Stripping paint and prepping car for paint

[Kenflo]

I am going to start on the body work for my Scamp. It's pretty much a complete resto. I was wondering about paint stripper? I have heard a lot about aircraft stripper, any one have any experience with this stuff? How much do I need for the whole car? Is it easy?(dumb question, nothing ever is)also once stripped, do I need to sand and prime right away? Any help will be greatly appreciated! This will be a first for me. I plan on doing all the prep my self including replacing/patching panels as well.

 

[dustermaniac]

I used aircraft stripper to strip down the 30+ year old paint on my Duster. It is relatively easy to use, just apply let sit for 10 - 15 mins and use a plastic scraper to scrape off the paint. Make sure you use a good pair of rubber gloves and eye protection. As for how much it took to completely strip my car, I do not quite remember but I believe that two large cans (I think 5 gals) were used in the stripping of my car. Stuff works great but do not let it dry up on surface of paint. Not sure of if it works well on a hot surface. I used it when the temperatures were in the 50's - 60's range. After I stripped the old paint off I washed the car and then used a small orbital sander and hand sanding to sand down all panels to prep for body work and primer. Here are a couple recent pics of my car with 6 year old paint. it has held up very well, but I do polish and wax this car frequently as well as I do not use an electric buffer on the paint.

 

[Louie70Dart]

Try to get a stripper with ethylene chloride and methanol. And be sure to wear glasses, heavy gloves, and an air mask! The mask is just as important as the other two! I think I used about two gallons. And I used a metal treatment called OSPHO. Kept the bare metal from rusting plus you can paint over it even after several weeks. I used a DA sander with 80 grit on the large flat areas. Got tired of dealing with the stripper. Man, that stuff will BURN you! Really needed stripper on the tight areas where I could not get a sander easy. Also used a sharpened putty knife to peel the stuff off. Also used the knife on areas where paint was softened up but not soft enough to come off super easy. The knife worked out great, just used it near the end of my job. Wished I had used it sooner. Oh, before I forget, try to get a "gel" type stripper. That way it will hang on to the vertical sides like fenders with out running off to the floor, less waste.

 

[rednesss]

If it's drying out too fast, hot summer heat, you can use Saran wrap over the top of the stripper to keep it from drying out too fast.

 

[Hunyadi]

Just going to chime in here - the question you have to ask is do you really need to strip it? The factory primer is always better than anything you will be able to apply. If you have about six old paint jobs you may need to strip, but if its just got the factory finish then sand it down, fill in the low spots and shoot it with the new color. This will save you ALOT of time an money - and of course the nasty burns to the skin...

 

[Super T]

We used some stuff that's cheaper than aircraft. Car has factory paint, 1980-ish respray, and recent **** respray, the stripper took it all off in 2-3 coats with scrapers and some elbow grease. Just be careful, the ****'s nasty. We tarped the whole garage floor to do it. Protect any soft parts - rubber, plastic, vinyl, etc.

 

[Kenflo]

I found a guy around here that sais he can sand blast the car for a reasonable price which would include a sealer as well after the blasting is done. He told me to take out all glass, remove trunk lid and hood as well as the fenders. I will also take out the gas tank, dash pretty, much everything. I think this might be the route to take ????

 

[bigdemo1]

Sand blasting will WARP your panels the heat and air pressure will cause the metal to stretch and you will never get it back to the way it was,use aircraft stripper just be careful one panel at a time stay away from edges about 1/4" remove anything you don't want dissolved,read the directions you'll be fine.

 

[Kenflo]

The guy that would be doing the blasting has been doing it for years, in fact all he does is car restorations. I have heard that blasting can warp the panels, but it seems like a lot of people blast their cars anyway. Im thinking if you know what your doing everything should be ok. Anyone have anything to say about sand blasting?

 

[Backtobasics]

I recently stripped my 1970 Challenger, to bare metal. I used a 30.00 Harbor Freight grinder, about 25 bucks in their velcro sand paper, and 8 hours, to strip 95% of the car to bare metal. I followed with lacquer primer (going in garage, not weather proof). I added a set of "mickey mouse" ear protectors and safety glasses.

The chemical stripper works, but has a lot of handling characteristics that need to be addressed. The sand method works very well, and only took a day and roughly 50.00 in supplies and equipment.

 

[4flats]

I used the gel-type. Works, but sometimes takes several coats, and you have to sand after.Pain in the butt. Since I was doing a "farm truck"/parts hauler, I eventually decided that the paint wasn't that bad and only stripped the front (cab), just sanded the rest. Can't tell now. held up good so far, about 4 years parked outside, washed maybe once a year. If you sand through the old paint, or use the stripper paint it as quickly as possible -not just primer, but some type of sealer. Primers and flats will still let moisture through, that means RUST. In hot humid conditions, you can get a coating of flash rust in hours.