by droopsnoot » Tue Mar 06, 2018 11:03 am
It all depends on the paint used, and what the surface underneath was like - for example your bumpers might have been painted because the chrome finish was damaged, and it was easier and cheaper than having them re-chromed. Cellulose thinners will help soften cellulose paint, but if it's been done with something else, probably won't help. Paint stripper can be good, but it's a shadow of what it used to be due to having most of the good bits removed "for safety reasons" - I am told the stuff made by "Starchem" and available on line is pretty good though.
As always, if you can't remove the bits you need to strip, then protect the surroundings and be very careful about how you spread the stuff about - there's maybe more chance that the body is painted in cellulose and the modified bits in something else.
Sometimes you can just scrape paint off chrome if the chrome is good, because paint doesn't stick all that well to it. But you do have to be careful not to mark the chrome surface.
On the plus side for the bumpers at least, there are plenty around if you do need to replace them, or re-plating is an option. Can't say for the window surrounds, mine are painted and most of the others I've seen are polished stainless finish rather than chromed.