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71 Cuda tail light trim restore.

AllThumbs

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71 Cuda tail light panel was spray painted black 30 yrs ago over the factory OEM stainless steel.

How do I remove the paint? not sure if paint thinner is the right way to remove it without damaging the metal underneath. Appreciate the advice everyone.

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pschlosser

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Taking off one layer of paint is tricky. It can be easier, if the painter did a poor job prepping the surface, prior to their outer layer of paint. But if they did a halfway decent job, and the outer layer of paint is good and cured because its years old, it will be a challenge to remove and leave the underlying layer in tact.

I've tried this idea before, and had mixed results, with media blasting at lower pressures. Another attempt used acetone and a rag to wipe off of outer layer of paint. In both cases, the lower layer of paint sees some damage and may look okay for a survivor car, but ugly on things restored.

One of those projects was a 1970 Barracuda grill someone had painted black. Low pressure media blasting did a great job, but the underlying ardent was too damaged to be usable as-is.

If you're going for the flat black rear panel, and the rest of the car is pristine, I may recommend you sand it down by hand, as chemicals may damage surrounding paint. Sand it smoothe and get her painted right.

But it seems a real, real long shot to remove the ardent silver layer well enough, and to keep the underlying black layer in good enough condition it will be usable.
 

cuda joe

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the tail light panel is steel and is supposed to be black are you talking about the thin moldings that go around the panel or the grill moldings on the light itself ?
 

AllThumbs

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sorry for the late reply.. i’m in Alaska.. just fed the family and getting out to the garage to relax
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pschlosser

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Gotcha, the 1971 Barracuda tail lamp chrome bezel has portions painted black, just as you're observing. As you can see, this piece has some very specific detailing. I'm unsure if this was originally Gloss Black, that has faded with time and sun exposure, or was it a matte or flat black? If it looks flat black, my guess is the paint was originally gloss black and faded, instead of someone repainting at some point using a flat black.

If the chrome is still in good shape, repainting is simple. Clean up and degrease the part, mask all but the inner fin areas, spray 3-4 coats of new black, then before the paint is completely dry, remove the tape and use a razor blade to clean off the outside edges to expose the chrome on those painted fins.
 
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AllThumbs

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pschlosser.. thanks for validating it’s painted. Was afraid i have to remove paint from chrome! will mask and respray using gloss black.

thank you everyone for the replies and insights.. all very informative!
 

pschlosser

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And if fully restored, then they won't match the tail panel?

If you're looking to blacken some worn paint, and the chrome beneath is glaring at you, I might be tempted to do a partial restore, by simply painting the worn chrome areas a black to match the faded black in the other parts.

Knowing at some time later, you may repaint the bezels with the correct ardent silver paint, when repainting the entire tail panel so everything matches.
 

AllThumbs

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Lipstick on a pig syndrome? I’ll end up restoring the whole car cause I was worried initially about some chrome was showing… 😂
 
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