I have been thinking of blacking out my Wings and the middle sections for a bit now, and have only seen people either spray painting them or Linexing them. I sprayed my grill Olive Drab green and after sanding I noticed the plastic below the paint is black. Bing... the light bulb above my head turned on... why not just remove the paint and leave the plastic bare. I ended up going to Home Depot and asked the attendant what he thought would work the best and he suggested Sitristrip. He also suggested to cover it up with cellophane, which keeps the vapors from escaping. This stuff worked great in removing the clear coat and most of the paint. It takes about 1.5 - 2 hours to have the paint bubbled. The rest of the paint was removed using Dot 3 Brake fluid as suggested by a Forum member. This took a lot of elbow grease to remove the rest of the paint by scraping the paint off with a plastic pry tool.
The end result looks awesome and I won't have to worry about paint chips!:bigthumb: What do you think?:cheers:
Check it out:
This is how it looks after scraping the clearcoat/paint:
nicely done and thanks for the write up and pics!!! definitely a better option for those of us who dont want to fork out the dough to linex everything... and like you said, no worries about paint chips!
Any thought to removing the pieces before applying the stripper/cleaner? Did it do anything to the bumper? Doesn't look like it the photo.
Assuming no UV issues (like Wrangler fender flares), this is a SOLID solution. I have a feeling all those blacked out parts are going to start fading, flaking, peeling... in a few years. This sure can't
I actually did this before painting my door handles. I got sick of the paint scratching and chipping. However, I repainted over the plastic with fusion. I was afraid the sun exposure would rot them out in no time. I also didn't do as good of a job and had some minor scratching and swirl marks when I was done. I used sandpaper for most of it. Never even thought of brake fluid. haha Wish I had.
I blacked out the wings, bezel, mirrors and door handles 2 years ago and yes they are all faded out and need to be retouched soon. Im thinking of going this route now, thanks.
I used bulldog bumper stripper. I removed the wings. Sprayed them down well and waited a total of 15 mins. During that time period I recoated the areas that were not bubbling well. A rinse with water and the job was done.
I knew you guys would appreciate this idea. I have gotten so many ideas from all of you. Thank you!
Sweet! I thought someone here may have used the bumper stripper. I was searching everywhere for it locally but couldn't find it. Looks like I'll have to get it online. So it completely removes all of the paint?
The citristrip and the brake fluid does not do any damage to plastic.
Hellbound13. : I did clear coat it to give the paint a little more chip resistance. U r right though, it looked better when the paint was flat. I might do it over and use a flat clear coat.
That sounds like a great way to black out the wings. The only question I have is what will happen to the plastic now that it is exposed to UV rays? It no longer has the paint protecting it. Will the color fade or will it become brittle? I guess that depends on what type of plastic it is.
I don't think that the TT parts are any different. I talked to my buddy at the local Toyoata here and he honestly believes that the TT parts are the same, minus the silver paint. I'm going to try this this weekend, where did you get the bumper stipper from?
I got the stripper at an auto paint store. When you spray it on most of the paint starts to " boil " after 3 or 4 mins. When this starts to happen look for areas that are not boiling and hit them again quite heavy. In 15 mins when you hose it off it should all fall off. I let the wings sit in the sun for a few hours to dry then prepped for painting with a quick rub with mineral spirits. Four coats of Krylon Fusion and the job was done.
But this is not necessary with the bumper stripper. I found some locally today at an auto paint store as Whalerdave suggested. I picked up a 17oz can of SEM bumper stripper for $16.66. It works perfectly. Use medium to light abrasive steel wool to remove the paint after about ten - fifteen minutes after spraying down the paint. After wiping off all of the paint, I used the steel wool to sand the plastic and create a horizontal grain. :cheers:
I stopped by Autozone on the way home from work and all they had was stuff to strip from metal Then I went to Napa but arrived at 7:01 and they closed at 7 Guess I'll have to look tomorrow :boohoo:
by the way, I assume this is ok to do on the bezel as well?
I really don't like to use a stripper on any plastic or urethane parts....Unless the original part was improperly prepared or painted over.To me what your doing is creating a big mess and alot of addional work IMHO.
I could have easily sanded the sheen of the clearcoat and used a prepsol to clean and shoot pretty much any paint then a couple of clear coat. Just my .02
Any update on how well this works? I'm considering buying a ****load of bumper stripper and doing my wings, door handles, and mirrors this weekend. Is sanding necessary after doing this? If I have to sand anyway, I figure I might as well paint.
My main concern is that the unpainted plastic might discolor/crack with UV exposure. Can anyone comment on how well theirs are holding up?
After the paint comes off there is a layer that coats the bare plastic. It is very easy to remove this coat if you are using a medium grit steel wool as I did. At some spots it looks drier than other spots as I scrubbed too hard trying to remove the paint along the crevices. I would highly recommend removing the wings first. I was too lazy. I will def. remove the rear wings when I get more time, and hopefully it comes out better.
They look very rugged scratched up in certain spots. I think for a rig like ours it doesn't need to be perfect.:cheers:
Here are some pics from last Monday at Pismo Dunes:
There is a stripper made just for non-rigid plastic, just found it today at O'reilly auto parts. It's called Aircraft Paint Stripper. I used it on my rear bumper valance, and it worked great, no brake fluid needed......
I saw some of that stuff at the auto parts stores I went to but IIRC it was only to be used on metal? What's the brand of the stuff you got? I will have to check out O'Reilly. I've been to just about every other chain and all they have is stuff for stripping from metal that specifically says not to use on plastic :mecry:
has anyone done this to their grills yet? im looking forward to doing it soon!
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Toyota FJ Cruiser Forum
3.7M posts
122.6K members
Since 2005
A forum community dedicated to Toyota FJ owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, accessories, mods, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!