Hey guys, Looking for some suggestions for paint stripping. My original plan was to tear everything down and take the body in pieces to a shop to get it blasted, but considering the interior is in such good shape as well as the rest of the car(almost no rust anywhere) and my laziness. I decided not to completely tear it down. It has what appears to be only a layer of base with a black suede finish coat(or coats). I started to sand a few test areas and decided sanding the entire car is just too much. My brothers car was in way worse shape with 9-10 layers of varying colors and primers and what looked like a house roller top coat. We spend several months stripping that down with chisels, vibrating cutters, putty knifes, chemicals and electric sanders. I would like to avoid the nightmare that we went through on that and try to get it all done much easier. At this point I'm leaning towards an aircraft paint stripper, but would love to hear if anybody else has ideas. I even saw a video of some guy using a 4" razorblade scrapper to remove his paint but that was a much flatter surface than my 49 merc has. Lots of curves here. Any suggestions?
the blaster that i use [american dry blasting] will do just the outside of the car, he tapes all the joints and seams [you have to sand them after] and covers the glass, trim etc....
Stripper works well, but is messy. Tape off all edges around fenders, doors, windows, etc. so the goop doesn't drip down in places you don't want it. The trick with paint stripper is to brush it on once, and don't work it any more than you have to - I've found the more I push it around with the brush the less effective it is. Then, be patient and let it do its stuff before you try to scrape it off.
I am partial to the aircraft stripper, I have had good results, especially with the 31 Chevy I just did, really took it down to metal. I have used another product that was equally as good, but cannot remember the name. You poured it into a spray bottle and applied it that way. After neutralizing with water, with both types, I hand 80 gritted the surface. On the blasting theme, the idea that was mentioned also sounds good, not sure how much mess to clean. But I have also heard good things about using media with a power washer. Sometime BiCarbonate Soda is good. Nice thing, with the water application, no dust to worry about breathing. I think both of those are also enviro friendly.
Get some of these and you can strip a car in no time. I did a model A in a couple hours down to bare metal and my wife's Skylark in about 8 hours. http://www.amazon.com/Poly-X-Paint-Rust-Removal-Stripping/dp/B005QP3QLOYou can get them made by 3M and Porter Cable as well at most hardware stores.
I forgot to add, all the places I've called up here said the DEQ shut them down and they don't do car blasting anymore.
That's awesome! How messy does that get though? I'll be doing this work in my garage. Does the paint come off in larger chunks or more like sanding dust?
i'm no painter, but If the paints not bad, why strip it at all? Why not just wet sand and spray over it. If you've got a good base, use it...
I do need to do a little body work on it and there's several places with major chips in the paint, so that's the main reason for full strip.
Soda blasting is the way to go. Only takes the paint off not rust. Doesn't hurt glass, rubber, chrome, etc. If you have a big enough compressor I think Eastwood sells the equipment. Wash away with an eco-conscience. No fuss no muss.
Don't strip a good base, that's foolishness. But if you want to make quick work of it use a variable speed polisher/sander and an 8" stickit pad. First pass slow speed with 36 grit paper and the goal to remove 1/2 the thickness of the paint. Second pass slow speed with 80 grit and a goal if taking 1/2 thickess of what's left. Third pass 80 grit on a DA sander should finish it off. Takes almost 1 day to strip a car/truck this way.
X2 did my '58 Ford with these. Took me a lot longer though. it just creates a lot of dust. Wear a mask! This takes it down to bare metal so be prepare to do something to protect the metal
If the base is in good shape, I'd just sand off the suede stuff and scuff up the base. Then follow steps to overcoat that. If you're hell bent on getting down to metal, I'm partial to Rock Miracle chemical stripper. It works great, just let the chemical do the work, and brush the old paint right off.
the eco-conscience thought is kind of wrong, baking soda is not better than sand [we know where that comes from] there is always the problem of the materials that are blasted off.
Thanks for all the replies guys. After considering all this I think I will just clean up the areas that need some attention and only take down to original paint to a level where I can paint over it. I'd kind of like to know where all the bondo spots are, but thinking about it more I really don't care as long as the car still looks good. I really want to drive the doors off this thing. Every time I find a woman that likes cars they want to go for a ride and I really hate saying sorry not yet. Hopefully they are still around when I do get it back on the road, new shocks will hopefully be in soon.
You will create some dust with those disc's but they work fast and won't create too much heat as long as you don't spend too much time in one spot. For going back to metal only other way I would do it is blasting, and that isn't cheap.
I did my entire 55 Ford with a 4" blade I got from Lowe's . I ended up going through 2 scrapers and 10 blades to do mine . Got maybe $25 in scrapers and blades and $80 in beer ! Honestly another well known HAMBer showed this way to me and I was sold ! Works very well once you get the hang of doing it . Takes it right down to the metal too ! The biggest problem is all the paint chips flying around . You must wear a hat , eye protection and long sleeve shirt . If not it's hard to get the paint chips of sweaty skin ! Retro Jim
X3!!!!!!!!! Took about 8-10 Hours on my whole 39 Ford coupe. Bondo will slow you down but it will remove it impressively well. I have done Aircraft stripper, water blast with sand, sand blasted cars and after I found theses discs it is the only way for me to strip paint from a car from now on. I mount them on my buffer to help control the speed. The 3M ones have velcro on them and will mount right up on my buffer. I also believe old paint that is still in tacked makes a great base
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