Help! What's the solvent for brake fliud?

[shaihulud]

There are times when I despair of myself. Today I did something very stupid and now I need some help. I am so annoyed with myself that like the family of the Elephant's Child I should be spanked until I am "very warm and greatly astonished". I was cleaning up the gelcoated interior of the tub of my SR in readiness for painting. A previous owner had used a very tough glue to fit some carpet into the area behind the seats. I used every solvent that I had in the shed and found that a combination of scraping, acetone and ether was working, but it was slow and difficult. Because brake fluid will take the hair off a brown dog I tried some of that. Silly me. It did no good but now I have contaminated the area with an oil which I am having trouble removing. I have used the following solvents to try to remove it Petrol (gasolene). white spirit, mineral turpentine, metholated spirits, ether (from aerostart or as it is labeled here, "Start ya Bastard!", acetone and lacquer thinners. None of it has worked. What do you suggest that I try next?

[newmanx59]

Try carburator cleaner...it attacks everything! Just be mindful of your eyes and where gloves.

[Gene-C]

Toluene is my miracle solvent of choice.

[DIESELDOOG]

MEK would work BUT it is some nasty S!#T. You need to work out side and wear a respeator, if it gets on your skin it will absorb into it.

[Gene-C]

Id love to have a can of fluid with that label "Start ya Bastard" Any chance of sending me a can?

[shaihulud]

WuZaBuG. Sure I can send you some Start ya Bastard, but I doubt if it would be permissable to send something as inflamably potent as ether in the mail. PM me your snail mail address. The label is painted on the can and I don't expect to finish my can for a long time as I don't use it very often. Let me see what I can do.

[Lee]

Brake Parts Cleaner. It should be on the rack near the Carb Cleaner.

[allen pierce]

Here's a pic of "Start ya Bastard"... Classic Stuff, only from the land of OZ Just in case the real thing doesn't make it to you!

[Gene-C]

Richard I sent you PM. Thanks for the pic Allen.:laugh1:

[allen pierce]

Just in case the real thing doesn't make it to you!

[Gene-C]

The best luck, I have had on removing adhesives and that type of stuff is Xylol Xylene Got mine @ the Home Depot This stuff will thin or cut anything. It is also used in cleaning carpets, by the pros. Like all the other stuff, be careful, highly flammable etc. :2cents: Jimbo

[shaihulud]

Thanks for your suggestions. It looks as if my solvent supply is about to greatly increase. I'll let you know what works.

[Gene-C]

Trial and error... Thats how we get where we are...

[croakintowd]

Hello, One of the best "solvents" for Brake fluid is soap and water. Brake Fluid (Dot 3) will mix with water, so water should be a good choice to remove Brake fluid. For the left over glue junk, I've used a product called "Goo Gone". It's a good solvent for most adhesives, and some paints (If the paint isn't too old). Hope it helps,

[shaihulud]

Richard. You anticipated my next reply here. Recently while talking about this problem with my friend Hector, who has many years of buggy experience, we had a conversation that went a lot like this. "Richard, there are times when you can be so dumb." "What?" "Why should you change your brake fluid every two years." "I don't know." "Because it absorbs water, dummy, it's hygroscopic." "Oh!" "Wash it off with a strong detergent and water." So I did, and I think that it has solved my problem. After all of the other solvents that I used, I don't know what worked, but I think that the problem is licked. Occam, as in Occam's Razor, was again proven to be right. "The simplest answer is nearly always the correct one".