Remove Spray Paint from Behind Grill

[Wide Right]

I recently bought a 2002 F250 4x4 CC PSD. It looks like the prior owner spray painted the large plastic piece behind the grill. I'm not sure what this piece is called. Anyway, the paint is flaking off and it looks like hell. I don't know why he would have painted it.

What's the easiest way to take this piece back to stock? I read up on how to remove the grill, but it looks like this piece extends behind the headlights. Not sure what's involved with removing it. Once it's out, could I just sand it down or should I spring for a new one? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[fordmugg]

thats the header panel .....if its flaking that bad then maybe a power washer to blast the rest off

[Wide Right]

Thanks for letting me know what it's called. Good idea on the power washing. I found a writeup that shows removing the header panel. Looks like it's held in with 8 bolts and that it can be removed without taking the headlights out. Good project for this weekend. Thanks again for the help.

[szyd]

Power washer or paint thinner on a cloth lots of elbo grease. Or just shoot it with some black paint.

[Wide Right]

OK, I couldn't wait for the weekend. I went out to the truck and pulled off the grill and the dust cover. I couldn't figure out how to get the header panel out without also taking the headlights out. They seem to be bolted into the panel. In any event, I found that the header panel was cracked, maybe from a front-end fender bender. I'll order a new one.

If anyone can give me the step-by step instructions on removing the header panel, I'd sure appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

[alberta 7.3]

I found oven cleaner, yes, oven cleaner, does an awesome job of stripping paint off of plastic without any damage to the plastic as might happen with laquer thinner, brake cleaner, etc.

[INTERNATIONAL7.3]

acetone thinner