Does anyone have any experience or tips for restoring the black plastic heater cover in a MK II S?
My car (10/1970) has been painted gloss black by a previous owner and the result looks dreadful. It must've been the only black spray can at the hardware store!!
I'm loathe to try and remove the paint with a chemical as it will likely react with the plastic, and I've yet to see any NOS heaters for sale in the recent past.

a guy on here has a mk 2 cooper heater for sale less core for $100, http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=37516
1 cooper s wheel lp883 with good bridgestone tyre $100.00 mk 2 s heater less core $ 100.00 850 seats $80.00 Castle Hill Sydney phone 0409764814
mk2 s heaters are quite rare, his price seems very fair. hope it helps

_________________
real men race downhill - keiichi tsuchiya

Thanks for the heads up on that sale. Unfortunately it had gone by the time I rang.

If you think removing the paint is worth it (the surface underneath might not be very good), then there are a range of modern paint strippers that aren't so unpleasant. Something like citristrip, which is citrus oil based and not so strong as the old methylene chloride strippers would be worth a try, as would one of the caustic ones. Obviously you'd try it on an inconspicuous area first.

My tendency would be to sand it down and repaint it in a black satin finish. Satin looks good and doesn't stand out like gloss. It a also does a much better job of concealing any imperfections. I used it on a heater that someone had "tidied up" with tyre black, it looked much better.

Tim

_________________
1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

Thanks Tim. I might give that a try. I read in another post recently about someone who sprayed their fuel tank with a particular satin aerosol paint and they said it looked almost like the real thing. The heater surface is similar to the matt black tank so that might also be worth trying if the plastic surface is too grotty.
Doug

Digging up an old discussion here, but how did you go with this Doug?

Im needing to restore mine and curious as to how others have done this and how has it turned out?

Sorry, didn't do it so no experiences.

_________________
ex-NSW Police 1970 MK II Cooper S
VMCI #43

No problem at all Doug!

Will research into it and see what i can find that may work. I need to fix up a few cracks which shouldn't be too hard and look into painting or maybe just leaving it...

Will keep ya posted on what i find works and doesn't.

A caution: due to impact damage on mine, I buffed out the damage but the plastic underneath has a strange mottled colour, a bit like bakelite. I think the originals must have been coated to get them plain black.
Would a plastic spray paint be appropriate? My son has used 'Dupli-color vinyl and plastic paint' on modern plastic interior fittings very effectively.

Speaking as an ex chemist, soaking it in a dilute Sodium Hydroxide solution (NaOH) may well do it. Test it first!

_________________
67 Deluxe
Dry suspension
1293cc, 11:1 comp, RE 282 camshaft, 45 Weber, extractors etc
4 synchro close ratio gbox
Cooper S brakes, no booster
Stealth box, as Doc says "goes harder and idles!"
RH tank cos I needed it crossing the Nullarbor etc..

The plastic heaters used in the late Mk2 Mini Ks and Clubman are grp rather than plain plastic and often have a mottled texture caused by the fibres showing through. I'd just paint with a quality satin black from the hardware store. For interior use its pretty good.

Tim

_________________
1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

Mini K and Cooper S heaters are very different beasts...

_________________
67 Deluxe
Dry suspension
1293cc, 11:1 comp, RE 282 camshaft, 45 Weber, extractors etc
4 synchro close ratio gbox
Cooper S brakes, no booster
Stealth box, as Doc says "goes harder and idles!"
RH tank cos I needed it crossing the Nullarbor etc..