Best way to strip flaking paint on a trailer body and sheetmetal

Send it out to get hot dipped. Paint it quick!

Man, I can't believe you don't have a brush to sell for the job. VBG

My 2 cents, get a sandblaster. "The Kid" tried the paint remover a few years back, what a god awful mess.

Karl

Sandblasters can dent the heck out of panels that aren't well-crowned (and even some that are). As of five or ten years ago, a favorite trick with car restorers was to use a sandblaster with crushed walnut-shell medium.

-- Ed Huntress

Oh, you want Gunner's paint to fall off quicker!?

Nick

I vote for using a wire brush with a light touch, and don't try to strip it, just knock off the loose stuff and then paint it with a brush. It won't look great, but it'll last awhile.

Doesn't sound like much fun in the Central California heat, though.

GWE

You might try a pressure washer, if the paint is loose. A buddy of mine had a car that had been re-painted and the "new" paint job started to peel. He spent a few bucks and a couple hours at the local car wash and had it pretty well back down to the original paint job...

Jerry

I've done a whole car with stripper, one panel at a time. It's messy, it's nasty, it's FAST. I started in with a sander on the hood. A half hour later I had an overheated sander, an overheated hand and an empty box of sandpaper. Oh, and about a 1 foot square down to primer. Tough stuff, that factory paint, no matter how nasty it looked. So went over to the body shop supply, picked up a quart of aircraft finish stripper. 15 minutes after application, the paint had bubbled off and just rinsed away. You have to be ready with prep and prime, things rust quick! Sounded like frying bacon when it was doing its stuff. You might not be able to get the good stuff in CA, though, what with CARB and all. Just don't treat any more than you can prep before stuff rusts up. Protective gear strongly recommended and no plastic soles unless you like sliding around in the remains of your shoes. I tried cheaper strippers from the hardware store, they didn't even get the paint gummy.

Stan

That's one big advantage of the So Cal desert - things don't rust for days and weeks (sometimes :-)).

-- Regards, Carl Ijames carl dott ijames aat verizon dott net (remove nospm or make the obvious changes before replying)

Wow - good stuff! Do you remember how much it took to do the whole car?

Bob

Never done it, but brake fluid is reported to strip paint. Knowing your scrounging bent, maybe you could get some gallons of used brake fluid for free from a store like AutoZone that recycles it.

RWL

Gunner's an old man, that much brushing in that heat would kill him or make him drink too many Mountain Dews...too much caffeine!

On Tue, 28 Aug 2007 10:07:19 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm, Gunner quickly quoth:

A gallon of used brake fluid from the brake shop will do the trick. Then wash with lacquer thinner ($50 for 5 gallons) and paint.

Gunner, I have done this using paint stripper, the trick is to tape over any gaps and edges, and use the stripper only on the big areas, keep it out of the cracks and crevices, and at least half an inch back from any edge. If the stripper goes into or around a door edge, it will triple your time to clean it up and fix the paint in there. Use newspaper on the ground under the edges of the body, then just roll it up, no mess. Do it in the shade, the sun dries the stripper out too fast. Hose off the rest.

Once the paint is gone from the main panels, sand the remaining bits around the edges using an orbital or DA sander, it will dissappear in no time. Run the sander over the main panels, to give the new paint something to stick to, P80 or 100 grit freecut paper. Give the insides a quick rub over with fine scotchbrite, clean it off and it's ready for paint.

I had a friend who did this quite often, he could strip the paint off a car in a couple of hours in a dinner suit, and not get dirty. OK, the dinner suit is an exageration, but it was amazing to watch, I just gave you his method.

regards, John

That's the way I've done it using stripper. More than likely the body is galvanized and the correct primer wasn't used if it's flaking badly. I've even stripped entire bodies just with a single edge razor blade/holder without stripper because the primer adhesion was so poor.

Thanks guys! I think Ill use the stripper method, after the sun has gone down and the thing has cooled. I tried my heated pressure washer (Hotsie) and it didnt do much good.

Any brand of stripper better than others, available from the big box stores or paint supply places?

Gunner

Zip-Strip works good. There's also another called Clean-Strip and I believe one or the other is available at HomeyD and Lowes. Make sure you put it on even and thick. It's best to let it sit on as long as possible without it drying up too much. I always used a single edge razor blade on a holder, but you have to develop a "feel" because it'll tend to dig into the metal. It's also very important to neutralize the surface after you have the paint off. I just used clean water, dried it, gave it a lacquer thinner wipe and primered. If the body is galvanized make sure you use primer for it (I always used Dupont Variprime) otherwise you might end up with poor adhesion again. G/L and enjoy!

On Wed, 29 Aug 2007 10:34:05 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm, Gunner quickly quoth:

Down to 90F? ;) It was 100F here today. How melted was Taft?

Those don't have all that much high pressure, do they? I picked up a Karcher 3kpsi PW last month and have used it 3 times already for clients. It was a good investment.

Jasco at the Borgs. Anything with Methylene Chloride (or was it MEK? I forgot.) is the good stuff. It'll take off epoxies and polyurethanes, too. It's $30/gallon, though.

Try brake fluid first, though. It's cheaper (if not free) from the brake shop. Another way to stretch your stripper is to put a couple layers of newsprint on top. It helps keep it from evaporating too quickly.

I dont know..Ive not been home for 3 weeks..worked straight through on finishing up the Project...Ill be home Friday..with luck.

They put out a pretty good pressure stream. Ehough to have stripped all the paint off my old Rangers fraime ..

Cringe.....

Not a bad idea!

Gunner