Best way to strip paint

[87 national]

I am going to take my car down to bare metal before i paint it. I have done a search on this and found many different methods. Sanding is one of the methods i found, but i have read it does not leave the metal perfectly smooth. Also chemicaly stripping but my thoughs are that when you wash the stripper off wont it rust the metal? If not what is the best chemical stripper to use? Also is it best to strip one panel at a time and then prime it so the moisture does not sit on it? I plan on only using ppg paints so what primer and cleaner should i use on the bare metal?
Thanks in advance,
John

 

[Chuck Leeper]

We use aircraft stripper, and wipe the surface clean w/lac thinner and paper towels. Once cleaned we use a d/a and some 220 paper and d/a the entire car, to clean.
If we are going to prime immediately, we go over everything w/ wax/grease remover, shoot the primer. If the car is to be sitting B4 the prime is done, we use A MUST FOR RUST coating. Home Depot, about $8 bottle. Will prevent rust for up to a yr... IF the car is in a dry shop.
Some folks make the first coat with self etching primer. We don't. It's directly to epoxy primer.[DP 40,etc]

If you have a GOOD blaster in the area, that uses plastic media..That works well, too.
My current project, a 55 Chevy, was done w/ plastic.

 

[chopped39]

I had mine blasted with plastic media. Soda blasting is good to but it does not take off rust. Funds are a little low, so the bottom of the car I did by hand That was over ten hours of fun. Now let the patching begin:frown:

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

like said before Aircraft Remover
and the 3M disc thing

 

[DR BOOST]

ive seen a few restoration shops peel the paint off in long strips with razor blades. its very time consuming but the results are amazing.

 

[DCVING 6]

ive seen a few restoration shops peel the paint off in long strips with razor blades. its very time consuming but the results are amazing.

My neighbor and I did this to his 77 T/A probably 6-7 years ago. Overall the paint turned out NICE and flat, but the razor blade method was a PIA!

 

[regal81455]

I just did mine with the help of a 30 yr pro and we did it with aircraft stripper and a razor blade, then as mentioned above wiped it down with lacquer thinner. The only thing we did differently then above was DAing with 80grit to provide a good tooth for the primer. As long as your shop is dry you'll be fine leaving as bare metal. Mine was bare for several weeks. No rusting issues whatsoever. Good luck with your project trust me body guys get paid well for a reason. Job is not really hard but boy is it TEDIOUS!

 

[87 national]

My neighbor and I did this to his 77 T/A probably 6-7 years ago. Overall the paint turned out NICE and flat, but the razor blade method was a PIA!

Did you use any type of chemical on the paint before you razor bladed it?

 

[BandAid]

When i was thinking of having a car stripped with the plastic media ($700 ish) to do the job,he said something abot not having to prime right away,because the zinc coating will not be effected by the plastic media..thats what he said,never did have it stripped ...

 

[st1nger]

stripping or blasting

I've been slowly working on a full frame and body restoration on my t type.

I talked to some of the best body and paint guy around some were through business and some were friends. The first thing is do you have paint or laq finish I had the original laq finish and it had stress fractures througout the body (finish) from the Virginia cold Arizonia heat.

What most people dont realize is those crack and fractures are not only in the paint but into the metal surface also. so just sanding and primer will not remove the crackes they will come back.

Sandblasting the frame, rear axle, body undercarriage, trunk floor, engine cowl and interior floor can be done with white silica sand easly not hard and not real time consuming. Just remember to put everything on canvas drop clothes and pin the side up easier clean up and easier to collect your sand back up went through a 100lbs on 1/2 the frame after tarp 200 lbs total used.

The body can be spayed with baking soda it the new thing and the the vehicle, whole vehicle is then dipped to re-seal the body parts about $3000 in phx last time I checked

We used aircraft stripper on the body the spray and did 1 panel or section at a time sprayon let set 15 min use plastic putty knife and bondo applicator to gently scrap off finish. if the paint wont come off then wash panel let dry re spray let set once all paint has been removed wash dry inspect for damage scraps dent ding mares repair as required then hand block wet sand entire panel with 180/220sandpaper wash/ Dry

Wash-wipe entire panel with cleaning laq thinner its has less impurities.then prime.

if you leave bare over night or for a period of time wash with metal prep removes surface oxidation wash/dry. then rewipe down with thinner

We srayed the frame and rear axle with acid etch primer 3m pad then sprayed with 2part catlized PPG primer them spayed with dp Black

The body was sprayed with PPG 2 part cat primer truck floor undercarriage cowel and interior floor,interior side panels then sprayed with DP OEM Black all original codes will attach a couple of photos of some of the work and repairs its what we did! time is the cost I only work on my car on sundaysView attachment 119041

View attachment 119042

View attachment 119043

 

[st1nger]

stripped

heres a few more photos before and after shots

 

[st1nger]

before after stripped

before and after road runner shot is what is left after aircraft stripper is applied

this is work that is not half done or short cuts taken not only at the end of the day do you see progress but you know it's done right

Pride in your car and pride in your work. People say they've had there cars in the paint shop for months even years The pro may have a little more knowledge but thats knowledge that can be aquired and learned

A friend who paints race cars and owns a complete custom paint and body shop did what he called "walking" my car after I was done with not only the stripping work but the basic body work he runs his hands and finger over every inch of the car he found a wave in a rear quarter panel which he hand blocked and removed a small wave. He's also the pro that showed me how to use lead to file dings and put body panels back together like the t top frame work along the wind shield arms.

