I am about 98% complete with the restoration of my 1984 Vanden Plas. The final significant issue that I need to deal with is that the "previous owner" spray painted the plastic components of the front and rear bumpers. It appears that a black spray paint for rubber/plastic was used - the paint is now flaking off. Can anyone provide me with suggestions on how to:

- Remove the paint with out damaging the chrome and plastic components of the bumpers?

- Restore the original finish of the plastic components (there are no cracks in the plastic components)

Thanks in advance for your suggestions/recommendations.

 

Essentially, removal has to be either mechanical or chemical. The chrome parts can be removed, and then an electric sander can be used to remove the paint over most of the bumper, with the hard, (curvy) parts done by hand.

As for chemical, most stripper is based on methylene chloride which will certainly take the paint off, but I suspect this will also attack the bumper plastic. However, those based on sodium hydroxide might do the trick.

 

or:
you can try to have a non-abrasive blasting media sprayed on the rubber covers, that's what they are, i.e., three Rubber Covers. you might contact American Restorations in Nevada to see what they recommend to remove paint from rubber, I was watching their show on History Channel and they were trying out a smooth blasting media which is non-damaging to most materials. Chemicals might damage the rubber in one way or another, for example, taking the patina or "character" with it, or leaving the rubber dull, taking away the original "luster".

you need to remove the entire bumper, remove the chrome pieces, remove the rear plastic guard, and just deal with the rubber covers pieces, which are removable.

Regardless of what you do, the 1983 rubber will never be like new, (the car might be a 1984 Model Year, but the parts most likely are from 1983); there must have been a reason the previous owner had the rubber painted, and you will find out once the paint is removed. You might consider buying new-old-stock covers or used but in great condition.

If the covers are found to be bad and no better covers are found, you might take the three pices to a body shop and have them repainted with flexible paint and clearcoat, just like they do to modern bumper covers. I saw an old XJ-6 with the rubber covers painted the same color as the car body and it looked very good.

my '84 still has the original rubber covers and I just treat them with products like Black Magic or similar rubber protectants when I have the energy :-))

below is a link to a replacement used cover, seller says it is in good condition, you might ask for better pictures.

http://www.mcssl.com/store/jaguarpar...0af7b1abe54a62

 

Sorry about my last post, I hadn't picked up that you were referrring to the rubber bumpers on the Series 3 cars, ( I must have been daydreaming !). Getting paint off these could be a problem, as they are rubber, so any paintstripper you use must not attack rubber. Its a long time since I used paint stripper, and methylene chloride is now no longer legal to use in the UK so I don't know what the active ingredient is.

 

methylene chloride sounds like an alternative fuel to me! :-)) you were probably daydreaming about those chromed bumpers of yesteryear, and removing paint from those would be a piece of cake!

I think the Series 3 rubber bumpers look great painted the same color as the car, but that's just me.

 

They actually make chemical paint remover that works on plastic/Rubber. It's called Aircraft paint remover for flexible plastic. It's manufactured by Klean-Strip... product number EUP367 1-800-398-3892 www.kleanstripauto.com I've used it on both rubber and plastic with success. I bought an 18 oz aerosol can from O'Reilly auto parts..

 

Thank you to everyone for sharing your experiences and your recommendations - the Klean-Strip product approach appears to be the easiest and the most appropriate - I will give it a try. Thanks again!

 

you may want to use something like a scotch brite pad to help remove the paint once it loosens up but make sure it isn't maring the rubber, then lots of armour all to even everything out once all the paint is removed..