Paint removal tips needed

[bkahler]

One of the PO owners of my motorhome got a little overzealous with the spray paint when they were sprucing up the dash. I need to find a way to remove the paint without destroying the the underlying plastic of the dash control.

I haven't tried anything as yet figuring I'd check to see if anyone has a sure fire way of removing the paint. Any suggestions...?



Thanks,

Brad

[dadstoy]

Originally Posted by bkahler

One of the PO owners of my motorhome got a little overzealous with the spray paint when they were sprucing up the dash. I need to find a way to remove the paint without destroying the the underlying plastic of the dash control.

I haven't tried anything as yet figuring I'd check to see if anyone has a sure fire way of removing the paint. Any suggestions...?

Thanks,

Brad

That's a bummer! Only way to paint the dash is to go through the nightmare of pulling it out like I did!

[bkahler]

Dean,

Do you have any other pictures of your dash? Also any pictures of the inside dash area with the dash removed?

I'm planning on removing the dash from mine to paint as well. As near as I can tell it is separate from the row where the temp control is located.

Brad

[dadstoy]

Originally Posted by bkahler

Dean,

Do you have any other pictures of your dash? Also any pictures of the inside dash area with the dash removed?

I'm planning on removing the dash from mine to paint as well. As near as I can tell it is separate from the row where the temp control is located.

Brad

Yup I have pics of dash and inside area with dash out. I think I posted some on my thread. When I get back home (one to two weeks) I will email all the dash pics I have.

[dadstoy]

Brad, is your painted control located in the instrument panel or in the center of the entire console? Do you have a wide shot? Your control might be located when my a/c control is. That 4 inch high panel at the bottom is a separate piece from the upper section...at least on mine.

[bkahler]

Dean, my dash is as you described. My fiberglass (or abs?) dash cover as shown in your picture above does not look quite like yours. However I believe the mounting is probably the same from what I can tell.

My impression is I need to remove all of the phillips head screws that run along the front by the windshield, remove the instrument cluster and then lift the dash off. I've attached a picture of my small instrument cluster.

While I have the dash off I am going to look at the possibility of adding some more gauges like oil pressure, water temp & battery voltage.

[dadstoy]

Originally Posted by bkahler

Dean, my dash is as you described. My fiberglass (or abs?) dash cover as shown in your picture above does not look quite like yours. However I believe the mounting is probably the same from what I can tell.

My impression is I need to remove all of the phillips head screws that run along the front by the windshield, remove the instrument cluster and then lift the dash off. I've attached a picture of my small instrument cluster.

While I have the dash off I am going to look at the possibility of adding some more gauges like oil pressure, water temp & battery voltage.

Brad, that's pretty much what you have to do to remove the dash. Yours is as you know a. It different then mine. On mine, I removed the screws along the instrument panel and pulled it forward as much as I could. I popped out all the a/c and defroster defusers I order to unscrew the vents and pull them out enough to pull the hoses off. The a/c ducts on the front right side and center hold the front of the dash to the L channel frame for the dash. I think all but two of the screws along the windshield either were broken or broke when I tried to remove them...they were rusted out. It took a bit of work then to pull the dash out. The 4 inch high panel running along the bottom is riveted to the dash aluminum frame.

When I put the dash back in, I drilled some new holes along the windshield edge of the dash in order to secure the dash since most of the original screws were rusted out or broke off. That was a little nerve racking since I didn't want to real the windshield!