Early A ext door handles....painted??? How to remove?

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gdizzle

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On my 66 dart sedan, I am in body work hell, removed all the trim getting it prepped. The door handles had all been previously painted the last time they painted the car. I guess masking them would be too hard? Anyhow, I have removed all the handles. They are chipped and paint is starting to fall off. Ideally I would like to strip the paint off and just have them be normal like factory. Any ideas?? I do not have a sand blaster.
Last resort I suppose I could repaint them using Chrome Paint, but afraid it won't hold up to daily gripping etc... And yes, they painted the gaskets too. I have replacements for those. They also painted the keyhole.
IMG_4964.JPG
 
Yikes, what a mess. Makes you wonder what they were thinking. At least they get an award for thoroughness, painting the keyholes too. :wtf:

I haven't tried it on a previously chromed surface, but I have used water-base paint stripper on metal surfaces before, and it worked quite well. Perhaps you could try this out in a small inconspicuous spot and see if it works and leaves some nice chrome behind. If these were mine I'd consider it a not-much-to-lose situation.
 
yea nuts , right? And now that I look at them, it appears fir they were all painted Red, then repainted grey. so 2 coats of paint.
 
You can get new repo's pretty cheap, and save you some effort.
 
Mostenbockers(or something like that) lift off graffiti remover, about $7 , they sell it at Ace and maybe Home Depot, it will remove the paint and not harm the chrome, spray it on let it soak about 5 minutes, use a plastic bristle brush to loosen it up (steel wool will scratch the chrome if the chrome happens to be good under all that paint)
 
Some kind of purple cleaner lifted the paint on my toolbox. Or soak in pine sol. May etch aluminum.
Castrol super clean,thats what it was.
 
Just get a couple spray cans of Aircraft Stripper, put them in a plastic container, and spray them down real good, let them soak. Then scrub with a good bristle brush, and rinse with water, repeat as needed. Paint will come right off. Remove your rubber seals/gaskets first if they are stuck. Hopefully they didn't sand the chrome before the paint. Clean all traces of the remover off real good when done. Good luck
Dave
 
Ok I used Clean Stripper spray on. It took a few times, but the paint came off. Revealing a super dull, hazy handle. Now I have another question, I see the repop ones, however they are only for the front doors. The rear door handle that I have, have a different type of push rod, like a S shape. Is it possible to take apart the old handles, get that push rod out and install it into the newer repop handles??? I cant tell how to take it apart. I see one screw, but then it looked machined onto the other points??
Lastly, there seems to be a O ring that goes on the thumb push, from inside. Mine are gone, is there a replacement for that ORing? looks real thin
 
Simple Green would remove the paint if you soak it. Probably would harm chrome (it does remove it from plastic).
 
I would try a little thinner. Know someone at a body shop? Or just stop in and make a new friend. Lacquer thinner should remove it.
 
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