I gave this a shot, with great results

[Tslide91]

Short story: my battery cover was starting to look awful. It had spots around the middle, and a few scraches.

Then, I got this chip in the paint. Yeah, my heart about sunk. Until I looked and noticed it was a beautiful glossy black with all the same metallic lines and T-Mobile/HTC logo.

So, I began doing a little scratch test to see how tough that under paint was. Turns out, a LOT tougher than the flat black that's over it stock. I'm questioning why they didn't just leave it like this.

Then I took my dremel tool (the one that looks like a wrench) and used the sharp end to get under it and peel off all the matte paint.

I was VERY nervous doing this, as I wasn't sure what the outcome would be. The paint is really stuck on there, so you have to try for a while. It took me about an hour using that small dremel tool.

If you decide to do this, I recommend starting with the edges and working your way into the middle. The edges are insanely hard to remove the paint, which is why I did that first. That way, you can make longer passes when you get toward the middle.

I finished up with some polishing just to be sure, but the pictures are before polishing.

So without further ado, here's the process pictures, as well as an after picture. All pictures taken with the MyTouch 4G.

Enjoy

 

[Texter]

Actually that was dried finger prints you removed

 

[Tslide91]

Actually it wasnt

I couldnt tell if youre being serious lol but what I removed was the satin clear coat. Those small spots that showed up in it though, those probably were dried fingerprints lol

I like the glossy look better than the matte look. And it feels smoother, and its much harder to scratch. Win win win.

 

[RTNV]

I'll probably have to do the same thing as I have few spots where the top coat has peeled off. I can see that i can peel it with my finger nail. Thanks for sharing.

 

[pantlesspenguin]

That *is* really neat! I actually have an extra battery door that I can try this on. What else could I use to scrape the paint off w/ such nice results?

 

[RTNV]

OK, I did it too and I also like the results but as I expected, the glossy battery cover does not blend very well with the matte finish of everything else on the back. Beats a scratched cover though

I started the peeling with some plastic tools and they did scratch it but it was slow and the edges will quickly get dull and make it harder to peel the coating off. So, I also took the little metal dremel wrench and used the flat screwdriver side to peel the coating off. It really makes peeling nice and easy. However, I think it left some microscopic scratches on the glossy surface (they might be left overs from the matte finish, I am not quite sure). I think any flat screwdriver would do the job but it has to have a very smooth surface and you have to be very careful not to scratch the glossy layer. Don't blame me if you do

Overall, my cover ended up as nice as the OP pictures show and the micro scratches I am talking about will not show if I were to take similar pictures as above.

Again, thanks for the great idea.

 

[Tslide91]

Im glad you guys like it! The glossy coat is powdercoated I think, which is why it wont get damaged as easily as the matte clear coat. So it is relatively easy and safe, just tedious. I took mine the extra step and polished it, but if you dont have experience polishing then I wouldnt reccomend it. Its easy to mess up