This is a strange question, I admit that, but my truck is painted with a brush the best I can tell. It lived the majority of it's life on a farm in North Carolina from when new in '46 to '83, then spent the next 24 years on another farm in North Carolina. The paint on the truck looks like Rustoleum that was brushed on. My question is how would you go about trying to take the Rustoleum off and getting the truck back to the original paint if any is under there. Is there any techniques that would allow me to take the top coat off without destroying the original paint underneath? I am not unhappy with how the truck looks now, just trying to figure out if I could get a better patina by trying to strip some of the top coat off and spraying with clear? Anyone have experience doing that? If it is Rustoleum, it is oil based and pretty tough stuff. This is what it looks like now.
Red scotch brite and some acetone would do wonders. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Letting her age naturally would definitely give some authentic patina. Maybe a year or two outside working the old girl would do the trick Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Please do tell more on that. Do you scratch and s****e the top surface off? Or do you try to cut the top layer off? Have you used this successfully? I was thinking to try this, but wasn't sure if something stronger is needed. I've tried acetone on paint before and it's not too strong...I guess this is not gonna be a quick process if I want to preserve what is underneath... The patina doesn't look too bad right now...chances are I won't do too much to it. Would be nice to do the inside, that's where I'll spend most of my time.
You know you brought the razor blade thing up......well I know that works maybe not on everything but it did on my 50 Studebaker....when I got the car it had been sitting in a field for years I got it home cleaned it up and it appeared to have original paint but then I figured it had been repainted once the original color then I started messing around with some spots were the paint was kind of flaking off and it looked like when it was repainted they did not prime it before painting it ...then noticed where the paint was flaking off it was bare metal under it so I grabbed a Razer blade and started doing some s****ping and to my surprise it came off fairly easy right down to bare metal...so I got a thin short bladed putty knife and went to work.....even with the Studebaker being a bulbous car I managed to get it all s****ed to bare metal with out any deep scratches in about 4 hrs main thing was keep a good edge on the knife and even pressure and motion when s****ping.....the car is now primed and waiting for paint.... Sent from my QTASUN1 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I would try it in a small, hidden corner first, buuuuuttttt, Easy Off in the yellow can takes One Shot off lots of paint without harm. So, depending on the paint underneath (and ***uming Easy Off will eat Rustoleum), you miiiiight have a shot at it eating it right off and being able to wipe it off. I've done it lots to remove pinstriping and even used it on a Coke cooler I bought cheap that someone had spray painted light blue.....sprayed on the Easy Off, let it sit and wrinkle the blue paint, wipe it off. Took a few applications, but I ended up with a nice Coke Cooler back in it's original red.
The straight razor works well, some times better or worse depending on the paint. If you grind the tips it helps prevents nicks. I've striped cars down to primer. It takes time, you have to just develop a feel for the angle you attack things with. Good luck. Bob
Down to bare metal is what I DON'T want...but read on as Bob mentions it also I would like to try this before the razor. I have used oven cleaner to prep metal in the past, and I can see how if you catch it before it would eat into the bottom layer, it could work well. This is what I was wondering. The corners make sense, similar to a woodworking hand plane has this done sometimes for the same reason on the wood. If I understand correctly you gauge the angle by feel, and try to slightly shave the top layer off slowly to get it to the paint underneath. Am I describing that how you would do it? If you had good control you could probably take most off in a few p***es, preserving the original paint. In thinking about this, there was a very small hand plane made by Stanley...the 101/201, it was 3-1/2" long with a 1" blade. There is a modern version available for about $8, the 12-101 Small T******* Plane. The blade on those is almost like a razor and I think replacements can be gotten. That could be a good way to have a controlled angle on a razor, setting it for a very light cut and skimming the top of the surface. I'm sure some paint is gone, rusted, damaged, etc...but even if some areas have bare metal it can all be clear coated. I like that patina look that people do on their old trucks.
Be careful, but a heat gun will help the razor remove paint, I wouldn't use anything close to a chisel or s****er. Bob
I purchased a 1950 Chevy from West Virginia to recreate Watson’s G****vine. It had been restored a few years earlier with a green paint job. The entire green paint was removed with razors to the paint beneath.
Good point Bob, I do have a heat gun. I'd love to see a pic of how it came out if you have one? Now there's a name from the past...presumably you're talking about Larry Watson? As a kid my family owned a liquor store in SouthEast L.A. Our store was on the corner of Long Beach Blvd. and Tweedy...several miles down Tweedy is where people used to cruise the Blvd. I never spent time cruising there, but did on Van Nuys Blvd. as a kid growing up...of course Watson's t-bird was the most famous as I recall...a friend of mine resurrected Van Nuy's Blvd. cruising night, not sure if he's still doing it but think so. These days I HATE L.A., so avoid it at all costs, including the SF Valley.
I have had good luck with the razor blades, boxes of new blades & a lot of time. S****ped off layers of paint to get to the original. Not to use the original but to get to a decent base for a repaint. The factory paint held up well and did not s****e off as easy as the others.
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