Is there anything (chemical) that will lift epoxy glue without destroying a plastic side cover? The paint is not an issue.
None that I know of, anything that will soften epoxy will melt the plastic. If it wont hurt to mess up the paint there is only two ways I ever been able to get it off one is to chip it off in small pieces( sharp knife no razer blade) some times you can even save the paint, if you leave a couple small scratches you can usually sand and buff it back out, the other is to sand it off or carefully file it off. A lot depends on how thick and how large an area. Got a pic?
This from the Loctite website.
Epoxy is considered a permanent adhesive. However, if you need to remove it, apply acetone or Easy-Off Oven Cleaner to the epoxy and let it sit for awhile. Eventually, the epoxy will soften and can be pried from the surface with a putty knife. Remember to test the oven cleaner on an inconspicuous area before applying over a large area.
The oven cleaner is probably the "caustic" type.
Since you mentioned chemical, you thought of dremal grinding/sanding.
Acetone will eat the plastic up..
This is on an 87 Super Magna side cover that "Red Neckerson" tried to epoxy back together.
Basically this is a star shaped crack at a post created when someone tried to pull the cover off. The epoxy is in the cracks and all over the back of the crack inside the cover.
Unfortunately, "Red" didn't get the plastic pushed back in place and it is a rough mess. If I can get the old epoxy off, there might be a chance of salvaging this cover.
Looks like it's experimentation/sacrifice time on one of my other busted covers.
Thanks for the input guys. I'll keep you posted.
Sounds like you may have to use something like an air cutoff tool, grind the epoxy out and start over. I'm having to do that on a lot of my Venture fairings. Good luck..