Stripping Painted Dash

What would be the best way to strip paint of a set of dash panels?

I want to take them back to the plastic, sanding will mark the plastic, which I'm trying to avoid if possible. Has anyone used paint stripper? I'm just a bit nervous about it melting the plastic as well.

You'll never get them back to the original finish though, they should have been keyed before the paint was applied.

STOP!

I destroyed a section of dash panel with paint stripper. It turned to mush before my eyes!

great question nic

i have all mine off and started to sand with fine paper, going to take forever sanding. would it be possible to fine sand coating then paint it with undercoat and build up layers of paint.

try plastic filling primer, that should build up a decent layer quickly. As for stripping paint off unless the existing paint is very chipped I would leave it and paint over it. if its chipped in places try filling the low spots with plastic filling primer.

I can't see the problem with sanding it. (We're not talking about the rubber coated crap here are we?)

try plastic filling primer

Thats exactly what worked for me, though I sanded off all the crappy plastic stuff off first. The plastic primer fills in any marks and can itself be sanded back before painting. I posted a detailed description of how to do it a while ago but can't find the thread now.

Thats exactly what worked for me, though I sanded off all the crappy plastic stuff off first. The plastic primer fills in any marks and can itself be sanded back before painting. I posted a detailed description of how to do it a while ago but can't find the thread now.

Yeah I think his question is how to remove paint so i am assuming that the rubbery cack that is on it as standard has allready been removed to facilitate the painting. If thats the case and the paint has taken OK to the plastic panels then I would just paint over it (I'd prime it first though). If the paint has gone to rat sh*t and is falling off then its probable that the rubber cack wasn't removed prior to painting then it will all need taking off.

DB, you're right, I didn't read Nic's post correctly, doh!

Plastic primer should still do the job of filling in any imperfections...

Is this for your carbon dash experiment Nic ?

Is this for your carbon dash experiment Nic ?

Yes, this is the plan, which is the reason why I wanted to take it back to the plastic, as I'm not sure how well the water transfer process will work over paint.

How about something like turps or white spirit i dont think it will damage the plastic but i dont know if it is strong enough to take away the paint.

I have to take the the dash apart to troubleshoot my O/D OFF issue and install my newly arrived TRD 320 Kmh speedo, so the dash is probably gonna' get done in the process. I believe it's got the originally rubber coating on it (which is chipped all to hell here and there). Any lessons learned taking that crap off would be outstanding. Keep us posted on the how to's/in's-and-outs on your ordeal. Pics are always a plus. Can't wait to see the finished product. best of luck.

After about 6 hours of sanding to remove paint and rubbery coating the dash panels are smooth and back to the plastic. The rubbery finish is really stubborn to remove, this took most of the sanding time to get it all off.

If anyone finds a solvent that can strip the rubber without effecting the plastic it would save a lot of time. Something mild that softens the rubber so it can be scrapped off would be ideal.

Here is a picture of all the finished panels, ready for the carbon fibre coating.

pic isn't workin mate well it isn't for me lol

So they had sprayed over the rubber then, amatuers lol. Acetone used in moderation will shift the rubber easily enough more commonly known as nail varnish remover.

So they had sprayed over the rubber then, amatuers lol. Acetone used in moderation will shift the rubber easily enough more commonly known as nail varnish remover.

Yes the painting was cr*p, on some panels they hadn't even used a primer and the paint was really thin and bubbled, they look pristine now, with it all stripped off.