I just recovered my Schwinn mountain bike from a recent theft (woot!!!) Anyways, the guy who stole it spray painted it black.... all of it. Brakes, gears, derailurs, tires, rims, everything. Anyone have any ideas on the best way to remove all the spray paint? The bike wasn't super pretty b4 the paint job, but its horrible now. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Ugh. That's ass.

Acetone will take off the paint. It's particularly important to take it off mechanical parts — the rims (as they're the braking surface) and gears are most important. Acetone will attack non-paint plastics, as well, so you're probably best off taking the pulleys out of the rear derailleur.

This would be best done by stripping down the bike, then taking out plastic parts, then washing things off with acetone and a brush. Be sure to relube when you're done! Anywhere where metal touches metal should be greased or oiled.

If you can spare $25, a new chain will save you a lot of cleaning time, and it's a part you just replace every so often anyway.

for the components (the brakes,dérailleur etc. and maybe the rims) you can try finger nail remover, the spray paint is a soft paint so it should come off very easy. this might work for the frame too ,but I'm not sure about that i haven't try it myself.

Congrats on the recovering.

Removing spray paint without harming original paint can be done with thick polishing compound (typically found at autoparts stores) and a lot of elbow grease.

Im not too worried about the original paint too much. I just dont want it too look like some trailor trash stolen ghetto hoopty.

Can you press charges against the guy for vandalising your bike?

probably.... although looking at him, i figure it would be pointless. I was just happy to get it back for something to ride to work.

+1 on the acetone. Most "nail polish remover" is made from acetone with a little lanolin or something similar added so it's virtually the same thing as acetone; just way more expensive. Some rattle can paint will not respond to acetone so try a small spot first. If that doesn't work, a more agressive approach might be some lye based paint stripper, but be very careful and work with small areas. You should be able to time it so that the stripper will only have time to attack the fresh paint and get it off before it attacks the original paint. Also, be aware that this stuff will remove skin as well as paint. Wear all recommended protective gear and carefully follow directions if using this method.

If you have an autobody supply store nearby get a quart of enamel reducer to take the rattle can paint off of the frame. It is not very aggressive but should soften the black paint while not harming the original finish. For the chrome components I would use some lacquer thinner or acetone. Make sure you wear gloves and do this in a well ventilated area unless you want to take a "trip"

ZIPstrip. use in a well ventilated area. it will remove all the paint down to the bare metal in one or two applications.

afterwards, you can paint it yourself, or have it powder coated.

also, if you're willing to spend the money, just have it sandblasted and powdercoated at the same place.

wow. that's horrible. they could have at least done an interesting color, like mauve, or avacado.

Any Idea why he painted everything black rather than just the frame? Painting everything would scream cover-up to anyone. Of course it also screams IDIOT...

I've used Easy-Off oven cleaner to remove spraypaint from vehicles in the past. It worked great.

I'd try dilluted paint thinner,maybe something tougher.Looks like a latex house paint effort.The last
police bike auction I went to many had the spray painted downtube disease. Looks like a flat black color. That BBQ paint has been used on engine parts,that would be real work removing that stuff.

Valspar Goof Off.