The other day I scored a pretty rare radio delete plate for my Comet. The part is in great shape except for the fact that some yahoo slathered copious amounts (that means a bunch for you guys in Arkansas) of white paint on it sometime in its life. I would just paint over it but the paint thats on it is so thick that it's hiding some of the details in the part. I know that some of the model guys use oven cleaner to remove paint from old builds but the plastic on this part seems a little more flexible/rubbery than a model body. These radio delete plates are pretty rare, if I ruin it I may never find another. Any suggestions other than the Easy-Off?
The easy-off idea scares me. I've done this sort of thing with model cars before, pick at it as best you can to get the bulk of it off, then switch to something fairly tame like nail polish remover. Rinse in soapy water during the process.
When cleaning paint off of a plastic model I use this stuff called Super Clean. I think Castrol makes it. Walmart or any auto parts store has it. It works great and causes no damage to the plastic. Works allot better than oven cleaner. I would test some out on a corner or something to see if it will work on the delete plate.
Dip it in Pine-Sol. Seriously. It liquifies latex house paint at any rate, and takes it off of plastic. I learned this from telephone restorers (of which, I am one). ~Jason
I have one of those plates for a Comet hiding around my garage somewhere. Didnt know they were so rare. I plan on putting it back on the dash one of these days. I used nail polish remover to remove paint from a swiss army knife handle and it pretty much melted it.
On anything plastic, don't ***ume that anything that worked elsewhere is right; there are a zillion different kinds, and even within a family like styrene different mixes will vary in ease of ruination. I'd put a really small drop of the whatever on the back of the piece and await results, also checking the spot by digging in a fingernail to see if the plastic has softened. The wrong stuff could be serious bad news.
You might try some GOOF OFF. That stuf works pretty good. Whatever you do try, test it first in a place that isn't going to destroy the plate.
I'm not sure if you can get castrol super clean in calif anymore, but purple power is $4 a gallon and will remove almost any paint without harming the plastic. I usually leave it overnight, if the paint is really hard scuff it with some sand paper first so it can soak in.
I have used this stuff on every kind off plastic I can find, it has not softend any thing i've tried not even after a month.
Easy Off in the mustang forums a guy stripped his interior with it didn't hurt the plastic and he had to multi coat them to get all the paint off . Lots of great idea's here too try , also post up what you do or did to get it stripped.
I've got a big jug of Super Clean in the garage, I'll try that on the back of the plate and report my findings. If that doesnt work I'll try the Pine-Sol idea. Cross your fingers.
might work on the plastic styene of the models... but who knows what the delete plate is made of. THe best and only thing to do, really, is test
Try calling some media blast places, they can tailor media type to clean ink off of a coke can without denting or warping and paint out of tail light lenses, they could probably do your plate with a low pressure baking soda blast and not harm the parent plastic. Not all media is aggressive.
Might sound silly, but have you tried really hot water? Chances are that the yahoo who painted it didn't use a proper primer, so the paint won't be stuck on very well.
I've got the tip of one of the mounting studs soaking in Super Clean now. I'll let you know if it melts off tomorrow.
The Super Clean worked great, I didnt have any problems with it melting the plastic. Mission accomplished.
this works. WESTLEY'S BLEECH WHITE tire cleaner. you soak the part sumerged over night. wash under faucet using tooth brush, paint will come right off. have used this on models and plastic knobs,dash parts, etc for years. caution it will remove the chrome off of plastic, as well as paint. good luck cadillac dave
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