denraweb

Ok, so the previous owner of my car decided that the semi-gloss black ineterior color wasn't shiny enough. So he decided to paint the interior with some kind of paint. It's got spots where it wasn't painted, but I want to remove the paint without damaging the original interior color. On the center console and the big rear side panels, the paint is like real flaky, but hard to make it flake off. On the doors and dash it's like just fading or something. Is there anything I can use to take off the paint without damaging the original color/material?

dubzz24

I hate ricers

A '90 CRX I had before came like that too. The harder plastic pieces like the door speaker covers and air vents I let soak in a little bucket of brake fluid over night. By morning the paint just peeled right off. Didn't damage the color or plastic or anything.

Tippyman

Brake cleaner works good.

dj-t

If you are talking about the interior panels, I've use acetone on one of my cars and the paint came off leaving the original color. Then I just use some turtle wax protection and sprayed it on turned out ok for me.

SlobberGoat

from AceMcquyver on rpr

When I got my well used CRX, it had come from the factory with a black interior but through previous owners the interior had been painted white and then black again. The end result is that it looked like crap when there was nothing wrong with the original finish. So wanting to go back to the original finish without doing a lot of work or destroying the plastic I tried different things to quickly remove the paint. Here are some tips to help anyone who wants to do the same on their plastic parts.

For interior or exterior plastic parts the best and cheapest way to remove spray can based paints is oven cleaner. Don't use the expensive Easy Off or the No Fume kind, just get the cheap stuff at Wally World for $2.00 a can. Use rubber gloves and don't breath the vapors, the stuff is so caustic it will dissolve your skin but will not hurt plastic in the slightest, I use it on the fabric and carpet thats on the panels and have not seen that it damages the fabric in any way either. It will however liquify any can based paint. Oven cleaner will also remove all grease and grime accumulated anywhere on the plastic making it look brand new except for any sun or other damage.

I spray it on and let the panel sit for about 20 minutes, then use a plastic scraper like the kind you can buy at Home Depot or Lowes to scrape the panel and scrape off the paint. You don't have to be real gentle if you are using a plastic scraper because it won't scratch the plastic but you don't want to really put pressure on it either. Don't use a scotch brite pad as that will scratch the plastic and the vinyl. Use a garden hose with a good nozzle on the panel and wash off the cleaner and paint, you can also use the water pressure to get under the weakened paint and lift it up off the panel. Let the panel dry and then do it again until all the paint is gone. On the fabric or carpet I use the plastic scraper to work the cleaner into the fabric and let it sit. You can also wet the fabric and spray it down with cleaner so it gets to the bottom of the fabric better. I have let it sit in the fabric and carpet overnight to get some of the tougher paints well dissolved. If you didn't get all the paint the first time do the whole process again. For the little patches that are left over or those that the oven cleaner can't seem to get use Lacquer Thinner, you can get this at Home Depot, Wally World or anyplace they sell paint. Put some on a rag and rub it on the paint it will come right off and it won't hurt this plastic but be aware that it can hurt some plastics. You can use Laquer thinner on the fabric also without hurting it. You can keep doing this until all the paint is gone. When your done wash the panel in soapy water to remove any residue, let them dry, and reassemble. I had to do my panels 5 times before I got all the paint off them. They look brand new now.

This method will not work on exterior automotive paint. For that I use plain old brake fluid. It's messy, but again will not hurt the plastic and is sometimes used by modelers to remove paint from models. I soak the component in a tray of brake fluid for a couple of days scaping off the excess with a scraper or tooth brush every 8 hours or so until it's free of paint. Wash off the brake fluid with soap and water for clean up. Brake fluid will put a milkey sheen on the surface of plastic parts that will be visible when it's dry, you can use steel wool to rub it off and buffing compound to shine it back up.

denraweb

Awesome, thanks guys.

I'm gonna try each method on different plastic parts and whatnot and see which one works best. I will let you guys know which turned out best. Thanks again guys/girls!