Hi everyone..I have an auto paint stripping question and am hoping
someone can point me in the right direction. I bought a 67 RS Camaro
and am beginning to work on it. It has several layers of paint on it
and I want to get it down to metal or so I can at least see what lurks
underneath. I am replacing the fenders, hood and most of the nose so
I mainly worried about the rear quarter panels. I was informed that
they have had metal work done and they look great except for the
backyard paint job the kid gave it a couple years back. I don't want
to ruin the bodywork on the quarters becase whatever was done looks
perfect. The paint is peeling and chipping and I want to get it off
so there is a firmer foundation to work with. I have read as many
threads on this topic but I cant seem to find out which is best so I
don't ruin what body work is done already. I would like to do as much
as I can labor wise to cut costs before I take it to a shop to finish.
Any advice, methods, products that you can recommend would be greatly
appreciated. I am a novice but am willing to work at it and am seeking
advice so I dont create more work.
Thanks
Gary
Back in the 70s I totally screwed up a perfectly good Pontiac LeMans. That
was back when I was a teenager and knew everything and didn't need any
advice! After all, I had read almost every issue of Hot Rod and Car Craft
magazines! Among my mistakes was completely removing all the paint using
chemical removers and sand paper and then letting the car sit a couple of
days until my friend and I could spray on the primer. Within a couple of
years the paint starting having problems from the rust underneath. If
possible I would ask prior owners if the paint was removed to bare metal and
where. If there are places with the factory primer intact I would NOT take
those to bare metal. Obviously where the paint is peeling or bubbling, you
will need to take that down but do everything you can to keep the metal as
clean as possible. Talking here about chemically clean, not soap and water
clean. Go to the automotive paint supply store and get the proper cleaners
and spray on the primer coat as soon as possible. If you can't get every
speck of rust off the metal, make sure to use one of the paints to
chemically convert the rust. Then get the car painted soon. If I recall
correctly, primers are not a perfect barrier to moisture so water molecules
will get to the metal if you let it sit around.
Oh, and to those folks who say "Never say Never". Bull. NEVER use aluminum
pop rivets to attach steel sheet metal!
Have fun.
Steve.
I haven't done what you are anticipating however, I've researched aircraft
paint for a future project (an RV7-A) and here's the deal........ you need
to find "industrial coatings/ automotive" distributors in your area - forget
regular paint distributors (if they have house paint, they won't have what
you want), forget auto-parts stores.
It's a real eye-opener to see all the special "coatings", primers,
strippers, etc. that they have....... a whole different world.
For example you could start w/
snipped-for-privacy@att.net (TraxUnderground) wrote in
news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:
Gary,
The quickest and easiest way is to take it to a reputable bead blaster.
They can pick the proper media and take the paint off one layer at a time
if they want to, without damaging any bodywork. Otherwise you are stuck
with the old 'elbow grease and sandpaper' method....hehe.
I would question the former owner's bodywork techniques if the paint did not
turn out well. To go through all the work of a near perfect paint job only
to have unknown quality work ruin it for you would be a great
disappointment. (I know from personal experience) If it were my car I would
strip it to the base metal, correct any problems and then prime with a good
epoxy primer and do the filler work on top of the epoxy. After the body work
is done lay on another coat of epoxy to sandwich the filler between them
thereby sealing it from moisture. Good luck on your new ride!
Steve
Hey you guys,
Thanks for your advice. I plan to try stripper a little at a time and
see how it goes. I am going to have to do most of the grunt work
myself cause the car is not mobile at the moment, but when I do start
feeling uneasy and think I'm screwing things if (If I do) then I will
have to stop and save my money and pay someone to do it right.
Thanks
Gary
I've done some of this in the past, I used a product from the autobody
supply place called Aircraft Paint Stripper. This is not the stuff
you can get from the hardware store, it literally popped the paint off
the body sections in about 15 minutes, sounded like frying bacon. It
had lots of methylene chloride in it which may make it unobtainable
these days. Once you've got the paint off, though, you've got to step
lively or you'll have a nice case of rust on that bare body panel. I
used a phosphate etch after stripping and sanding, this killed any
rust. This stuff also softens and removes body filler, so if you're
planning on leaving the dents in, it might not be the way to go. If
you really want to see how bad things are, though, this stuff will get
it all off and you can ding and reweld to your heart's content. I did
not strip the whole car at once, being a VW, I could remove fenders,
doors and hatch to refinish one at a time. You do have to be careful
with your paint mixing if you do it that way so everything matches.
This stripper is really nasty stuff, you need chemical gloves, some
sort of face protection and have running water available. It'll raise
welts on unprotected skin in seconds.
I started on this project with an electric pad sander and a big pile
of sand paper. I started in on the hood. An hour later I had about a
1 foot square section sanded down to the primer, a big pile of dead
sand paper and a very hot sander. I then got my first quart of
stripper, applied it, 15 minutes later it was ready for finish
sanding, cleanup and priming.
As always, check with your local auto paint and body shop supply
joint, they'll have some recommendations for you.
Stan
Hi
I am in the uk but guess what cara i have most experiance of
stripping,
why muscle cars of course.........
first the post that said if there is any sound factory paint leave it,
he was giving you the best bit of advice.
blasting, if anyone says they can blast paint off whatever fancy media
they claim to use, find a third party who has used them and find out
if your going to end up with rippled panels. it's so easy to make a
right mess...
