Stripping paint from '68 console gauge cover?

[DAVEN1256]

Any suggestions as to what will strip the paint off of a '68 console gauge cover without hurting the plastic itself.

I repainted mine and am not happy with the results and want to start over

Mine has the factory paint on it and then a couple of coats that I put on it. The black paint came out great. When I tried to do the silver trim, that did not work out so well.

I'd rather start from scratch rather than sanding and piling more paint on it.

Thanks.....Dave

[69pace]

Going to sound weird but soaking it in a crock pot of soapy water on low and slow heat will release the paint and hopefully not be hot enough to warp the plastic. Or just try soaking it in a bucket of hot soapy water, changing the water often enough to keep some heat or leave it in the sun all afternoon.

[Mike S]

Hi Dave,

  Funny you write this as I am just starting to look into repainting my console and wanted to strip the paint. I searched youtube and see acetone and Easy Off oven cleaner is popular with removing paint from plastic. I have a junk console I'm going to try that on.

Mike

[x66 714]

When I used to build model cars we used brake fluid to strip them...Joe

[DAVEN1256]

Thanks for the replies.

Going to sound weird but soaking it in a crock pot of soapy water on low and slow heat will release the paint and hopefully not be hot enough to warp the plastic. Or just try soaking it in a bucket of hot soapy water, changing the water often enough to keep some heat or leave it in the sun all afternoon.

I'll try the hot soapy water in the sun first.  The heat of a crock pot scares me....and I don't own one anyhow.

Hi Dave,

  Funny you write this as I am just starting to look into repainting my console and wanted to strip the paint. I searched youtube and see acetone and Easy Off oven cleaner is popular with removing paint from plastic. I have a junk console I'm going to try that on.

Mike

I'll try the easy off if the soapy water doesn't do the trick.......By the way Mike, I just painted my console. I did not strip it. The only paint that was on it was the original factory paint. I gave it a good scrubbing with Dawn and a Scotch Brite pad. I painted it with an aerosol can of SEM Color Coat Landau Black #15013. I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out. I have an NOS console door lid that's been sitting in a box for 20 years. The SEM paint is almost a dead nuts match to the factory paint on that door lid. I did not re-paint the door lid and when installed on the painted console, you'd swear the console and lid were painted together with the same paint.

When I used to build model cars we used brake fluid to strip them...Joe

If the surface of the plastic has been sanded, is there a chance of brake fluid soaking in and ruining the chance of paint adhering to it?

Thanks.....Dave

[DAVEN1256]

I tried sanding this before trying to strip it wasn't sanding well. Even though it had been dry for several days, it seemed "gummy" when I tried to sand it.

I went the Easy Off Oven Cleaner route to strip it and that worked. The bare plastic has an interesting pattern in it.

I found some Rustoleum Matte Robin's Egg at Walmart to repaint the back of the cover. It pretty similar to what the factory used.

I repainted the black and that came out alright but there was no way I was going to try to mask the black  again to apply the silver.

I bought a "Chrome Refinishing Paint Marker" from The Parts Place which they claim is closer to Chrome that any other similar product. I was not impressed. It looked the same as a silver Sharpie......I found a "DecoColor Premium" metallic marker at Walmart and did the silver edges with that. It's not chrome but it's closer than the other marker.

Over all, it came out OK.

The first picture is the cover before I started on and the last is the finished product. I added some new CHQ lenses and that makes a big difference.

Dave

[1968RSZ28]

Wow Dave, that looks better than new! Nice job!

Paul

[Mike S]

Looks good, Dave. I just used the Eazy-off this weekend on my '67's console and it cleaned the plastic without altering the grain pattern.

Mike

[1968RSZ28]

Looks good, Dave. I just used the Eazy-off this weekend on my '67's console and it cleaned the plastic without altering the grain pattern.

Mike & Dave, how long did you let the Easy-Off stand before washing it off?  Any other helpful tips?

Paul

[x66 714]

Did you use the blue or the yellow easy off?...Joe

[Mike S]

 Hi Paul,
   I left it on for almost 2 hours inside the shed to keep it from drying in the sun. At about the 1 hour mark I gave it a second coat. At the 2 hour mark I used a semi-stiff nylon brush and some soapy water to wash it off. Gloves too.....that stuff is caustic!

Mike

[Mike S]

Hi Joe,

  I used the blue "fume free" (actually lemon scent) version.

Mike

[DAVEN1256]

I used the yellow Easy Off.

I was a little leery of letting it sit on there for hours. I would spray it and let it sit for an hour. After that, I started going over it with a red Sotchbrite pad. I found that it lifted the paint rather than dissolved it. Some areas would come right off. Others, it didn't seem to touch. I had to repeat the process three or four times till it all came off. I used a toothpick to get in the small crevices.

[DAVEN1256]

Here is a better picture without the glare on the lenses. The CHQ lenses are crystal clear.

A couple of other details......I found some fluorescent gauge needle paint online at a place called HI-PO Parts Garage and freshened up my needles with it. It's very cheap.

https://www.hipoparts.com/fluorescent-speedo-gauge-needle-restoration-paint/

On my temperature gauge, the orange "caution" and red "hot" marks were almost completely faded away. I got small cans of red and orange spray paint at a hobby store and touched them up. It adds some nice color to the gauges that really stands out.

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[1968RSZ28]

Mike & Dave, thank you!

Paul