CLR as paint stripper?

[Vern]

I've had this pair of California plates hanging in the garage for years, a nice matched set, but not DMV clear. I decided to clean them up a bit, see if I could bring the color back a bit. I'd heard about using CLR to remove rust & dirt, so I got a bottle & soaked the one plate for a couple of hours. It almost completely stripped the paint on the front, just cleaned the back.
Now I need to find someone to repainted them! Any suggestions from you all?