Remove spray paint from cladding?

[RickOKC]

Sigh, why do people do such things?

I found a VX that has piqued my interest, but somebody has painted the cladding and wheels flat black. It seems to be very recent and done "half-fast." The chrome is already starting to chip off the wheels and the overspray on the paint can be rubbed off with nothing more than gentle pressure from a finger.

As described by my spotter who saw it in person - the cladding probably looked pretty decent but someone didn't know how to restore it properly and their "bright idea" made it look like crap. Sounds a bit like a small car dealership is selling it for a friend ("ex-friend"?) and they did a "quick, temporary fix" (rubbed some snake oil) on it to make this little beauty that was only driven to church on Sundays move quickly.

I found one thread about removing paint from cladding, but it was closed and it didn't go very far.

Navstar - you asked the question - did you try this or was it (like me) a question for a potential purchase?

Etlsport - any more insight?

[etlsport]

rick,

that purple power stuff works great, we actually use it in my shop to strip the floors too (when you buy it, its super concentrated, youre supposed to dilute it, but if you dont it works as a super degreaser, and did take the paint off my gas cap door. it did not harm the cladding itself though, it couldnt hurt. without seeing it its hard to say what would help, if its coming off under your friends finger, id say you could probably take a paint buffing wheel or ball and clean it up pretty well. depending what look you are going for, a few people have done a bedliner on their cladding, this sounds like it would be a prime candidate for that. you can get a high quality bed liner that is a very fine grain so its not so rough looking. if you didnt mind going that route, i would say go for it if the rest of the vx is in good shape, then you can try what you like on the cladding to remove that crappy paint, and worse case scenario, you mess up and bed line the cladding.

as for the wheels... well over half the VX owners ive ever met have had aftermarket wheels on their vx.. factory wheels just kinda suck. some have painted them with success though so if you like the black look contact them (socal VX and jdm monkey both come to mind) and see how they did it and what was used, a wire wheel will take the old paint and peeling chrome off

i would probably be asking myself how much could this VX really have been loved if the owner did such poorly thought out mods or dropped it at a dealer that would do it

[RickOKC]

Thanks for all the tips, Etlsport!

Yeah, I'll have to see it in person to make a final decision. Fortunately, it isn't very far away. So far I'm under the impression that the painting was done recently with little preparation is already "falling off" so it may be reversible. The spots where the paint is chipping off the wheels looks very shiny which leads me to believe the only thing done before painting was (maybe) a wash & dry. Car wash may take care of it for all I know.

Some scratches in the paint - I could probably live with that. (I didn't try very hard to buy another local VX partially because I intend on really using it and didn't want to put the first scratch on that gorgeous showpiece.) Speaking of gas cap doors - this one is broken and right now there is a rag stuffed between the opening and the floppy, falling-apart door assembly. That sure doesn't bode well! But, the interior looks a lot better than most I've seen. Go figure.

Right now I think the price is way too high due to the exterior condition. I'll have a better idea once I see how it runs / rides / drives.

I also know a wheel refurbisher in town that is quite reasonable. I've never priced re-chroming, but the cost for painting isn't scary.

Heck, I always hoped I could find one that I could "polish a little value into" but... there is a limit!

[tom4bren]

deermagnet found a gas door recently at a boneyard. You can see if he has the pieces to get this one 'back to operational'.

[ZEUS]

I think the cladding would be painted over most likely to hide scuffs - they just used the wrong stuff and perhaps didn't even prep the cladding.

[RickOKC]

deermagnet found a gas door recently at a boneyard. You can see if he has the pieces to get this one 'back to operational'.

Thank you for telling me about that. Who knows, maybe someone just needs to spend a few minutes fixing the one that's on it now.

I think the cladding would be painted over most likely to hide scuffs - they just used the wrong stuff and perhaps didn't even prep the cladding.

I'm eager to find out the reason for that. My friend who checked it out knows what cladding is supposed to look like (had an Avalanche for years) and he was curious why it was done. There are a few scrapes, but other than that he said it looked good. I wonder if it had faded and they thought $40 in rattle cans was a better deal than using the "good stuff."

[nfpgasmask]

If the VX is in otherwise good shape, I would use the spray painted cladding and wheels as a bargining point. Then buy it, ditch the wheels for some aftermarket rims that are nicer and cooler looking, and then just take your time cleaning the cladding. It will be some work, but can be done I would think.

Go rescue this VX!

Bart

PS - When a person spray paints a vehicle, they MUST know that they are making a conscious decision to commit to the vehicle, most likely forever.

[RickOKC]

Darn. I was planning to make a little road trip to check it out today. Now Horrible Weather Round 3 is starting to hit the region as predicted.

It's not hard to be paranoid when this is parked across the street. (I think I'll keep my car in the garage for the rest of the day.)

[Grif]

Go rescue this VX!

X2

Rescue it!! Sounds do-able to me.

I hate to see 'em die.

[89Vette]

Do you know that it WASN'T painted with Gatorback cladding paint? This forum made me aware of that option -- which sounds pretty decent.

FWIW, I saw a product at O'Reillys the other day called "Peeler". Description said removes paint while leaving undercoating intact. That might be worth a try. Another product said to apply and use forced air to release, but I forgot what it was called.

It might be worthwhile to try one of these products on a lower panel (kickpanels?) and try using a high-pressure carwash to release any paint. There might be a point where the pressure of the water would be enough to flex the plastic and cause the paint to "pop-off". If it doesn't, I might be inclined to try that Gatorback stuff over the top of paint -- to get a uniform result. (Feather any edges if necessary -- all uneven edges show under paint.)

[Mile High VX]

It will take a little longer, but if you use the Gatorback coating remove the cladding and prep it good. "Paint" it with the Gatorback and then reinstall.

You'll be glad you took the extra time and made it look great!

[RickOKC]

I finally got to check it out in person. The owner went over the cladding with BBQ grille paint. Hmmm, isn't that some pretty strong stuff? There were a few scrapes, but the reason for painting was because it was faded. The wheels he painted are the stock 18" from a 2000. The tires need to be replaced since there isn't much tread left and they're old enough to have some light cracking.

Like my friend said - there are a few scratches in the paint, but not too horrible. The interior really is in pretty good shape, just like the pictures showed. Driver's window needs some attention and there are a few other minor issues as well.

It seemed to run and drive well, but I think I'd like to have someone with more experience with this motor check it out. Something just didn't sound quite right. I'll probably check it out again later, this time unannounced so I can see what it's like when it hasn't been warmed up.

Hmmm, I guess it's still a "maybe."

[Riff Raff]

Grasshopper (aka RickOKC)-- "When you can take the small pebble from my hand, then you will have found the right VX."

Be patient my friend; the right VX will eventually come around, just keep lookin'.

[workmeistr]

Rick, why are you so drawn to painted cladding VX's? Good luck with the search.

[RickOKC]

LOL! Hey... "do one thing, do it well," I always say!