Removal

[Tsunami982]

so i have a black koolance (chieftech/antec style 1040 server) case. i painted the inside of the case red a couple years back and now the paint has been chipped the hell out of. i want to repaint the interior of the case and wanted to know whats the best way to remove paint from the interior of the case. i dont care if the method affects the outside of the case (its easy to repaint the outside) as long as it gets the interior paint removed.

*simple sanding wont work because there are far too many little crevices that would be impossible to get to.

any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

 

[atom]

It isn't really necessary to remove the existing paint. You can just scuff the old paint with some sandpaper and then paint over it and it'll be fine. I guess if you really want to remove the old paint you can get some liquid paint stripper from a paint store. It gets kinda messy though.

 

[Tsunami982]

yeah i thought about just scruffing it and painting over it but its so chipped now that parts of it are bare metal and if i were to paint over it, it would leave little valleys where it was just bare metal.

is paint stripper the same thing as thinner?

 

[atom]

Nah, it's different. Chemical paint stripper is toxic so if you use it it you will also need get protective gear like rubber gloves, goggles, mask etc. Plus it leaves a huge goopy mess and stinks to high hell. But it really does work well. I've used it on automotive parts that have been painted.

Paint thinner might work depending on the type of paint you used. If it's water/latex based try the thinner first. Even plain rubbing alcohol will work on water/latex based paint.

 

[Tsunami982]

Originally posted by: atom
Nah, it's different. Chemical paint stripper is toxic so if you use it it you will also need get protective gear like rubber gloves, goggles, mask etc. Plus it leaves a huge goopy mess and stinks to high hell. But it really does work well. I've used it on automotive parts that have been painted.

Paint thinner might work depending on the type of paint you used. If it's water/latex based try the thinner first. Even plain rubbing alcohol will work on water/latex based paint.

will thinner work on spray paint? so for paint stripper will i need a full resporator or will one of those little white masks work fine?

 

[VinDSL]

OMG!!! You are sooooo screwed!

I used to have a part-time job at Ace Hardware -- like working in a candy shop -- but, I'm here to tell you, paint removal is hella hard! Paint is NOT supposed to come off! Think about it...

If I was you, I would find an automotive machine shop, or whatever, and have them 'glass bead' your case...

 

[opmike]

Since you talk about a lot of crevices, bead blasting would be your best bet in my opinion (assuming you really want to keep this case and not just upgrade to something else).

Depending on the underlying metal, size/type of media used, and the skill of the worker; you may even come out with a nice matte finish.

 

[0roo0roo]

the cost of the gear for stripping all that hard to reach paint... u can just buy a new or used case or something. i doubt they go for much these days. i remember they had sales of the things for like 30 bucks at some places 2-3 years ago when they were phasing em out

 

[sdifox]

why not fill the pits with car body putty, sand it down and then paint? That is how small blemishes are fixed on auto body, computer case is the similar enough.

 

[nycdude]

I suggest a new case since there are some nice ones out that won't break the bank. Besides, your time and sanity is worth more than a clean inside of a case.