What would be the best way to strip the paint from a 70 cuda grille and rocker moldings? The rocker moldings have 2-3 coats of paint on them, I want to strip everything to the bare plastic.

Original Easy-Off oven cleaner in the yellow can.Works great!

go to your auto body supply place and ask
for corvette paint stripper..

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Original Easy-Off oven cleaner in the yellow can.Works great!

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That one I'd avoid, it will remove the paint but as soon as it hits plastic it can and will start to melt it, if left on too long it will destroy a good grille.

The Corvette (fiberglass safe) stripper will typically work but ALWAYS test it (for a good long time) on a test sample first.

I used to use brake fluid on models.

Sheldon

I used easy off on a 71 challenger grille. and Ruined it.

Thats funny because I used the oven cleaner on model cars to strip paint off and it never harmed the plastic.

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Thats funny because I used the oven cleaner on model cars to strip paint off and it never harmed the plastic

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#1. Not all plastics have the same chemical resistance, in fact nearly every type varies in that area, VAST differences between them. I.E. you can pour gasoline from a plastic jug (Polyethylene) right into a plastic cup (Styrene) and watch the gas melt it's way right through and drain onto your foot!

#2. Your model was likely Styrene (one base ingrediant in ABS Grilles, The "S" stands for Styrene) it's likey you simply didn't leave it on long enough to do any damage, or that the models plastic had other modifiers in it's blend to help prevent some types of chemical attacks.

#3. Don't want free advice? Don't take it, live and learn with your oven cleaner

i have had good luck stripping plastic grilles with a hand held sandblaster. use LOW air pressure and work carefully, don't stay in one place long and keep it moving. it use the gravity feed one you can buy at harbour freight for under $20. yes it will rough up the plastic but so will a chemical stripper so you have to sand it smooth anyway. remove 80% of the paint and sand the rest off.

Maybee your right on the chemical resistance because I had the oven cleaner on for 4-5 days.

hand sanding is your best bet. Not the funnest nor the fastest but your in total control of whats going on. I would say start with some 80 once you hit that second layer of paint go to 180 then once you hit the factory coating switch or 220. 220 should be good enough for a smooth finish.

Steve

...Could a plastic media be used to strip the paint ????

INE soda blasting causes the least amount of damage to most hard plastics, however, it's usually too powerful to use on small pieces.

i use fine silica sand. put a mini air DIAPHRAM REGULATOR on the air line powering the GRAVITY sandblaster. NOT one of those screw air restriction valves.
start out with LOW, 5psi, air pressure and work up from there. use your head and think when blasting. support the thinner areas with paint sticks taped behind some of the thin spots, the thin grille lines.
if you keep the air pressure down and work SLOWLY the damage caused by it will be minimal.
i have never done a 70 grille. i have stripped 4 71 grilles this way with good results.

My comment to always test it is not due to doubt in your case, it's due to the possible variable in chemical content from one brand to the next.

Has anybody ever tried bead blasting plastic? I have some interior ebody door panels that I have considered trying this on....I don't want to ruin the texture of the panels though.

Beadblasting worked good for me, went from dry and chalky to soft and smooth!

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