whitening yellowed plastic washer bottle, brake fluid container, etc

[Jkalplus1]

Gents,
Anyone ever tried the peroxyde trick or had any success bleaching yellowed plastic?
http://www.howtocleanstuff.net/how-to-whiten-yellowed-plastic/
Jerome

[Jonny B]

Be careful, the link and peroxide clean are listed as acceptable for ABS (acrylic-butadiene-styrene) plastics. That is not what the brake reservoirs are made from (Polyprop or polyethylene?). I have tried cleanser and some mild abrasive. The yellow color is the aging of the plastic and solvents and strong cleaners can weaken the material.

[Jkalplus1]

Yeah, I've ordered new ones but read the brake reservoir is not 100% identical to the original and noticeable to an expert eye. I will not throw the old one out but if there is a way to make it white again I might give it a shot

[69280sl]

I believe the major difference is that the new bottles do not have brass grommets in the "hanging" holes. If you can transfer yours you should be good.

Gus

[hauser]

We have a member that was working on a reproduction of the original brake fluid reservoir.  Nothing yet.

[Jonny B]

The new bottles I have seen (for the later cars that is) is more squared off, and has a slight angle to it. Is that what you are typing about? I thought the early reservoirs were available as an exact duplicate.

[Jkalplus1]

The vdo washer bottle with brass grommets is available thru member babak ( vintageeuroparts.com or benzrestorer on ebay) I am surprised he is not on the vendors list. He has lots of good stuff for our cars and processes orders fast. The brake fluid reservoir I ordered really looks identical - judging from pictures- to my original from 1964. I will report when I get it.
Jerome

[Jkalplus1]

Gents,
I received the new bottles for brake fluid and windshield washer fluid.  They are very white, and I would say nearly opaque.  But they are not like exacctly my 1964 originals (see other post).  Big deal: engine bay looks fresh, etc.  That said, I am tempted to do this:

http://www.ehow.com/how_8528586_paint-polyethylene-products.html

with my yellowed originals, to see how they will turn out.  I see no real disadvantage: the brake fluid bottle does not really heat up so the white paint should hold well if it is not handled too much, and the same goes for the washer fluid bottle, considering the car never sees the rain it stays empty and unused all the time, so I figure even if the paint does not stick to Polyethylene plastic well, since the parts dont get moved around much it should work.  And if it turns out to be a VBI (Very Bad Idea), it is reversible with paint stripper.
Jerome

[Jonny B]

Will be curious to see what you learn. One thing with paint, you won't be able to see the level inside the bottle, not such a big deal with the washer, but kind of helpful with the brake bottle.

Interesting that they link you had, the picture showing the painted tanks from flaky white to green. Those were propane tanks, they are metal, not plastic.