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<MISC>Re: Paint Off Plastic

Hey, something I know about, but not from cars (really). Every once in 
awhile I screw up a plastic scale model and the styrenne is a bitch to 
deal with; so most of my experience on this comes from that issue and 
having stripped more urethane spoilers and bumpers than I care to mention...

     Don writes...

     The front grill on my 1988 325IS was painted white. Although I like
     the way it looks, the paint is chipping badly and starting to look
     bad. I need to strip the paint off, and I have called a few body shops
     and they say it can't be done.  I know you need to use a different
     kind of paint stripper than you would use on non-plastic surfaces.

First of all, you may not have to strip anything. Have you considered 
removing the grill and using WetDry sandpaper (with water, of course) to 
sand the surfaces which dings? You can always give it a try and see how 
it goes. This would be my first approach as plastics and paint strippers 
of most types don't get along terribly well.

     I have seen strippers in aerosol cans (at Pep Boys) that claim to be
     for Urethane materials, but they all warn against using on plastic.

Yes. Urethane Parts Strippers *generally* strip well. BUT no matter what 
you are doing it on, you have to test a non-critical area. By test, I 
mean leave it on the recommended time and watch carefully for softness of 
material, bubbling, etc. Furthermore, it is questionable what occurs 
chemically to the plastic and urethane when one uses this. 

On the other side, I've used Urethane Parts Stripper with great success 
and have been pleased.

     So I have a few questions.

     1:) Is the grill on this car considered plastic?          

Yes.

     3:) Has anyone done this and can offer some advice?

Try wetsand first. Attempt parts stripper on safe test area if that is 
not satisfactory. Chances are the paint is straight enamel or acrylic 
urethane and come right off.

Good luck,

Filippo

p.s. There is this "miracle" solution called Chameleon for model 
stripping (out of Maryland). If you get desparate, let me know - I'll dig 
up their number for you.