Meltdown

[daz]

Oh no. A piece of nylon tie down strap melted on my exhaust header. How can I get that off without scratching the chrome? Brake cleaner does not touch it. I can't think of any chemical that would brake down that nylon or whatever the strap was made from. Anyone have any experience with this?

[Duane Ausherman]

Wow, those can be tough. Try some oven cleaner. First, put a dab on a place that is out of sight to test it.

I think that better answers will come along.

[jagarra]

I was going to suggest oven cleaner too, works pretty good on plastic bags. How about paint stripper, that stuff is pretty aggressive.

[dougie]

Perhaps a hot air gun might soften it enough to peel off.

[moosehead]

Perhaps a hot air gun might soften it enough to peel off.

That's definitely a tough one. What plastic compound is in those my tough ties can't help out with that.

My wife melted the sole of her running shoe onto brand new muffler few years ago. As dougie suggested I tried softening it up with a hot air gun and then used a wooden paint stir stick to "lift" it off. Tried not to scrape the muffler (stainless) but hard to avoid some. Took off about %95 then used the oven off to get the last remnants. Then AutoSol to remove as many of the remaining scratches.

So give it a go. Are your mufflers chrome or stainless. Think chrome ones would be more susceptible to marking but not sure. If oven off can remove it and you don't have to scrape that would be perfect. Good luck.

[khittner1]

Acetone?

[George Ryals]

Freeze it with some Freeze It spray. It should pop off.

[Snakeoil]

I like the freeze spray idea. Never would have thought of that.

My wife melted a heel on a chrome HD muffler. Lacquer thinner and much patience took it off. Don't think lacquer thinner will touch nylon, though.

If the freeze spray does not work, try running the engine until it heats up the pipe and then with a wooden scraper, get all that you can off the pipe. Another thought that is sort of a last resort, is try to burn it off with a propane torch.

Are you sure it is nylon? I think a lot of those straps are polyester and lots of stuff, like lacquer thinner will remove it.

regards,
Rob

[Zombie Master]

Freeze it with some Freeze It spray. It should pop off.

+1

[hudson]

I have used oven off/cleaner & soft abrasive that would not scratch exhaust. If it is stubborn and won't come off immediately let it sit for a while.