Stripping Paint...

[fahrenschnell]

Just curious what you all use to strip paint and surface rust off of a car....

I am slowly starting body work and am curious if there are methods that work better than others.

Fire Away.

Seth

[70.5CAMARO]

Re: Stripping Paint...

depends on what i am really doing, I use two meathods, depending on layers of paint, aircraft paint remover works great, or rusty stuff I use pqr-15, works great.

[fahrenschnell]

Re: Stripping Paint...

44 year old original GM Paint.....

Seth

[70.5CAMARO]

Re: Stripping Paint...

you might just want to DA it off

[Shawn Anderson]

Re: Stripping Paint...

If it just has the original paint I woud just sand it, but I am not that great of a body man. have a great story about chemical striper, I was like 5 and remeber my dad was repainting his buddy's 70 corvette so to strip it we went to a coin op car wash at like 2 a.m. and put the striper on let it sit and then power washed all the toxic goop (and the bonding between body panels) down the drain! Way wrong way ileagal but a funny story. Please no one try this!

[antmnte]

Re: Stripping Paint...

Good idea! ^I'll keep in mind! We have one near here that open 24 hrs. Maybe not a whole car but other stuff it would probably be OK.

[TC]

Re: Stripping Paint...

you might just want to DA it off

Unless it's cracking or pealing, I would do the same. And you don't have to take it to metal. Best thing to do is to just sand it until the high spots in the metal start showing.

[JOES66FURY]

Re: Stripping Paint...

DA, i have not had any luck with strippers and they make such a nasty friggin mess...

[fahrenschnell]

Re: Stripping Paint...

Dumb Question Alert!!!!!

I don't yet have a large enough air compressor to run a DA. Can I use an electric orbital instead?

Seth

[Ron Ward]

Re: Stripping Paint...

Dumb Question Alert!!!!!

I don't yet have a large enough air compressor to run a DA. Can I use an electric orbital instead?

Seth

Man, if you don't want to buy a compressor, invest a bit of money in some long sanding boards and use them. Those electric orbital sanders have a lot of inertia due to their weight (electric motors are heavy) and can be a real bear to handle. I realize sanding it by hand will take time, but if you use good quality sanding boards and blocks, the results will be outstanding. Just don't sand in any one place too long.


Ron

[TC]

Re: Stripping Paint...

Man, if you don't want to buy a compressor, invest a bit of money in some long sanding boards and use them.

Long board sanders are the best, especially when doing big flat areas, like doors, trunk lids, hoods, etc....
I use an air one from harbor freight and it's done me right. Not to mention I use a cheap ass Campbell Hausfeld compressor that I got from WalMart to run it. ;)

[fabricatordave]

Re: Stripping Paint...

paint strippers don't work to good on old gm cars there painted with lacquer .all the stripper is turn it liquid it wont peel and bubble like enamel paints do.it just leaves you with a big runny mess

[Eric68]

Re: Stripping Paint...

I used stripper on my Camaro. The car had two coats of paint -- the original lacquer and a thick alkyd enamel top coat (from the 80s). I had to use two coats of stripper in most spots, 3 or 4 coats in others. The enamel came off easy in one coat, the original enamel and primer were a bear. It worked though and was the best way to get in the nooks and crannies.

If you sand make sure you do not allow heat to build or you can warp sheetmetal.

[JOES66FURY]

Re: Stripping Paint...

Dumb Question Alert!!!!!

I don't yet have a large enough air compressor to run a DA. Can I use an electric orbital instead?

Seth

Man, if you don't want to buy a compressor, invest a bit of money in some long sanding boards and use them. Those electric orbital sanders have a lot of inertia due to their weight (electric motors are heavy) and can be a real bear to handle. I realize sanding it by hand will take time, but if you use good quality sanding boards and blocks, the results will be outstanding. Just don't sand in any one place too long.


Ron

Yup.....what he said....my idea was to sand the car, but when i took the hand held electric to it it gouged some of the bondo (a good thing for me ) i got a couple small orbitals from Craftsman, with the velcro pads, they work great and then block with a long board...

[DanStokes]

Re: Stripping Paint...

Seth -
I've actually performed this operation - repeatedly. Go with an electric DA if you don't want to pop for a compressor. I have both and they both work pretty well. Stripper gets into all the nooks and crannies and is almost impossible to neutralize fully, and any paint sprayed over it WILL lift and drive you nutz. But you're gonna need a compressor sooner or later anyway.

Once the car is naked, prime with an acid-based primer (sometimes called "zinc-chromate" or "acid-etching" primer). This stuff actually eats into the metal and grips like a gorilla - the paint WON'T lift. Then attack it with a couple of layers of primer-surfacer and an idiot stick (the flat board sander that others have mentioned). It's called an idiot stick because any idiot can make a car flat with one. I have a power one (called a straight line sander) but the manual one works just as well. Find a good paint store where they will patiently help you, and buy all your stuff there to assure compatibility. Paint chemistry varies from company to company, and it can make a difference.

Don't forget to see if you can score me that paint gun!

Later
Dan