good method for removing Flatblack spray can paint job and saving the original paint?

So my girlfriend has a just bought her first old car. It's very slightly off topic by a few years and a four door. But it has a rebuilt engine and trans(with receipts) is pretty rust free and was only $1000. I think she got a great deal. she is really excited about it. and it gets her out in the garage with me. The bad part is it has a shitty rattle can flat black paint job on it. It's really thin and flaking off on the drivers fender. The worst looking thing about the car. She and I really dislike the look it gives the car too. It's going to be a month or two before I can strip the chrome, ect. and get it painted at earl schwieb. From what I understand it's bad to lay down automotive paint over spray can stuff. How can I strip the flat black off? Is it possible to do with out doing to much damage to the original paint? Basically I don't have a place to strip it to bare metal and I don't think the car is worth the time to strip all the way down to metal as it is not as valuable classic as most. I just want to make it a decent 10 or 15 foot car for her. It going to be a daily driver and I'm sure will get some parking lot scars. But I want to make it last. Can I wet sand the paint off? should I use scotch bright? chemical removal? The original paint underneath doesn't have to look great just be a good surface to paint on when it is time.any tips would be great.

 

do a little prep to it and give it a rustoleum paint job.

 

That has crossed my mind. does rustoleum come in shiny?

 

i have had success with using spray on oven cleaner (dont use the no fume variety if possible)
only leave it on for a minute or 2 and then spray off.

or if you like work - hit it with a clay bar and plenty of elbow grease

 

I have pulled off similar success, However I have access to a very high pressure hot power washer, but this is worth a try (especially if your gonna rustoleum it anyhow) Get some Cold Oven cleaner I like the lemon scented variety that contains industrial lye. It will take off spray paint AS LONG AS the paint underneath is relativley glossy, count on having spots where someone sanded the car, and the paint will be stubborn there.

For flat black spray paint I have had great luck with Castol Super clean, but again the 300deg. water at 4000 PSI may be doing more to help than the chemical.

just my .02 cents

 

Oh good Lord, not another Rustoleum paint thread...

Anything worth doing, is worth doing right. DA the crap off it, spend a little time and fleet enamal if you have to save some dough and shoot it.

Brian

 

what he said... do yourself a favor and do it right. you'll save work in the long run and have a better looking car. This rustoleum crap reminds me of the JD Blitz Black crap from a few years back. it's some peoples answer to everything.

 

OK, first off, don't listen too much about what these painting professionals are talking about knocking the Rustoleum paint jobs. I've seen the results and if you use "shiny" paint and don't mind the very limited colors, it will come out shiny and smooth. You were planning to take it to get "it painted at earl schwieb" anyway. They use the cheapest enamel paints they can get to coat your car. Not much different than the rustoleum.

Keep it in perspective. Do you just want it to look ok, with some shiny paint and not a bunch of flakes falling off it? Rustoleum, spray it on according to directions, and be done with it. You can roller it, but it's too much of a pain to do that way if you have access to a gun and a compressor. You could even do it outside if the neighbors don't complain too much.

You already said it's a more door and not a 63 or older, and it sounds like it's just a driver and you don't plan on investing more than $500 on the paint anyway. You could hand sand, get a cheap HVLP gun and compressor, then paint each panel one at a time if you wanted to. After it dries a while, wet sand and buff. It would be fine. If you were doing a frame off with over 1000 man hours in bodywork, my advice would be different.

I believe in keeping perspective, if you have a splinter do you go to the ER because they are better at all that medical stuff? No way! If you just want a cheap and durable paint job, prep well, follow directions and spray.

I just pulled some stuff from http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/wiki/Cheapo_paint_job

While I agree that if you have a lot invested, do a quality paint job, if you just want a little nicer look and you haven't invested a lot of time, yet...