If your going to strip your car don't get in a hurry make sure you get the nooks and crannys and remember it time well spent these are just afew pics the stripped panels pics are on my other computer and I didn't have it set up just a little advise ment in the best way

 

[regal81455]

Im not going to try to start a pissing match with anyone but if your going to use the Aircraft stripper ( or any stripper from HD, lowes, etc... thats for auto finishes ) do yourself a favor and buy it by the gallon ( gel/liquid ), apply it by a brush one panel at a time, and then use a gasket scraper ( razor blade with about a 8" handle on it ). You'll know when the stripper is working right cuz you should be able to crinkle the finish like a newspaper with the razor and get down to bare steel pretty quickly. The spray and a plastic putty knife will take you forever and cost 2x as much...

 

[st1nger]

your right about gallon and a brush are somewhat cheaper however if applied wrong which does happen it weakens the stripper and takes more time I used 8 can of spray on the entire exterior of my T the hardest and most costly and time consuming part of the car was the fiberglass nose worked really slow on it and seemed like it had 5 or 6 layer of paint as far as razor or putty knife which ever you feel confortable with scratches are scratches and if your a beginner like I'am could be more work to fix. just saying, not an expert but worked for me took about 3or 4 sundays to strip the body wet sand, soft primer and block sand it and a couple more to do the sand blasting And all the time redoing brakes replacing wornout componet on the frame removing and replaceing rear floor pan and t top frame work while waiting for the stripper to do it's thing The other thing I found was when it was hot out the stripper would slow down when it would start to dry out what worked for me was I took cheap plastic drop cloths or trash bagand after about ten minutes lay it on the panel do not rub just let it grab the plastic found stripper was more active longer and when you pulled the stripper away it would move the paint finishaway from the metal maybe just beginners lucky just saying what ever works

 

[regal81455]

your right about gallon and a brush are somewhat cheaper however if applied wrong which does happen it weakens the stripper and takes more time I used 8 can of spray on the entire exterior of my T the hardest and most costly and time consuming part of the car was the fiberglass nose worked really slow on it and seemed like it had 5 or 6 layer of paint as far as razor or putty knife which ever you feel confortable with scratches are scratches and if your a beginner like I'am could be more work to fix. just saying, not an expert but worked for me took about 3or 4 sundays to strip the body wet sand, soft primer and block sand it and a couple more to do the sand blasting And all the time redoing brakes replacing wornout componet on the frame removing and replaceing rear floor pan and t top frame work while waiting for the stripper to do it's thing The other thing I found was when it was hot out the stripper would slow down when it would start to dry out what worked for me was I took cheap plastic drop cloths or trash bagand after about ten minutes lay it on the panel do not rub just let it grab the plastic found stripper was more active longer and when you pulled the stripper away it would move the paint finishaway from the metal maybe just beginners lucky just saying what ever works

You and I had very similar projects. It appears that you are on the right track thats for sure! Keep up the good work! I had to repair my ttops and replace the drivers side floor, I also did a frame off my entire chassis was redone and modified in ways I don't even care at this point to remember or elaborate on in this thread. Your right about the plastic over the stripper it holds in the chems longer. Its sound advice. As for the putty knife vs. the razor scraper Id take the razor over the putty knife any day - the scratches you make aren't going to hurt the steel underneath, your primer would fill them in no problem. I just finished priming my car but will wait to block sand till all the engine work and wiring is completed.

 

[gnon18s]

I just did some parts the other day.

 

[st1nger]

TTop repair

hood brings back shivers what I also found was if I roll the body out in the sun for about a half hour and let the metal warm up then roll it back under the awning and spray the stripper it activated extremely quick and strong. then after each section was washed off and dry I'd roll it back into the garage same when I did the sand blasting.

work wasn't hard just time consuming. Didn't mind the work or the time was a great stress relief. Something I found amazing was when I did the sand blasting no matter how much air I blew on that frame or body no how much washing and flushing I did I still find little piles of sand when Iwork on the car.

You said you had repaired your t top frame work and your front floor pans did you repair or replace them I totally replaced the ttop skin and the rear floor pan.

cut it out with a spot weld remover same with floor pan then used lead to seal them back up View attachment 119167

View attachment 119168

View attachment 119169

View attachment 119170


These arn't very good shots have some others just can't remember where I put them each days a little closer I have a date in Virginia when I get her put back together:tongue:

I guess the best part about putting the car back to it original states is you can see the work and know the quality of the work and materials

 

[st1nger]

Regal81455 noticed your address was BFE Ill where is that? well I would have to upgrade to BFE here in utah Up until about a year ago nobody even sold auto paint supplies here in town now the window glass repair guy sells a limited amount have to travel 230 miles round trip to colorado or 360 one way to salt lake to buy DP or PPG products

 

[regal81455]

Regal81455 noticed your address was BFE Ill where is that? well I would have to upgrade to BFE here in utah Up until about a year ago nobody even sold auto paint supplies here in town now the window glass repair guy sells a limited amount have to travel 230 miles round trip to colorado or 360 one way to salt lake to buy DP or PPG products

HAHAA You are definitely stick bound! Im surrounded by 20 miles of cornfield! The ttop repair and the floor pan repair I cut out the rot and welded in new steel for the pan from a donor and bent and welded in new steel where the rot was. Then structural adhesive was used to repair the outer most ends of the ttops. That stuff is a AMAZING! I still have to finish putting the new weatherstrip channels in but have been very busy with other aspects of the frame off. Heres a thread on another board with a few pics of mine...

Regal 455 Buildup - V8Buick.com

 

[st1nger]

81455 Did the corn fields before I joined the Marine Corps in Papillion Nebraska the boys are corn fed but the girls were fine. teenage memory! do you have any pic of your t top with the weatherstripping rails in place