removing Spray Paint

[russell336]

Ok I tried to search for the answer but didn't turn up anything.
Is it possible to remove Spray Paint from a car's paint without damaging it?
I haven'e seen the car yet but the way it was described, it sounds as if someone actually took a can of spray paint and proceeded to vandalize the car.
I hope to get a better look at it sometime today.

I have at my disposal a PC, DACP, and Clay (mother's and Meguiar's).

I would think if those didn't work, that wet sanding might but I am reluctant to try that one someone else's car.

What do y'all think?

Thanks,

[Murr1525]

Hopefully it is fresh paint on a waxed car.. You'll have better luck then. Claying and #83 is certainly a start, but maybe there is some other sort of safe paint remover out there?

[Pullar]

When my car was vandalized a few years back the paint came off pretty easy. My guess was that it had been on there about 2 days, I took the car to the local car wash and pressure washed most it off. After that i spent some time by hand. It all came off and looked fine after a fresh coat of wax. Hope you don;t have any problems. Try a pressur wash then some caly if you have too. I wouldn't wet sand that will deffinantly leave marks.

[Superior Shine]

Your going to have the most trouble with the trim. The paint should come off fairly easy if the vehicle has a nice finish.

I would add Meneral spirits to my arsenal as well as the clay.

[Snowman]

^^ I also would say using Mineral Spirits "very cautiously" would be the best bet on getting the paint off.

[russell336]

Well, I just got back from looking at the car and it's nowhere near as bad as I thought. It's a blue 2002 Celica and it hasn't been vandalized but it looks as if there is some overspray. I was expecting something much worse, like some kind of expletives or something.
I am going to call the person back and let them know that I can most likely fix it. Hopefully I will get the opportunity and I can get some before and after's up.

Thanks for y'alls replies.

[russell336]

I detailed the car in question this past sunday. THe spray paint consisted of two quarter size brown spots on the front ground effects.
I tried the clay without success and then tried DACP, again without success.
I finally used some nail polish remover on a cotton ball and that took it right off!
It didn't take much at all, the cotton ball wasn't saturated but just slightly damp. It was enough to remove both spots.
Afterwards I clayed, polished and waxed the entire car.
Here are a few pics taking after I was done:







Here is one of it before I clayed and polished. you can't really see a difference in the pictures but it looked a lot better after I was done.