TRYING !!
to restore some dignity to this piece -
so far --the years of dirt/grime have been removed from the white sections -
and i painted the rust off the grills -

remaining are a few pounds of grunge on the grey center section --around all the white letters -
100% of the original lettering is intact-

asking for the cleaning agent that will remove all the filth --and still protect the letters ?

thanks

here are the before and 'almost' after shots





note --i tried alcohol on the very bottom (around the JVC chrome bar)-
worked well -- but not sure if the alcohol can be 'trusted' for the rest of it ??

Hi Ira-I see your working on your project as well tonight.
Try the special Jeff speacial cleaning method!
Start with the simple green full strenth.
Then use the Goo-Gone!
These are the first 2 steps I use but yours might need something special.
Yes Ira underneath all that paint is a true M-90!
It's comimg along nicely already!
I see more of it now!
Have a great one-GB.

you know i think you should take that boombox apart.
then i would try to steam some of that paint off. i have a feeling alot of it would come off with a steam cleaner.
i also think that you could also possibly throw the pieces into a very hot bath and some of that paint would come off too.
if alchohol is working to take that paint off there is a pretty good chance that paint is not oil based paint.
if isopropol or methyl hydrate takes of that paint it is a pretty good chance it is just emultion.
so i would advice heavily against using it to clean the entire box. it would damage the remaining finish.
i think that the paint on that boombox is most likely not spray paint. allthough i cannot be sure. from the photos.
it could be latex based spray paint. thats pretty common now in some places.
i would try using non solvent based removal methods first.
does the paint peel aways from any of the places.
if you can peel it off is it very brittle and hard or is it flexible.
have you tried to put some really sticky tape on the paint and leave it to sit over night then pull it off in the morning.
how much adhesion is there to the substrate.
i would do some further testing firt.
can you take it apart so you are just cleaning the shell.
patience is your friend with this job.
if you can get a corner to peel up on the areas around the speakers you could probably peel most of the stuff off if it is not a brittle material.
if it is a brittle material like laquer or industrial alkyd enamel then more than likely the substrate has been chemicaly etched with the solvent in the paint.
so it will make it harder to get off.
plastic is a wierd material. some solvents will not harm some plastics while other solvents will warp them and screw them up all to hell.
i would say in this case laquer thinner is out beacause it will most likely weaken the plastic and totally erase any lettering on there.
goo gone is a combination of i believe benzine and citrus oil. it is pretty good for removing grafitti and fresh paint.
good luck getting it clean.
if it was mine i would take it apart.
i would try the steam and the hot water treatment first.
if you can increase the temperature of the coating to a point that it pulls aways from the substrate is should come off easily.
i would never use a heat stripper beacause it will melt the plastic for sure.
i do not think tho hot hot bath water or steam for that matter will warp the plastic.
i do if that paint is emulsion it will take off that paint easily.
the metal parts can
probably just be stripped and repainted.
good luck man.

i also think the paint will be easier to remove if the box has been out in the sun for a while too.

thanks alot bill -
i actually LIKE the paint --
so i am not trying to remove it --

the question i have is specifically --
how to clean the grey center section without accidentally removing the stock lettering ?

Have you tried Orange Glo and a tooth brush?

This is a paint job for the man Transam...homeboy would do some serious f'n justice to that box. Hurts to see the JVC like so. All considering I think this was the dump pile rescue from Henry right? SO I guess its going to get the "ghetto pass" for coming out of a heap of trash.

thanks fatdog --
which orange glo ??

http://www.orangeglo.com/c-products.html

Hey Ira, I've already try (successfully) to clean some boxes with regular shampoo for hand dish-washing and piece of soft shred.

Try this, I think that will help you to remove that filth without damage letters.

thanks to all for the suggestions --could not find any local 'orange glo' --
so - went with the DT concept --
used a liquid hand soap --the only active ingredient was 62% ethyl alcohol.

success !!
it removed none of the lettering -while it did clean up lots of the grime.

also -re-painted the white stripes in the dive flags and the top trim --

then added the last photo (#3) to the first post -(above)

and with some superb adjustments from local hero RAMON --its 96% working fine --
sounds GREAT

this former train wreck is now becoming a very happy M90

ira it looks like a, a, well, a m91

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder




Johnny

I say sandblast it

-gsbadbmr

Ira is everything else working

bill - yes --everything that really matters works perfectly.

Cool, starting to look better already

ira is trying to land planes