"[edit] Rustoleum
[edit] Pros
Rustoleum can resist chalking and weathering almost as well as factory enamel paint if taken care of. Many people tend to judge Rustoleum by how it weathers on outdoor equipment and its other more usual applications. But no one buffs and waxes the wrought iron railings on their steps or outdoor oil tanks, so, yes, the paint tends to suffer.
Until the early 1960's, many OEM's used alkyd enamels to paint their cars, which were quite similar to what Rustoleum has for sale today. Some import manufacturers continued using alkyd enamels into at least the 1980's. For example a 1981 Isuzu pickup will have a buck tag underhood clearly stating "alkyd enamel" as the OEM paint. Dupont's website has a small history section that makes mention of their alkyd enamel automotive paint, "Dulux".
Inexpensive, and widely available.
Unlike a base coat-clear coat type spray paint job where things must be done within certain time frames, a Rustoleum roll and brush job can be started and stopped at the painter's convenience. "

 

Yeah don't listen to them, they only want to save you work down the road. They only want the car to look it's best and have a paint with decent UV protection.

You're better off with a cheap single stage than any Rustoleum.

 

Sounds odd to some, but I've had good luck with Rustoleum in the past. However, I plan to do my next low bux rod with Tractor Paint! One of my pals did his car with it & I was SHACKED at how good it came out. It seems to re-flow & smooth out, even when done with a brush.

 

ive had great results with rustoleum , shines just like any other paint and is nice and hard after its set up (takes a while )

if you want a low budget way to get the car one colour and looking tidy , then id say consider the rustoleum

if later on you need show quality paint...then youd want it bare metaled anyway

no ones saying rustoleum is better or as good as expensive stuff , but its plenty good enough for low budget drivers imo

 

first off I would like to say:

I DON"T WANT TO PAINT THIS CAR WITH RUSTOLEUM.

No offense to people that have. It's just not the look I'm after. I have seriously considered painting it outside, but that will have to wait for spring around here which is why I mentioned Earl Schweib. I just want to strip the shitty spray can job off, down to the original paint without doing so much damage to the OG paint that the car has to be painted immediately. If I can pull that off than I can paint the car myself in the spring. and I do agree that I should paint it right the first time.

 

yeah, i wouldnt listen to the pros either, they just wanna sell ya expensive paint(i stole that quote by the way)


wether you paint it your self,or go to earl schieb, listen to the others who know what they are doing and d/a the stuff off.

then you can paint it or send it out. i send an occaisional car to one day, and for an extra 20 spot, they will sand of any junk, or address a problem before painting it.

if the car is dissasembled, and the metal work done their paint dont look bad for use on a cheap beater.

for anything that you have pride in , i think good materials are in order, no offense to you rustoleum users.


good luck wich ever way you go

skull

 

Stupid question what is D/A? I know it's a sander. But I don't know how it works. My girlfriend is asking and I don't know how to explain it to her.

 

I got decent results wetsanding the spraypaint off. OT car, or I'd post pictures. (400 grit? it was a while ago.) Looked great at 10 paces. Keep it rinsed to keep track of your progress, and be careful to not sand through on the peaks.

Edit: what the heck...pictures:

 

I stripped a black primered 53 chevy with laquer thinner and shop rags. the thinner cut through the primer uncovering the stock paint under.

lucky for me the stock paint was driver quality still. yellow with a green top.

 

Man that looks pretty good! I think I'm going to try wet sanding the paint off.

 

krud kutters graffiti remover (in a white bottle at any walmart).... Ive stripped several cars with it and it works really well. I like this method the best because they wont touch the original paint, unlike wet sanding.

 

From what I can see of the paint where it is showing through and flaked off the paint looks decent. I think the kid that did it, painted it flat black because everything is cooler in flat black right? The original color is that 60's tan/creme ford color. so I can understand why he did it. so Lacquor thinner won't fuck up the paint?

 

I'll give that I try too!

 

"Lacquor thinner"

 

OK, I will clarify a few things...

First, DA is dual action. It means the sander moves in both circular and side to side motion. That means that it leaves fewer traces of sanding on the finished surface.

Second, Rustoleum Professional is an Alkyd Enamel. It hardens and cures in the presence of oxygen. If you take the car to Scheib or Macco or any other cheap paint store, you are going to get an Alkyd Enamel. Alkyd Enamels were OEM paints until the 60's (hmm, something about 1963 that rings familiar around here...) which means that any car that came from the Big 3 before 1960 or so had, wait for it,... ALKYD ENAMEL. This doesn't count Model A or whatever, so you MORE traditional guys stop hitting me!

