Siren Tag and Housing Restoration Questions

[Siren_Dude]

Hi all, just have two questions about my Model 2T that I'm restoring, both are about the housing. First off is the identification tag, which is mostly covered by paint. Is there anyway to get the white paint off without destroying the tag itself? Second, there are some small holes in the housing and am wondering what?s the best way to fix them? I'm thinking of getting some body filler for car repair and then sand it down. Is that a good idea or should I take it to a professional?

Thanks for the help!

[Rheems1]

The id tag underneath the paint is engraved on...but it might be pretty difficult to remove the paint without ruining the tag. You really can't sand it down as you will sand off the engraving underneath unless MAYBE you do it by hand (in other words non-mechanical means, no sander, wire wheel on a drill..just good old fashioned elbow grease) making sure to press only as hard as you have to remove the paint. As for the holes, if you are going to repaint the whole siren body filler works very well...put the bondo in, smooth it off, let it dry and sand it smooth (I can't remember if wet sanding would be good or not) and than repaint the whole housing.

[Bryan]

I'd find a very small fine wire brush or something like that to carefully flake that paint off

[Train Fan]

Yea, I'd probably sit there with some toothpicks or an Xacto and just flake it off.

[holler]

As for the rust holes, CLEAN the surface (get off all the rust) and bondo it. If you don't kill the rust it will continue to grow under the bondo.

[Siren_Dude]

Thanks for the help! I'll have pictures once i'm done with both repairs.

[hobbeekid]

To take care of the rust there's a chemical out there called rustmort. It's available at most autobody supply outlet. You paint it on and it stops rust dead usually turning it into a black iron oxide that you can bondo over then paint. for the label, try using chemstrip, you can find it in the lacquer thinner section in any hardware store,paint it on and wait till the paint bubbles up then brush with a small brush and rinse with water I think it would be strong enough to lift the paint without damaging the etching underneath if you don't leave it on too long....

[holler]

Whatever you put on the metal, make sure it will not interfere with the bonding of the body filler to the steel.

The green dupli-color self etching primer is good for that. I've used it on several cars and sirens underneath bondo.