When I picked up my 2A, the ID plate was painted over with Olive Drab paint. I wanted to remove the paint as there is some information on the plate that is printed on, not stamped.

I could see the stamped numbers under the paint so I knew it was the right one...

ID tag CU.jpg

I tried hot air from a paint stripper gun, no dice.

I tried the method of thinners vapour removal by placing the plate in a hermetically sealed jar with thinners (Diggers enamel thinner) for 24 hours - nothing

I tried placing toilet paper soaked in thinners against the paint for three hours in the hermetically sealed jar - nothing

I then used Poly paint stripper with a semi-stiff paint brush and the paint basically came off as I was applying the paint stripper.

The paint stripper removed the paint almost instantly and did not damage the original markings, even the ultra fine text such as the contract number

id front.jpg

Hope this helps someone who is worried about damage when restoring painted plates. Don't forget, wear gloves and eye protection and wash the part thoroughly after stripping to prevent any possible damage to the black pigment or aluminium. Don't leave it on too long, I have no idea if prolonged exposure is safe. I only treated this plate for a total of 60 seconds. I'll put up a video of the process once I can figure out how to get the video off my phone.