I have wet blasted paint from behind the bumper area of a car before
and it didn't seem to do any damage, nothat it was visible.. wet
blasting is as simple as a pressure washer and a blasting attachment
with some dry sand.
paint stripper, it's very easy and I used to do a car like a
mach1/charger/roadrunner size in a day, maybe even an afternoon.
it's best in the summer, you use the heat of the sun to get the
stripper going..
first you have to tape up all gaps, anywhere you won't be able to
directly remove the stripper, you don't want it on any rubber, your
removing the windows right[well i have seen people doing a 'bare
metal' respray with the windows still in!].
wash the car and go over it with a wire brush.
put polythene down on your drive.
paint the stripper on with a large brush. when it's covered put a
sheet of black polythene overthe car. the car will get nice'n'hot
underthe polythene. Leave it half an hour. Get yourself a cardboard
box and a paint scraper, make sure the scraper is sharp but with
rounded corners, scrape the paint off the car into the cardboard box.
you will have to repeat this a few times.
Don't worry if you still have traces of paint on the car, when it's
pretty much stripped wash it thourghly and go over the whole thing
with a DA and 80 grit[I am in the uk you measure it differently]; It
doesn't take long to do.
remove all the masking and sand all the paint off these bit's, I do
sometimes have a go at hard to get at bit with stripper but it's
usually treated as a second opperation as it's far more dificcult.
Roll the polythene up and throw it and the cardboard boxes away..
I used synstrip, nicknamed skinstripper it was evil, it burns on the
palm of you hand[thick skin], not like nitromoors[methylene chloride]
which only burns painfully on thin skin, I won't talk about safety as
I know your all well up for playing with chemicals that burn like
fuck..
Last time I bought stripper i had to buy methylene chloride it works
fine..
though i would be doubtfull of any 'green' preperations..
use a 2pack etch primer on the bare metal car then wack on some 2pack
primer, try and get it done the same day. If it's getting cold and the
car gets damp leave it till you can clean it with an acid cleaner and
prime it on a warm dry day.
the acid cleaner and etch primer really is necessary, well I think
so...
I won't go into one on paint types, I only use 2packs...
If your not sure about your air supply try and get/borrow a dryer.
--
richard
If you have an air compresser,go get yourself a cheap little siphon type
sandblaster.Go to your local dollar store and buy all the baking soda they
have.I stripped a '65 New Yorker that way,worked great with no warping of
the metal.Just work in small areas and it is fine.The soda will remove the
paint and polish the steel.
Thanks again guys. I plan to try the aircraft stripper and do small
sections at a time. I have the time and elbow grease so I think this
is the best bet for me. I boight a sandblasting gun and shot some on
a piece of rusted angle iron to see how it works. Damn it worked like
a champ but I can see me screwing up and damaging the metal on the car
so I'll save that for the frame. Big ass mess too! Just waiting for
good weather here in NJ to roll the car outside and try it.
Thanks again everyone I appreciate your advice and experience!
Gary
"Ag Co-op" - Similar to "Farm Beareau" - Basically, a bunch of folks got
togetehr and said "Hey, we all want to buy product X, but it's too
expensive/there's too much of it the way the folks who make it want to
sell it ("I only need 3.27 ounces, but the sign says 'Minimum sale, 5000
pounds'") so let's all get together, pool our $$, buy a big wad of it,
then sell it to each other in the quantities we need".
Do that often enough, and you've got a Co-op going. Possibly well enough
that it can be turned into a standalone business.
Bicarb - Food grade or otherwise: Sodium Bicarbonate. AKA "Baking soda".
Can be used as a decent mild abrasive.
Hey, that's great! I've heard of these very expensive blasters that
use frozen CO2 as the abrasive, but Bicarbonate of Soda is new to me.
I've got a 16"x72" TOS lathe that is in great shape save that it
really needs a paint job. Badly.
1) Could I safely use Bicarb to sandblast the ***painted portions***
of the outside of the lathe, or is it just too risky in terms of
damaging the ways, Bicarb in the headstock gears (OUCH!), etc.
2) What pressure would you run the siphon blaster at?
3) Any particular nozzle size or material?
4) Bicarbonate of Soda is the same thing as Baking Soda, right? Out
of genuine curiosity, why would an Ag Co-op be selling such large
quantities? Is it used in animal feeds?
The TOS is grouted in and weighs almost 3000#. I'd love to be able to
get away with stripping it and giving it a nice new paint job without
actually moving it outside or disassembling it. If blasting with
Bicarb is not a hot idea for this application, does anyone have
something better?
Thanks,
Dave
"Sweetening" soil (killing some, most, or even all, of the acidity) is a
pretty routine thing on farms in some areas due to the type of soil.
Other areas, such an activity would be practically unheard of. Hydrated
lime, AKA "Slack lime" or "slaked lime" is one common material used for
doing it. But due to the nature of the stuff, it can be *SERIOUSLY*
nasty, even deadly, to work with - think pneumonia resulting from the
chemical burns you're likely to get inside your lungs after the wind
changes and blows a faceful of the dust at you to inhale...
Bicarb/baking soda (yes, they're the same thing) will do the same job,
although it will require more to accomplish the same task than if lime
were used. On the plus side, baking soda won't cause you to cough your
lungs out in little bloody chunks if you catch a crossbreeze loaded with
the dust.
Whatever you do, DON'T use quicklime. It's far, far nastier than slaked
lime. Garden lime (slaked, and coarse) or powdered limestone (slaked lime
that's slaked even more, and thus less dangerous) may not be too bad. But
it's still quite alkaline, even if it isn't so chemically active as slaked
or quicklime.
Gary, you'll find Agway and other farm supply places in various parts of the
state. I use Belle Meade Agway, which is in central Jersey. There also are
co-ops in the southern part of the state and in the northwest.
Ed Huntress
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