Looking for paint removal trick(clapping hands does not work

[snowflake]

02's arn't easy to come by where im from.

I'm doing a ground up restortion, and have spent the last 4 months doing intensive rust repair, were talking emergency intensive care.

I finally got the shell more or less back up to pare and am now attacking the outside paint.

Here's the deal, i'm taking it down to the metal, because there are so many repaints, that the contours and lines are not as crisp.

I've tried aviation paint remover in the past and the combination of "what's that burning my hand" and "Man, these fumes strong" is a true nightmare and mess.

Does anyone have tricks in removing the old paint?

Thanks

[2002Targa]

I just bought a quart of POR-Strip from the POR15 guys. It didn't do too well on the factory front subframe paint, I'll go out and squirt some on the side of my parts car and post some pix in the morning.

TK

[esty]

2 choices...chemical strip or get a power sander and as many 80 grit pads, ear pluge and real good dusts masks, as you can afford

i recently chemical strip'd mine and used 2 galons of the cheapest paint/epoxy remover sold at Home Depot...

the trick is to keep it wet as long as possible....spray it on heavy in an area you'll have time to work, like the roof or hood, for example with then cover it with cheapo plastic and let it sit several hours....scrape it with a good, plastic putty knife, then hose off

after stripping, you'll still have to scuff the car with 600 or courser depending on paint type

water neutralizes it

[MichaelP]

Paint stripper is pretty frustrating to use on multi-layered paint. Somehow it knows where the next layer is and stops there.

For large, flat areas, nothing beats a razor blade in a scraper at a low angle. Curls paint right up without damage. Seems labor intensive at first, but goes quickly. Automobile paint suppliers often carry a scaper tool for one-sided blades that works better than the Stanley/hardware store variety scaper.

Careful around body filler. The blade will chew it right up. Be sure to acid-etch prime your bare steel when you call it quits for the day.

For areas like tightly curved inside corners, try the stripper again in small areas with a brass pot scrubber. Otherwise, media blasting is about the only other option without getting medieval (power tools with wires or sand) on it.

[DukeRimmer]

that has soft, thick pad and stick on discs. Finish with 80grit DA sander. Sandblast areas not accessible to sander. Sandbast will destroy sheet metal that is anywhere near flat and ruin your day, so extreme caution is in order. 40grit grinder will easily gouge metal, so don't let it dig in. You would be wise to sandblast a scrap panel to see just how fast it warps metal before turning it on your car. When in doubt don't sandblast.

[DukeRimmer]

Mine takes practice. Do a beater truck first?

[Guest Anonymous]

Just get a good DA (random orbital) sander and go at it!

[ClayW]

1. Get an electric buffer

(like this POS: http://cgi.ebay.com/7-HD-POLISHER-BUFFER-SANDER-6-VARIABLE-SPEED-POWERFUL_W0QQitemZ6040005674QQcategoryZ42266QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

2. Get the 3M 6" Stikit Pad:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-3M-STIKIT-6-DA-PAD-D-A-D-A_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ63693QQitemZ4617479710QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

3. Get 36 and 80 grit sanding disks for it and go to work. Then work the scratches out with 120 and then 220 grit paper and a block sander.

4. Apply the smallest amount of Bondo possible and block-sand it down until smooth.

Good Luck. You should be able to get all the paint off in a day or so.

[Jaycen_PNW2002]

Using chemical strippers is the second least fun thing to do.

When using a chemical stripper you have to wear gloves that are appropriate for the job. You also need to wear a suitable respirator.

-J

[snowflake]

Good idea's,

it looks like there's really no easy way out, but to grit your teeth, turn the brain off and start sanding, grinding, scrapping, balsting.

* here's one i just heard of, Get a heat gun, heat up a section and then scrape with razor scraper at low angle, supposed to just peel right up, even through thick layers.

Thanks.

[Mike Self]

When I was re-doing my '69, the body shop that was shooting it suggested to me that since the OEM BMW primer coats (two shades of grey--one with a slightly greenish cast) were very good material, that I should sand off only the color coat where the original paint was in good condition. Of course where there were scratches or small surface rust spots, I should go down to the bare metal and make sure all rust was removed (I used a spot sandblaster that recycles the blasting grit and is very useful for up to quarter-sized rusty spots that aren't perforations). Where I had done rust repair, we went to bare metal back 5-6" from the seam and feathered the edges.

I used an 8" random orbital sander with 100 grit paper--still went thru the primer here and there (esp on creases and edges) but managed to leave most of the original primer. Paint shop re-primed with a compatible primer then shot with urethane to match the original color (Nevada)--no problems at all with the paint after five years...

Just a thought...

mike

[DukeRimmer]

Heat leads to warped panels. It's boring, not easy.