I've been tinkering with several different ways of removing the rubber coating on the interior parts like the radio console and air vents.

I have yet to find an easy way to do it, but the best I have found so far is to take all the parts and soaking them in soapy water for several days. After that, most of the rubber just comes right off. Anything that doesn't come off easily you may have to scrape lightly with a screwdriver to remove. If you have some really stubborn rubber, scrape the best you can and resoak it. Mine came out looking great and I'm a perfectionist.

Once you are done, sand the pieces lightly with 220 grit sandpaper, clean and rinse well with soap and water, then let dry completely. Afterwards spray the pieces with Duplicolor Auto Spray in Universal Flat Black. It matches the rubber color perfectly. Put it this way, it matches better then most of the factory pieces that are supposed to be the same color.

 

I used throttle body cleaner. It does a great job of removing the rubber but it also removed some of the paint underneath. Maybe I put it on too thick or left it on too long. I had to sand a lot more after. I'm in the process of doing some of the pieces now. The sanding is taking forever.

 

I tried other stuff like acetone and mineral spirits but it really softened the plastic too much. If you scrape on it you ended up gouging it badly.

A small wirewheel on my dremel didn't do much either.

Sanding didn't work for me at all. The rubber ended up gunking up the paper and never took the rubber all the way off anyway.

Soapy water takes forever, but it worked the best and left everything nice and smooth for painting.

 

This is from Tech Tips. https://www.corvetteforum.com/techti...=114&TopicID=2

In the future you may save some time & money by searching thru the Tips section.

 

Thanks for pointing out the tips section. There is definitely a ton of information there. I was not aware this section existed, however that points out a big flaw in this website. Information is in many different places and difficult to find.

Regarding the listed article I didn't see where it actually addressed the removal of the rubber coating.

 

That tech tip is a giant horrible wall of text. Here, this is much easier to read, plus it works better:

1. Take off all the pieces with rubberized coating.
2. Cover one piece at a time with gasket remover. The rubber shrivels up and falls right off.
3. IMMEDIATELY spray all the rubber and gasket remover off with a hose. The gasket remover takes no time to work and if you hesitate, your plastic will corrode.
4. Use your fingers and a dental pick to get any remaining rubber out of the corners.
5. Sand with 200-400 grit. This will reverse any corrosion you caused and also preps the surfaces for paint.
6. Paint with duplicolor flat black.

 

Also, I tried that soaking in soapy water thing, and even after 2 weeks of soaking, the rubber still held tight and would only come off in tiny pieces near the edges. However, the gasket remover stuff takes the stuff off instantly and completely. You just have to keep the overspray away from you, and wear goggles. Even the overspray burns you like crazy when it hits you.

Also, when you sand, make sure you sand the corroded parts down really smooth. I might have to re-sand a spot.

 

Gasket remover sounds risky to me. That stuff is probably the most aggressive stuff you can buy off the shelf. It's about the only thing I've worked with that gets painful when it's on your skin too long. Wouldn't something like brake cleaner or carb cleaner buy a little more time before it melts the plastic?

 

I'm sure weaker substances would work, but the rubber probably wouldn't instantly fall off as well. You might find that some of it didn't come off and have to go over it again. At that point you're putting the corrosive substance partially on rubber and partially on the plastic you've already exposed. With the gasket remover as long as you don't spray directly on to the bare plastic and only hit the rubber, being sure to do it right the first time while it's all still covered in rubber, the end result looks great. As soon as you hit a spot that already has the rubber scraped off, you end up with pitted plastic, but it's nothing that 200 grit can't fix.

By the way, the gasket remover stuff doesn't burn your skin if it's been on it too long. Rather, I think it starts burning before it even gets on it. Damn stuff. Be sure the wind isn't blowing towards you when you spray it, and wear goggles for sure. Like centralcoaster said, I am surprised they even sell this stuff in stores with how reactive it is. I also think it's totally cool that it tends to splash up everywhere when you spray it.

 

I would think steel wool or scotch brite, but haven't tried it.

Post pics of your painted parts (pretty please).

 

I never said it was an easy thing to do. I've tried the different solvents they either didn't work at all or and it softend the plastic too much for my liking. Soaking in water worked fine for me. For the parts that didn't come off easily, they were easily removed with light scraping afterwards.

Honestly, I really would not advocate spraying any type of solvent on plastic. I put a dab on a cloth and rubbed it on for testing. Otherwise the results would be way too unpredictable, but as we are finding out, results will vary. I'm very happy with how mine turned out.

Oh and steel wool and scotch brite will only put the rubber bits deeper into the plastic making it impossible to get a good finished result.

 

It isn't "into the plastic" to start with, so how does it get "deeper into the plastic"?

Since the stuff peels on it's own and shows bare plastic, it seems like you should be able to peel it off with an abrasive.

 

This is true. I used the carb cleaner and it corroded some of the plastic on the second spray. It sounds like the gasket stuff may work well if washed off immediately. I was still able to get the surface smooth with a lot of sanding, several different grits, and patients.

 

I almost forgot to mention, DO NOT in any circumstance use abrasives like steel wool or scotch brite, and I would also be extremely selective about using a razor blade. Every time you cut into the rubberized surface you are making a lot more work for yourself, since that area will now insist on coming out in small difficult pieces instead of pulling up all at once. The adhesive under this stuff is very strong and very uniformly spread, and if you can't get it off in big pieces, without that extra leverage it won't want to come off at all. Abrasives and scrapers are simply not the way to go here; the stuff was put on chemically in the factory, so the only effective way to get it off is also chemically.

