have a 72 grill its in nice condition.... but someone has painted it with nervous hands ... I think I could do better ...I test stripped the paint on back side with some thinner ...not good ...acetone ...forget about it ...and solvent cleaner eats up the plastic I have one guy telling me EASY OFF OVEN CLEANER and assures me to leave it on for one hour and then wash off .....whatever instincts I have is telling me that easy-off would be worse ....IS IT ?? what to use ?? o No:
Re: stripping paint off platic grill Alot of us model car builders strip paint from old buildups by soaking them in Castrol Super Clean or Purple Power. Another method we use is 91% alcohol. Now the hard part is to find a container big enough that you could submerge a grill into, maybe a wallpaper tray or something along those lines would be big enough to hold a couple of gallons of CSC. Be careful and use rubber gloves because this stuff is wicked strong and will take the skin oils out of your hands and you'll end up with hands that look like something from a horror movie without protection or @ least have no more fingerprints left on your fingertips. It contains a chemical agent like lye so it is quite caustic to skin but won't harm the plastic like hot solvents such as lacquer thinner or acetone. The CSC works best on enamels while the alcohol tends to work better to remove lacquer paints. I've even forgot kit bodies in my soaking tub for a couple of weeks and then pulled them out of the CSC rinse 'em clean and they're ready for resto. Hope this suggestion helps you grill resto!
Re: stripping paint off platic grill I use EASY OFF on all my plastic grilles and fan shrouds without any problems. the lye removes the paint without harming the plastic. Easy off was the only thing that would remove the silicone mold release from one of the GSCA repro 71 grilles.
Re: stripping paint off platic grill I was going to post the same thread Frank. I have a grill has has a pretty thick coating of Krylon. I was going to try some Testors ELO on it, but I might try the Super Clean first. I was a little nervous about getting it media blasted. Let me know how it works out Frank. You'll probably get to yours before I get to mine.
Re: stripping paint off platic grill so I have to fill the bath tub up ....:laugh: I have it sitting in easy off and in a large plastic garbage bag ... media blasted ...? I was spying in Team Chevelle ...they even use brake fluid I picked up some krylon ...but after testing I think its to thick like * imo the best is that Eastwood argent metalic ...it lays and looks nice but the wrong color so I'm going with the Testors model spray paint its very close ..its all in the distance you spray from to get the right sheen/tone I have a hobby shop down the street ....the owner is like us but with 60's dodges he says sand with 400 wet and then testors black and grey prime then paint and no chemicals these grills are so tedious to do ...I will just strip mine and and paint later when I'm calm and in the mood for fine art at the point of its installation which is way off ...I'm just jumping around on the project and hate when I do that ...
Re: stripping paint off platic grill quit looking on team chevelle they probably told you to sandblast the hood they hate buicks over on the dark side. listen to the buick guys traitor. Next you'll be puttin a chevy motor in it :rant: :spank: o No:
Re: stripping paint off platic grill ^potty mouth I was going to give you my extra 72 grill ...but now fogetabowdit
Re: stripping paint off platic grill I've used easy off on plastics for years. Cleans it up nice without harming the plastic. Soda blasting works well too for pieces with lots of nooks and crannies.
Re: stripping paint off platic grill Dave and Bill are correct on the Easy off. I took this tip from Dave originally and have used it on alot of plastic parts since and it works. Just be careful and wear gloves. It melts your skin and makes it slimy. Pretty weird. I would not media blast plastic asit takes the sharp edges of the detail..........................Dave, did the GS club reproduction grill have the coating you mention? I managed to paint mine without removing it. I used plastic primer I think.
Re: stripping paint off platic grill You could also try and find someone with Soda Blaster.It wont eat the plastic...
Re: stripping paint off platic grill Another vote for Easy Off - stuff is harmful though so do it in a well ventilated area, and wear gloves! As a model car builder - Easy Off is my best buddy! Does not harm plastic! If it only worked as good on ovens! ou:
Re: stripping paint off platic grill I used the lemon scented Easy Off.... 50% of the paint came off ....after I used the power washer on it it became 75%....gave it one more night of easy off ..see what happens but I have some small areas of silver paint that is nasty to come off .. even with thinner ....I wonder what the heck it is that the last person that repainted it used ... soda blaster ??? ....never thought of that ...I thought they were joking with blasting it .....too late now almost done ...but for sure the next one these things are tedious as heck to do ..
Re: stripping paint off platic grill The GSCA grille had a Silicone mold release on it. I could not get the water to stop beading when I washed it with degreaser. The oven cleaner removed the silicone and the water laid down flat. The grille was able to be painted without any fisheyes.
grill with no meat on it ...just bones I will paint it when I'm in a relaxed mode This is the only and last one I do ... ya have to toothpick these things to death.. 5 nights on this ...I could of stripped 2 skylarks in that time . I have seen a few guys on this forum that piece these things together make 1 from 2-3 bad ones ....kudo's to them bcs I couldn't do that...it takes patience and 2much of it ....I need a psychiatrist after only just cleaning one up :grin: now I understand when these guys charge an arm and a leg for em.
sprayed the grill last night with Testors black ...3/4 of it cam out great had a section that bubbled up and fisheyed ....:eek2: stripped it clean again ...Practice makes perfect ou: taking it and smashing it crossed my mind for a split second ...but I'm guessing that it was the air I was blowing on it possibly .. drained the compressor and a lil foamy like moisture ....I have not drained it in a while . painted it with the krylon black bcs thats all I have ...looks good ..trick is the lightest coats possible...painted the whole thing black as someone else suggested and for the argent/silver/gray I am using testors silver over the fresh black and to be honest I tested on the rear and its looks and sprays out very nice over the black krylon and its seems to have the correct look to it .... *upon further screwing up ...that Testors has to go on light ...if you over do it ,it runs easy and it doesn't like other paints if heavy coats of it are applied and yes ..I'm the guy that likes to spray the whole can for one line and put my finger prints on it after 42 seconds ...when will I learn
finished product ....never again unless its all black dont mind the larger GS emblem just for pic affect the line was tough I have my original with one slight crack ..an easy fix and an area that is warped like ,they telling me hairdryer ...I plan on stripping and painting it all BLACK .....its not correct but I like ..and it has a stealthy look to it ...and of course easy to do ...otherwise these are a pita ou: one for show one for go :beers2:
stripping, sanding (if required), taping, painting these grill to factory correct takes hours & hours. the repetitive taping is a killer.
When I remover the original grill from that blue 72 I had, I noticed that the lower center black area was not masked off. There was black overspray on the bottom areas
