I've been doing a lot of clean-up on my car and the one problem I've had is trying to take of the paint on my tail lights...they're looking old and I just want to redo them...I did a search and tried oven off (yellow can) cold, for 20 minutes and after two attempts, nothing happened. Does anyone know of another way to do it? I don't have access to a pressure hose so that method is kind of out. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks

T-X

 

Is the paint on the outside lense or inside on the housing? And was it fully painted like someone meant to do it or is it overspray?

 

Painted on the outside...I did it a few years back and then again two years ago, but now it's started to wear out and i want to start it all over. I used Testor's Candy Apple Read and Testor's clear coat. I did half to make them red and clear, starting with a clear lense.

 

nail polish remover...

Though some people say that it might harm the plastic... I've done this before and didn't experience this. But I just thought I'd warn you in case you try this method.

 

Is there some kind of paint solvent that would work? Or maybe wet sanding?

 

brake fluid eats paint

just dont actually try this

 

For paint solvent try turpentine, it's an artists equivalence of acetone, be very carefool because it is very thin, since it's alcohol based, and will get everywhere if no caution is taken. It thins the paint, and you should be able to get it off. Read a label on a can or bottle of it to see if it's harmfull for plastic.

Acetone can work too, read the label as well.

nail polish is pretty much rubbing alcohol, which u can use too but i doubt it's strong enough for the 2 layers and clear coat

 

brake fluid actually works really well. it eats the paint but will not harm the plastic. i tired it before and it works fine, just give it a good cleaning after that.

 

looks like I have a few options to try, all with varying levels of toxicity lol - thanks for the tips, I'll report on how each method worked.

T-X

 

It doesn't harm glass :chuckles: that's what I used it on, worked very well.