How to strip/remove vinyl dye from C3 plastic brake console?

[Mark E.]

I have an original brake console for my 1970, but the paint/dye failed with sections of bare plastic showing. I prepped it by lightly sanding and feathering the edges of the remaining dye. But after redyeing, the poorly feathered edges are visible.

So what to do?

Is there a way to completely remove all the original and new dye while preserving the surface texture and without damaging the plastic console?

[Russ S.]

Re: How to strip/remove vinyl dye from C3 plastic brake console?

I would think plastic media blasting by some one who knows what they are doing would work well.

[Loren L.]

Re: How to strip/remove vinyl dye from C3 plastic brake console?

I will now report on an observation, WHICH I INSIST YOU TRY TO DUPLICATE BEFORE USING IT ON YOUR CONSOLE. I was working on a small piece of painted plastic for the interior; having decided to go to plan B, I put aside; later I could not locate it. Three days later, I found it, in a Cool Whip plastic container that had 409 in it - the piece had fallen into the 409. When I retrieved the piece, the paint peeled off it, all with no damage to the piece itself. Does it work?? Did it work on this piece? Yes. Will it work on your console??? Invest in a gallon of 409 and report back, Igor.

[Mark E.]

Re: How to strip/remove vinyl dye from C3 plastic brake console?

I will now report on an observation, WHICH I INSIST YOU TRY TO DUPLICATE BEFORE USING IT ON YOUR CONSOLE. I was working on a small piece of painted plastic for the interior; having decided to go to plan B, I put aside; later I could not locate it. Three days later, I found it, in a Cool Whip plastic container that had 409 in it - the piece had fallen into the 409. When I retrieved the piece, the paint peeled off it, all with no damage to the piece itself. Does it work?? Did it work on this piece? Yes. Will it work on your console??? Invest in a gallon of 409 and report back, Igor.

Interesting story, Loren. Reminds me of how Post-It Notes and Silly Putty were discovered.

I'll conduct an experiment and report back, Daouk.

[Mark E.]

Re: How to strip/remove vinyl dye from C3 plastic brake console?

I would think plastic media blasting by some one who knows what they are doing would work well.

Thanks Russ. I'll ask around about this.

[Mark E.]

Re: How to strip/remove vinyl dye from C3 plastic brake console?

I found this thread from 2005:

https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthread.php?34380-Removing-upholstery-dye

Suggestions include soda blasting, high pressure hot water, freezing, brake fluid, full strength Castrol Super Clean.

The OP said he would check these out and report back. That was the last post.

Any experience with these or other methods? Good or bad.

[Floyd B.]

Re: How to strip/remove vinyl dye from C3 plastic brake console?

I used a citrus based paint remover and a small stiff nylon brush to strip mine. I took plenty of elbow grease and two applications to get it down to the bare plastic but it did not damage the plastic. The console was an original - i.e. the off-white plastic. It was re-dyed with the Corvette America interior dye according to the instructions. Turned out great.

[Mark E.]

Re: How to strip/remove vinyl dye from C3 plastic brake console?

I used a citrus based paint remover and a small stiff nylon brush to strip mine. I took plenty of elbow grease and two applications to get it down to the bare plastic but it did not damage the plastic. The console was an original - i.e. the off-white plastic. It was re-dyed with the Corvette America interior dye according to the instructions. Turned out great.

Thanks Floyd. Did you spray it on, or soak the console in it?

[Floyd B.]

Re: How to strip/remove vinyl dye from C3 plastic brake console?

Mark,

I bought it at home depot. I came in a pump spray bottle. The stuff is pretty thick - the consistency of a gel. I sprayed it on pretty heavy, gave it 10 minutes to do its thing, then worked it off using the nylon brush. I worked in small areas (i.e. perhaps six separate areas of the console) so that I had time to work it off before it dried. After I stripped the entire piece once, I washed it with soap and water, let it dry, then started the whole process over. I did the entire job over the course of a weekend before I had it down to the bare plastic.

The white plastic had permanently absorbed some of the bright blue original dye so in the end it still had a bit of blue in the valleys of the grain pattern. Since I was returning the piece to its original bright blue color I wasn't concerned about a bit of remaining blue color. It had been dyed/painted black in the early 80's and I have no idea what product was used so I can't say if the citrus based paint remover will work for you. I needed to strip it back down to the bare grain because the black stuff was kind'a thick and had smoothed out the grain so I was afraid another coat of dye would have resulted in an almost entirely smooth surface. I was also concerned with attempting to cover black with a light color like blue which would have certainly required more than one coat.

I don't know if the citrus paint stripper will work for you but since it's readily available (home depot), relatively cheap and didn't harm the plastic, I would say it's worth a try. Just don't expect a miracle: the paint didn't just fall off. It took some work with a stiff brush to get it off. Try to find a brush with stiff but relatively fine bristles. It needs to be stiff enough the scrap the finish off (but not harm the plastic grain) but the bristles need to be narrow enough to get down into the grain.

Good luck

[Mark E.]

Re: How to strip/remove vinyl dye from C3 plastic brake console?

Thanks Floyd.