Paint Overspray on Soft Top

foxbrookdtl

foxbrookdtl

New member
I have a larger job where we are removing Paint Overapray off of several vehicles. This was caused by a company painting a water tower and not covering his workspace. We've taken care of all but one. A Jeep Wrangler where it has a soft top. I was looking to see if you guys had a suggestion on how we could remove or cover the specs of light blue paint from this black soft top.
Thanks.
 
foxbrookdtl said:
I have a larger job where we are removing Paint Overapray off of several vehicles. This was caused by a company painting a water tower and not covering his workspace. We've taken care of all but one. A Jeep Wrangler where it has a soft top. I was looking to see if you guys had a suggestion on how we could remove or cover the specs of light blue paint from this black soft top.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

Cover????
 
By covering do you mean dying over it? I've dyed rag tops on wholesale pieces of crap, and it looked ok for the time being (which was what we were shooting for) but I can't vouch for how long it lasted. I wouldn't dare do it to a clients car, or a nice car in general for that matter. I've read about people removing overspray with APC. Can't personally vouch for that either, but it might be worth searching for.
 
foxbrookdtl ---

I have not had the pleasure of removing paint from a soft black top yet, but
since you have done other vehicles with this same paint from the same place, did you determine if this overspray was water based paint, epoxy, or what?

I think next you need to determine what cleaner you used before to remove said paint from the other vehicles will do to a dyed black cloth top, and go from there.

If I had to do this today, I would probably try the least invasive method first that I have - steam and a mild apc to see if that would loosen it from the fibers, and then get my extractor out and inject hot water into the top and extract it out and see what it looks like.

If this did not even move it, I might then try to use the thinner for that type of paint on a Qtip at a place that is the least noticeable, checking for color transfer, and if none, try the same arrangement on the smallest spot of paint and observe and blot quickly. You dont want anything that is going to have reaction to bleed through to the headliner inside the vehicle..
Use the extractor frequently to pull out what you are doing so it doesnt soak in below..

If all fails, my go-to product has always been Goof Off professional, sold at auto body paint stores of Home Depot/Lowes, paint depts, in that little metal yellow can.. Qtips are your friend here too. Test, make sure it doesnt remove color, work quickly, try not to smear the paint, extract, blot, etc.,

Good luck! Wow talk about challenges ! :)
Dan F
 
Thank you again Dan. Apparently this is my tuff problems week from planes to paint. It is an epoxy paint, and I had thought about steaming, but wasn't sure if it would be effective. I will try these steps and see. It's vinyl soft top, which won't bleed as much as fabric.

I'll let you know how it turns out

Mark
 
foxbrookdtl said:
Thank you again Dan. Apparently this is my tuff problems week from planes to paint. It is an epoxy paint, and I had thought about steaming, but wasn't sure if it would be effective. I will try these steps and see. It's vinyl soft top, which won't bleed as much as fabric.
Click to expand...

If you have access to a steamer you might do a small test spot with steam and a plastic razor blade with a very gentle touch. Pretty tedious sounding work but I don't think you'll find an easy way.

TL
 
Mark--

Sorry I was somehow locked into Convertible Top mode there... :)

So, its vinyl over a hard surface then, and its probably textured?
If this is the case, then I might try steam and if not moving it, do a colorfast test with Goof Off, or find out what thinner is used for expoxy paint and get some of that.

Yeah, this is your week to be the "Problem Solver of Impossible Problems" !!
Sorry about that ! :(

But not to worry, one of us poor suckers will get the PSoIP hat to wear next week and you will be done ! :)

Dan F
 
Age of top and sun exposure will definitely dictate what you can use. A newer top will handle more aggressive methods if needed. If this is Deltron it will be difficult to remove. It sounds like it or a derivative if it stayed "wet" long enough to set and bond. These type of paints are used on firetrucks to airplanes plus other commercial equiptment.
A small area to test is a must. There are very strong solvents and slow reducers that help it bond and harden like a rock. This is why it will drift and bond. I've painted with this type of paint and had a layer completely cover the sole of my shoes when done.
Maybe looking into industrial cleaners and APCs would help but test first. There may be information on this problem. With the composition of a vinyl roof the solvents may have eaten and dulled the surface where it landed if you can remove it. It can lead to premature aging and failure because it "ate"
the upper substrate and weakened the material. The properties that keep vinyl and rubber flexible will be
sucked out depending on how "wet" the paint was when it made contact. Additional solvents if too heavy will penetrate those areas more. You may have random dull dots. Most cities dont understand the change up of reducers/hardeners based on temp. to prevent this. If it was warm to hot you may be in luck. The paint was wet enough to bond but not eat in and most of the solvents before contact have evaporated. The paints not the danger the solvents and reducers are.
This type of paint has eaten through booth coatings and permanently stuck to powercoated booths at close range.
My only experience has been close range and it was cheaper to replace
than fix.
I hope this may help in your fix.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top