What solvents are safe to use on Challenger door panels for paint removal?

[PlumCrazyChris]

My door panels were painted with Duplicolor vinyl paint a few years ago and much of it has released and flaked off, but there is still a lot that will not budge. 

Has anyone tried any other solvents on the door panels?  Whats safe and whats not?

I've tried liberal coats of Simple Green which I was told would work....not.  and Acetone, which just smears it.   I just don't want to overdue it with the acetone and dissolve the grain on the door panels.

[UKcuda]

I used paint stripper in places on mine and on the seat backs. 

As soon as the old paint had all crinkled up I wiped it off with a rag and then washed it all clear with a jet of water from the hose.

The stripper didn't eat the grain but it does leave the panels looking a bit blotchy so not good unless you are going to re-colour them afterwards.

[PlumCrazyChris]

What kind of paint stripper?   Aircraft paint stripper?  Paint Thinner? 


Thanks for your help on this.

Chris

[Kapteenikosmos]

I've battled with the same thing for some time now and I have tested almost everything so far and none with a good result. From all I have used, pure Acetone seems to work pretty good and it does not damage the panels, but it is bit hard to use especially because it tends to vaporize pretty quickly. The things I have tested are Acetone, Thinner, oven cleaner, brake fluid, lye and paint stripper (nitro mors clone). Atleast those are what I can remember right now.

Paint stripper was the only thing I noticed to damage the panels so that if it was left on the panel for too long, it left blotches as someone said earlier and from those areas I could scrape the grain off with my finger nail. My guess is that a hot lye tank would be the best option to remove the stubborn paint. Maybe a "gentle" treatment with a pressure washer after that would do the trick.

I did manage to get mine clean but I did lost some of the grain from couple of areas and I'll have to come up with some fix for those. The end treatment was couple of days on a room temperature lye tank and after that an industrial type pressure washer treatment (much higher pressure than in a typical household washer).

[PlumCrazyChris]

Holy Cow!!  Thats some serious effort.  I'm assuming you haven't repainted them yet, right? 

I didn't think about a pressure washer.... 

Do you know what kind of paint was on them?   I noticed the acetone does break it up, but like you said, it dries out too fast to really get it off, it just sort of smears it and makes it bond really well on a new place.   

Not sure what the cure is.   It seems like the best thing was to just set them out in the sun for a few months and it a lot of it came loose.  I guess I'll just keep at it. 

Did you make up your own lye solution?  Did the lye do any damage to the panels?

Thanks!!

[UKcuda]

The stripper I used was also a nitromors type.  I didn't see it causing any damage to the surface apart from the discolouration after it was washed off and dried.

I guess a lot depends on what sort of paint (and how much) you are trying to get off.

[73Chally]

I doused mine with about 3 cans of carb cleaner each, and scrubbed them with a large nylon bristled brush, then hosed them off with my pressure washer.  After redying them, I have not had any problems.

[DoNotChallengeHer]

Brake Cleaner works and won't harm the panels.

['Cuda Hunter]

I have had some success with   Xylol or Xylene.
Found in Goof off but that product has alcohol mixed in so it evaporates very quickly.
I have even used xylene on house hold carpets to get paint and tar out and I havn't ruined any carpets.
Pressure washer could cause some problem if there is any dryness to the panels at all.
I have sprayed one off and got everything off exept one small section of texture right in the middle of the top
decided to just spray off.  Ruined the door panel. 
My two cents anyway. 

[73Chally]

You're right on the pressure washer.  I was thinking of something else.  For the door panels I just used a garden hose sprayer.

[UKcuda]

I just used a garden hose sprayer

Me too

[Kapteenikosmos]

Holy Cow!!  Thats some serious effort.  I'm assuming you haven't repainted them yet, right? 

I didn't think about a pressure washer.... 

Do you know what kind of paint was on them?   I noticed the acetone does break it up, but like you said, it dries out too fast to really get it off, it just sort of smears it and makes it bond really well on a new place.   

Not sure what the cure is.   It seems like the best thing was to just set them out in the sun for a few months and it a lot of it came loose.  I guess I'll just keep at it. 

Did you make up your own lye solution?  Did the lye do any damage to the panels?

Thanks!!

I don't know the brand of the paint that was on my panels. It was flaking from some areas but still holding very hard on some other areas. I think that the surface prep has failed with the first treatment.

I haven't painted the panels yet, because I haven't have time to figure out how to repair the spots that lots the grain structure. For the lye, yes, I made the first test solution by myself but I didn't have big enough container to submerse the whole panels so I took them to one guy who has a bigger container for the final treatment. As far as I know the lye doesn't damage the panels. I bought my lye in a sack (about 20 lbs or so) from some small bee wax company and I initially used it to boil the grease off from my engine block.

I think that I also tried xylene on my panels, but for the paint that was on those, it didn't work. The acetone did have better results.

Has anyone tried a steam cleaner on painted panels?

[PlumCrazyChris]

I tried the brake fluid, and it didn't seem to do anything.  It did appear to absorb into the panel though.  That ought to make cleaning/degreasing them take a little more effort.  They are still pretty blotchy.  I'd like to get this done right this time. 

So far it sounds like a Lye solution and a nitromors type of paint stripper has worked successfully to get these things clean.   

I haven't heard of nitromors before, but I guess I can look it up. 
Please let me know if you have any more ideas. 
Thanks!

 

[burdar]

Brand new injection molded Challenger door panels are supposed to be available sometime this summer.  The Cuda ones just came out.  My origonal black panels are starting to get a little chalky on the top.  I thought about re dying them but am going to waite for the new panels to come out.

[PlumCrazyChris]

New door panels have been out for some time now. 

I went out this weekend and just using purple cleaner and a scotch pad was able to get most of it off.  I need to really degrease it now, and hope for some warmer weather to paint them, I think its supposed to be 70* at least.  Hopefully they will be done soon. 

Thanks for your input.