Black771, it is possible that our years of cars used a different adhesive for the rubberized coating, and perhaps yours is more water soluable.

All others, if you're thinking about trying the soapy water thing, I'll just let you know that during the two weeks that I soaked my pieces, I stopped every couple days to try as hard as I could to remove the coating with all sorts of scraping devices. In the end I spent hours and hours trying to do this, only to find later that gasket remover did the same job in a matter of seconds, and it hit areas that I couldn't have possibly reached and did not cause any irreversible damage.

I did test it on an inconspicuous area first; since I tested it on a bare plastic area and I left it on there for an entire minute, that unimportant portion was cracked and completely deformed after the minute was over. Goes to show how you do have to be very careful with this stuff. The other bare plastic parts that I used it on and washed off immediately only had very little corrosion, easily corrected with 200 grit and a couple seconds of rubbing. There is no danger of ill effect as long as you have the hose ready and do not wait at all to spray it as soon as the gasket remover has touched the rubber. There is a decent margin of error as long as you keep it under 20 seconds. Moreover, the parts that I hit that still had a complete layer of rubber on top showed no corrosion whatsoever.

I will post pics of at least one of the painted parts. In the areas that I did sand correctly, the duplicolor flat black looks darn good, and I additionally decided to put some clearcoat on top for a little extra gloss. I did not sand the other parts thoroughly enough, including where I corroded it, so there are still some pits that will require more sanding and then re-painting. Save yourselves some time and sand carefully so that you do not make this mistake.

 

I would like to see some pics of the clear coat pieces. I wanted to add a clear coat for a little more protection but I was worried that it would change the near factory look of just the duplicolor flat black. What clear coat did you go with? Like you, I've done this a couple of times. I'm on my third attempt. I bought a used panel cheap to practice and test on. The only real mistake I made was not sanding thoroughly enough the first time. There were some surface scratches that were probably from the 200 grit left behind. Enough coats of paint took care of it but it bothered me enough to strip it down and start over again. It was looking really good though. This should be my last time. This time I used the carb cleaner, sandpaper in four stages (200-1000 grit), duplicolor gray base, flat black, and maybe clear coat.? The sanding is a PITA, but this time it should be perfect. The hard part is sanding in the small crevices, around the cup and change holders, and some of the inside edges. I found the radio bezel for $38 and the shifter console for $99 new, with the crappy rubber coating. It may be worth it to someone who doesn't feel like taking on the project.

 

I disagree; it should never have to be thought of as a big "project", and it should never be something that is worth paying $137 to avoid. This is an easy job to do, and a fast job to do, as long as you don't over-complicate it. These crappy plastic pieces are simply not worth spending any more time on than you have to. Strip them chemically letting the chemicals do all the work, then immediately spray 'em off, scuff them up, take them out back and spray on some paint, and you're done. Shouldn't take more than an hour with breaks included, so there shouldn't be any excuses to forego repairing these trim pieces if they need it.

Anyway, for clear coat I just used more duplicolor. I used two coats of flat black and one of clearcoat. I waited 10 minutes between each coat, and did all the parts simultaneously. When you use spray the paint, you of course want to use very thin (not dripping wet) coats, and big sweeping strokes across the whole piece so as not to leave deposits at the points in your stroke where you change direction.

No scratches from the 200 grit showed through. The biggest flaw in my paint was from corrosion, that is, where I didn't hit it with the 200 grit and where I also happened to expose the bare plastic to the chemical. Additionally I experienced paint cracking because I painted this outside in the cold weather, but that is expected. There were a couple other flaws where some little patches of rubber still clinging to the surface went undetected, but had I sanded better they would have fallen off, being already exposed to the chemical. All of these mistakes are easily fixed now that I know what not to do, so my second attempt should be flawless.

 

Im def. going to do this cause I ended up somehow getting a nick in the coating. I might send mine to a paint shop to get a professional to paint it and clear coat it a couple of layers. We'll see if the price is right.

 

I don't think this is a "Big Project". I disagree that it is "fast" and "easy". I have a couple of hours in it already but I am a perfectionist by nature. Fast and Easy will = a crappy job. IMO The original factory coating is very poor and does not last. I would not spend $140 for the replacements but for someone that has more money than time or if you are not a DIY'er it is another option. Thanks for the info on the clear coat. I may try it if it maintains the factory look.



Like any paint job most of the work is in the prep. Sending it to get painted may not be worth it. Let us know how it goes though.

 

I never tried on the C4, But I was modding my console on the C5, and to remove the rubber paint I used acetone on a rag, then rub the part. it stripped it right off, leaving a haze on the plastic.

I later added ABS pipe to acetone and make plastic goop and modded my console... so acetone will eat the plastic, but if you use a rag and are quick about it, should pull it up easy and dry right away.

pooring acetone on it will cause it to melt.
I asume brake cleaner and the likes will do something similar.

 

what if you clear coated a brand new one with the rubber still on it??? how do you think that would work.. mine is 2 years old and looks worse now then the one i replaced. i drive my car almost everyday.. so having that part out for a few days would drive me nuts..