[nobody]

I'm working on somebody elses goof. I have a set of what were great rear light buckets. Problem is the old owner of them painter the outside of them black. I tested some MEK, Xylol, tuluene and lacquer thinner on it and without a dip it doesn't want to budge. Any ideas? I don't want to harm them just remove old paint.

 

[RallyBob]

I'm working on somebody elses goof. I have a set of what were great rear light buckets. Problem is the old owner of them painter the outside of them black. I tested some MEK, Xylol, tuluene and lacquer thinner on it and without a dip it doesn't want to budge. Any ideas? I don't want to harm them just remove old paint.

I have had this problem before, and 'solved' it by wet-sanding (2000 grit) and then buffing the lens'. I used a 4" diameter loose buff and fine coloring compound to 'rough' them out, and then a 4" canton flannel buff with plastic 'rouge' for the final buff. They actually looked better than a new lens when I was done. The small buff diameter is critical however, the surface speed of the buff must be slow or you'll melt the plastic.

HTH,
Bob

 

[Rionart]

Bob,
I think Nobody is referring to the chrome around the lens (the bucket) as opposed to the lens itself...
I think the plastic chrome is fairly resistant to thinners, so I'd be tempted to use them to work the paint...dont dip them, just use plenty on a rag, lots of wiping and blotting, and hope the PO didn't sand the chrome before he painted it....
HTH, Rob.

 

[nobody]

It appears whoever had these was going for a blacked out look. they didn't touch the chrome look at all just primered and painted them black on top.

Here it gets twisted, it was done early in years to them so the black paint protected the coloring and chrome. Yet another twist. I got to thinking of what have I seen take off or bubble out any paint but won't harm plastic.
Brake fluid, ya, and you should see the beauties that are hidden under that old paint. This is one time somebody elses stupidity turned into a blessing in disguise. They even got overspray on the center reflector, how nice of them.

 

[greensmurf20]

the PO of my GT painted the turn signal cans black, which protected the chrome real nicely. so i must thank my PO too.

 

[nobody]

I figured out what's worse than watching paint dry. It's watching it even more slowly come apart. These were in such good condition I hated to toss them out.

 

[nobody]

Ok, Ya'll look and see if I lost my mind. They were identical yesterday. I've heard the expressoin "take the white off of rice" but this is a new twist.

I've tried 5 times to upload an image and keep getting this page cannot be displayed.

 

[nobody]

one more try to load the picture

 

[GTJIM (R.I.P.)]

Lucky Man!

I see that the "protective coating" put on by the PO of your GT has done its job very well and now you have some very good reflectors - thanks to lateral thinking and brake fluid! Brilliant!