Removing paint from original vynil

[Ralfy]

I just located a super nice dash for my 67, no holes, no tears, perfect speaker grill. Except a bit of overspray on the right side of the dash.
What's the best thing you guys have used to remove the overspray without ruining the vynil.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Ralfy

[Flunder]

Hi Ralphy:

I would start out with warm soapy water and a toothbrush.

Work inward from the edges.

Once the edges of the overspary softens a bit use a finger nail to see if the over spay will lift.

Apply patience.

[White Lightning]

Try GoJo, and a toothbrush. It will work very well, if the paint is not too old.

[Ralfy]

Thanks for the reply's

I'll try the tooth brush with soap and then gojo.

I think the paint overspray has been on the car a long time.

Any favorite conditioners after cleaning?

[911s55]

Wait and see what results you get from the first process.

If the overspray is still evident then you might have to step up to mild solvents. First naptha (lighter fluid), acetone (nail polish remover).

After that assess you dashes' condition it might need to have some dye touch up.

For vinyl protection I like 303 Areospace conditioner, Vinyl X, or Mothers back to black, depending on the situation.


David

[aturboman]

I have used denatured alcohol for years to clean vinyl with this type of problem. It works very well and doesn't seem to have any ill effects on the original color.

[67Porsche911S]

How about brake fluid. It usually lifts any sort of paint after some time and shouldn't harm the vinyl.

[Chuck Miller]

Please, don't use brake fluid.....brake fluid will eventually go through concrete

When I come up against a challenge like this I start with the least invasive and work up....... Least to most:

- Warm soapy water
- Alcohol
- Paint thinner/mineral sprits
- Lighter fluid
- Lacquer thinner *
- Acetone*
- Cyanoacrylate solvent*
- Mild acid*
- Chemical stripper *

The last 4 WILL harm almost all finishes...... and lacquer thinner will harm most.


Hope this helps,
Cheers

[Neil '67 911S]

Once long ago I clean up a dash with lacquer thinner before vinyl paint. Wrong choice of solvent! Shortly thereafter it looked like someone had stabbed it repeatedly with a screw driver!

[sabby]

Take it from an old auto painter: Laquer thinner, acetone, brake fluid (?!)---kiss your vinyl goodbye. This is a tough one--I would probably try enamel reducer (PAINT thinner/mineral spirits) on a fine (green) automotive scotch-brite pad. don't soak it, just damp and wipe dry immediately. Whatever you try, test on underside very gingerly. Definitely heed the good advice of others--least invasive first....but for sure, the hot solvents mentioned above will destroy the vinyl immediately.....