Does anyone know how to remove silver paint from the engine, twit who had my trike before has sprayed everything (including the carbs) with silver paint. I've managed to get some off with a dremel drill and a wire polishing wheel but I can't get into all the nooks and crannys. Ken has managed to polish the bits he removed but I want to avoid taking the whole thing to bits if possible.

acetone. or if you have a compressor get an old underseal gun and use bicarbonate of soda. eco friendly too...lol

sorry i meant...sodium bicarbonate.

Thanks, I will give it a try.

nitromors water washable paint remover is also good - but it stings like buggery on your skin and will take most paint off - so don't get it where you don't want paint removed

I thought about that too but didn't suggest it as I thought it may rot or perish any rubber parts too. Maybe wrong here but thought about it.

HI KAREN, PLEASE DONT USE ACETONE, AS IT WILL DO IRREPERABLE DAMAGE TO THE GASKETS ON THE BIKE, THE BEST WAY TO DO THE REMOVAL OF THE PAINT IS A GOOD PAIR OF RUBBER GLOVES, AN OLD PAINT BRUSH, NITROMOSE, AND SOME VERY FINE WIRE WOOL, AND A WHOLE HEAP OF PATIENCE. TRY AND COVER UP AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE THE PARTS THAT YOU DONT WANT TO COME INTO CONTACT WITH THE PAINT STRIPPER, AND KEEP HANDY A BUCKET OF WATER WITH A FEW DROPS OF LEMON JUICE IN AND A SPONGE , THEN IF ANY PAINT STRIPPER GETS WHERE IT IS NOT NEEDED, WASH IT OFF STRAIGHT AWAY AND MAKE SURE IT IS PROPERLY CLEANED. BE PATIENT. AS SOON AS THE AREA YOU ARE WORKING ON IS FREE OF PAINT, WASH IT DOWN AND DRY IT, THIS WILL STOP AND DISCOLOURATION OR CORROSION TO THE ENGINE. GOOD LUCK HONEY, DEBBIE

oh sorry. i thought the engine was stripped.

The silver paint is Hammerite smooth and is very thick in places.
I first tried celulose thinners and it was working OK but it was just spreading it about and as it evaporated the paint dried in a different place, so I tried using the paint stripper and a very small brush and this worked fine but had to use a power washer to get ride of it. One side is done so I will start the other side in the morning. Thanks for all your tips.

brilliant stuff Nitromors - the water washable bit is the trick - that way you don't get the inevitable 'spread' effect as seen with general solvent types