i doubt there is anything that could neatly replace it. i expect most users will tell you to peel all of it off as underneath it looks more or less the same but hard plastic.
I was thinking the same thing.Ppl, read!
Alcohol seems to "thin" the "soft touch" (read: rubbery $hit) paint, but I didn't have much luck stripping it all off even with denatured (99.9%) alcohol. It seemed to "smear" the paint around and turned the cloth black, which effectively removed the scratches but not all the paint.Thank you!
x2! to doing this out of the car with a solvent, but the alcohol should be fine, if it cuts this rubbery $hit. Alcohol is not going to hurt plastic, or paints. It's actually a good cleaning agent and drying agent for many things. I use it "denatured" alcohol on vinyl all the time to remove a lot of different kinds of stains.
When in doubt, get a a few more opinions...
Why not?I wouldn't use brake fluid on anything you want to paint.
I questioned that myself! Notice the "if" in my post just above.I didn't have much luck with alcohol in actually pealing or stripping the paint off. Even 99% wouldn't take it all off.
You know, I was talking with my wife the other night (since the bug technically is "her" car) and brought up the "hammered finish" paints. I personally think it'd look cool as heck to paint all the black "rubbery $hit" coated pieces in the black hammered paint and then go over that with a matte clear coat to reduce glare.How about Krylon "Fusion"? Lots of colors and finishes. Or a good quality bonding agent for plastic before the paint, lot of paint options once you solve the bonding issue; moddled, hammered, etc.
Going to be tough to wrap into voids and the like with vinyl!
I'm curtainly not advocating rattle cans, in lieu of properly painting many items that involve primers, sanding, and paint with catalytic hardners which give it durability. I haven't used Fusion but suspect that as it is designed for plastic it has an agent which actually impregnates the plastic causing the bond. That's why I suggested a bonding agent primer for any other type of paint. The durability is all in the preparation and quality of products used. I can state from experience though, that with fan spray nozzles, I can get paint application results that rival a gun. It also takes a week or better for paints to cure, not just the dry to touch that is indicated on the label. It is this curing that creates the ultimate bond and durability. Everyone gets in a rush and wants it "right now". The are also paints that are cured with ultraviolet light. It's like when you have paint work done to the body, no wax for thirty days! Why do you suppose that is! And there are dryers and hardners added to that paint and clearcoat.Spraypaint is very hard to get looking decent. The conditions have to be perfect and when you finally pull it off it never lasts. They have climate control systems in paint booths for a reason. The stock dash would be easy to wrap.
Here's a dash piece from another car wrapped in black carbon fibre vinyl, and that stuff has a reputation for being hard to apply:
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There actually are specialty primers made specifically for the purpose of priming plastic (not just any old primer like for metal), and clearcoats with catalyst (2 part) that you actuate in inside the rattlecans, also for the purpose of not having to have professional gunning equipment, for the purpose of painting small parts. I can give you a link if you need or would like it. Dashes are mat finish, and dark, for the purposes of anti-glare, but I have seen the center section in a NB done in gloss and it was sharp! I'm not sure just the center section would be a highly objectionable glare issue.You know, I was talking with my wife the other night (since the bug technically is "her" car) and brought up the "hammered finish" paints. I personally think it'd look cool as heck to paint all the black "rubbery $hit" coated pieces in the black hammered paint and then go over that with a matte clear coat to reduce glare.