I wont go into what that means to a billet proof organization, I'm just saying that traditional paints until after the 60s was alkyd enamel. Base coat clear coat looks great, but alkyd enamel is traditional. You nay sayers prove me wrong Someone come up with some documentation that assembly lines before the 60s used a base coat/ clear coat polyurethane.

Third. You have no hope of "just" getting the crappy rattle can paint off. You might try a LOT of elbow grease, 2000 grit wet dry sandpaper and buffing after, but you might as well wait until you can spray it or have Earl Scheib spray it with....

alkyd enamel... (ergo = rustoleum professional)

If you REALLY don't want to use Rustoleum Professional (I am not saying regular rustoleum, I mean the grey can that says "professional" on it) then go to a paint store and get a higher quality alkyd enamel and see if you can get UV protection for it. Anything else and you are looking at a serious chunk of change and I took from your first post that you weren't looking for that.

Here is a little thing to read before you finally blow Rustoleum out of your list of options, from the link I previously posted. I bolded the things I think you were categorizing your gf car to be...

"When is a "cheapo" paint job appropriate?

Work truck.
Beater.
Race car.
Vehicle that will see farm or utility use.
Learning basic paint techniques.
Vehicles with a sufficiently low market value such that spending the money required for a traditional paint job doesn't make economic sense.
Art car.
A vehicle that probably won't be seeing too many more years."

also, to give a nod to using a high quality base coat clear coat job...

Why not do a "cheapo" paint job?

Time invested in mechanical aspect of job.
Deterioration of finish over time. Looks great at first, but can take years to deteriorate.
Value of paint job relevant to value of rest of vehicle is disproportionate. For example: using this method to paint a show car or rare automobile.
Down the line, if you want to do a professional-quality paint job, all of the underlying cheapo paint will need to be removed. Stripping the paint, doing the filler work, priming, blocking, and removing trim or panels can take hundreds of hours for a hobbyist, or cost thousands of dollars if done professionally. When modern finishes are applied over cheapo finishes, the differing chemical make-ups cause problems. This removal is very time-consuming and labor intensive. Cheapo paints are often very soluble, and when modern finishes are applied over them, the solvents will get under the old paint and make it peel.

 

I have a $1000 dollar budget for paint if that helps.

 

I've used oven cleaner before also. I've had good results but let me preface that remark with it's not something to do lightly.

It will take a top spray layer off factory paint. I would suggest a few things first.

1. Make your first attempt in a small out of the way area to see how well it works for you.

2. Do it in a very well ventilated area. The good stuff is nasty.

3. Only use the good stuff. Easy-Off name brand. I've bought off brand and it didn't do squat.

4. Wear gloves. The stuff is fairly nasty.

5. DO NOT GET IT ON CHROME!! Especially chrome plated pieces. It will wipe the plating out fast.

6. Spray on, leave for a few minutes, hose off and then take a sponge or something and rub a bit. More will come off. You may have to do each area more than once.

 

One last post and I'll shut up... heh

Try krud kutter. I haven't, but I did use it to get grafitti off my gf's garage door one time and it took what appeared to be rattle can paint off of it with no issue to the base paint. It might just work.

 

So if I have to strip the chrome anyways to oven cleaner strip. I should just d/a it and paint it all at once?

I do appreciate your advice. It has been helpful.

I guess I should also clarify that I am mainly stripping the flat black to get down to a good surface to paint on and I'm not worried about the original paint looking amazing.

 

Just hit the chrome with steel wool.... as for the rest, go get a couple bottles of krud kutter.... SERIOUSLY

 

O.K., so they sprayed the chrome also?

I'm not talented enough to DA a top layer off while leaving the bottom in decent shape so it's up to you what you want to try.

I've used steel wool to remove primer from bumpers and trim. My bet is the Krud Kutter stuff is similiar to Oven cleaner. I've never used it though. I can't imagine that a can is all that expensive so you aren't going to be out much trying either.

 

No I'm just worried about overspray.

 

cool, I just read a little about it. It's what I'm going to try first.