Removing Paint from Bumpers

[Jamie 1]

Picked up my front bumper last night and it's been painted really, really thickly. So thick that the swage is barely visible! What's the best way to strip it? I know Nitromors etc is out, is there anything else or just break out the DA?

[seanl82 23]

I don't think the da will cut it (excuse the pun). It'll just remove paint either side of the swage, which will just blend it in even more. Unless you get quite aggressive at the edge, but this may well just cause damage to the plastic. Probably cheaper and easier to get a good used one and go elsewhere for paint Jamie.

[Jamie 1]

This is the good used one Sean! :lol:

 

Yep sanding the swage out is what I'm worried about... I want to keep my original one standard so I can return it to stock if I want to at a later date

[Dox 23]

If its cellulose paint you may be able to remove the top coats with cellulose paint thinners on rags.

 

What are your plans with the bumpers? :)

[VW_OwneR_85 2]

pretty sure you can get paint stripper that's designed for use on plastics cant imagine it to be fast working though, not sure what regular paint strippers like against plastic but I recon if you used it and washed it off straight after you see it softening the paint I don't think it would do any harm to the plastic, also heard of people making a bath of cheap brake fluid and letting it soak for a couple of days but not sure with a bumper, maybe put the bumper in a tightly wrapped plastic bag full of fluid? dunno

[davidwort 0]

a quick google found some possibilities, some form of bead blasting might do it but this looks promising:

http://janitorialsupplies.co.uk/graffiti-remover-plastic-safe-500ml.html?gclid=Cj0KEQjw0POdBRCq3arGgYD05pMBEiQAmiUeTvXOPFAtafHmsCYEfTdXLCaohzaPY7O9mXsxpf_Av8MaAt_-8P8HAQ

or

http://www.marinemegastore.com/product-product-AQU_Q03203.htm

 

brake fluid or oven cleaner is also suggested

[KipVR 1]

Soda blasting or dry ice blasting is the best way for plastic bumpers, it's not abrasive like bead or shot blasting, and so lifts the paint off whilst leaving the plastic intact. It's commonly used on GRP cars like TVR's Lotus etc. There are people advertising a mobile service on eBay. Do not use paint stripper of any kind, the plastic absorbs it, and over time any new paint will go crazed or lift off.

[davidwort 0]

Makes sense, alternatively paint a new bumper like my old one without proper prep, then you can peel it off in the future if you need to :lol:

[Jamie 1]

Just going to fill the number plate recess and tow hook hole Rog.

 

Blasting was an option but after speaking to a couple of places apparently sodas not suitable for plastic. Been told by a painter to use brake fluid or Nitromors but just apply it and be ready to rinse it off as soon as it reacts but I'm a bit wary of this.

 

I'm thinking it might be better to just mod my original bumper now. Can't see me selling the car in the near future....

[Dox 23]

If you fill the front and rear tow hooks wont you need to cut off the hooks themselves? If so how can you go back?

[KipVR 1]

Blasting was an option but after speaking to a couple of places apparently sodas not suitable for plastic.

 

Wierd, I've had a couple of bumpers done this way (admittedly not Corrado bumpers) and the results have been exceptional, with mould lines totally intact, cheap too compared to the time it takes to get the results by hand (days)

[Jamie 1]

If you fill the front and rear tow hooks wont you need to cut off the hooks themselves? If so how can you go back?

 

Er... Dunno tbh :lol: Not removing the front one just smoothing the plate recess so that would just be a case of swapping it back.

 

Wierd, I've had a couple of bumpers done this way (admittedly not Corrado bumpers) and the results have been exceptional, with mould lines totally intact, cheap too compared to the time it takes to get the results by hand (days)

 

Yeah I was a bit surprised Kip but spoke to both places on eBay and neither were interested in doing it. Well to be fair to him, one of them said he would give it a go but wasn't confident it would work and the materials alone would be £75. I think I'm going to DA as much as I can and hand sand round the swages. If I get sick of doing it halfway through (very likely) I'll just wait til the winter and do my original bumper

[davidwort 0]

I wonder if it would be possible to use a heat gun, sounds stupid granted, but if you kept the back of the bumper cool/wet you might be able to blister the paint before affecting the plastic? It's the colour coats you want to remove anyway and I've found heat guns sometimes lift top coats quickly but it takes more heat to lift matt primer underneath?

I have a pretty scruffy slightly bent at the edges front bumper cover I might experiment with different techniques on.

[Jim 2]

I did some reading around last night as I've got some spare bumpers I was hoping to get repainted eventually, and did read a few places that were saying that soda blasting was suitable for plastic parts such as bumpers.. so it seems it's going to be one of those things were you might get conflicting opinions on who you speak to!

[Jamie 1]

Not a bad idea actually David. Something else to look at maybe.

 

I've been doing a bit of reading up myself today Jim and I think you're right - it sounds more like it's not a case of "it can't be done" more so "I can't be arsed just doing a bumper"

[KipVR 1]

If only I had a bumper for stripping, I've got a guy coming round to my house to soda blast a test patch on the painted brickwork this morning. He's quoted £600 for 60 sqm which isn't bad really seeing as the soda costs £1 per kg. Still, it might rip the soft reds to bits...