Has anyone successfully removed paint from a grille without screwing up the stainless steel underneath? I've read that paint remover will tarnish the metal underneath......some of the paint can/has be chipped off but the majority of it is still there :/

 

With the time spent to research the materials needed, the money to buy paint remover, etc., the many hours of labor needed to do the job, and the uncertainty of what you will have when you've done all of that, the most reasonable solution is to replace it with new. Maybe there was a reason to cover it with paint? Possibly the stainless was pitted, oxidized, stained, or whatever? After all the work to strip it, you might end up with junk anyway. Plenty of sources for new grilles out there, this is just one of them:
http://www.minimania.com/web/Item/MM.../InvDetail.cfm


Get a new one!

 

Where do you live at? I've got a used one that I don't really need but I don't want to ship it...

 

Yes I know! In the long run, that is what I am going to do. But I dont have the funds right now to buy new, and elbow grease is free with taking the paint off

 

I live in Gillette Wyoming, how much would you want for it?

 

You can get some "aircraft stripper" cheap and it should do the job. They sell it pretty much everywhere maybe even walmart. You will need a toothbrush and some spare time. I would test a small section with it first to see if it harms the metal but I've stripped aluminum rims with it before so it should do the trick.

From the looks of the current state of the paint they did not prep the grill well and I bet an air blow gun will knock off a bunch of the paint at high psi.

 

Well the grille isn't in perfect shape but it's pretty decent if you just want a chrome one without paying the money for buying new.. I'll sell it for $45 w/ shipping.

 

Can you send me some pics?? nicklk@yahoo.com

Thanks!

 

Well, took off the grille today. The more I dig into the car, it looks like its been painted twice. The original color was a puke looking green, and someone painted it white....then painted it red. Each time, painting over the grille and everything with very to little no prep :/





I might just have someone sand blast it, it'll give a dull look to the stainless which I think would look kind of cool to hold me off till I get a new one.

 

you can look into having it soda blasted. it shouldnt harm the stainless.

 

I'll try to get some pictures of it tonight and send them to you.

 

I wouldn't "sand" blast. It will leave pits cause that is a real crap grade of stainless. If it even is stainless, it might be coated pot metal.

To do this on the cheap without screwing it up. I would try to strip it chemically, polish it if it don't look too bad. Then of all else fails spray bomb it some contrasting color.

 

Sand blast would ruin the part. Soda blast on the other hand would restore the part. Its so safe you can even leave rubber on the car and it barely mars the surface.

 

I looked into soda blasting it, and that seems to be the safest idea. It still matte's the surface so I might just clear coat it afterwords to make sure it doesnt rust at all.

 

It's stainless steel. (no rust). You just have to polish it afterwards and it will look good as new.

 

I played with mine for months and while it got better it wasn't great

NEW?

$230 for all the parts ....
http://www.minimania.com/web/Item/MM.../InvDetail.cfm

that was MY choice


maybe not yours tho .... dat b cool (oh, 2 b honest I was doing a MK1 grill)

 

Why not try some acetone? It is afterall used daily as nailpolish (paint) remover? It may soften it enough to use scotchbrite pad or wooden/plastic putty knife to scrape it off.

I don't think that aircraft stripper is going to hurt SS anyway. Worth a try.

 

Dry Ice blasting will not hurt the grille. It is not available everywhere, and certainly may not be available in or near Gillette, WY.

 

If you are going to blast it with anything I would definitely clear coat it. The blasting no matter what you use puts tiny craters in the metal which creates more surface area for oxidization. It will probably look dingy after a while and will need polished again.

By they way it looks to be around $150 for a new one at gbcarparts.com. I don't know what the soda blasting will cost but I bet you not that far off in the long run.


Technically there are some grades of stainless steel that do rust but that neither here nor there.