Thread: What method do you use to strip your car?

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At the point where I need to start thinking about stripping the old paint off. What method do you use? Car has been repainted one time all over.






**1939 Chevy build pics***
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I use a DA with 80 grit paper...tedious but a lot of opportunity to get a real good look at every square inch of the body and see what needs attention.....

I've done the sandpaper deal once and chemical strip once. They both have their advantages / disadvantages. If I could have one dipped.. I think that would be the way to go. jmho..

I used a knotted wire wheel on a 4" angle grinder a couple times.

If not faster than a DA with 80 grit, it's no slower.

done many ...many ways did alot of dealer warranty work were i dry striped them with a soft pad 8 inch at very low speed . did many GM pick ups and suburbans is way .and many old car . with any way getting it wrong can make alot of work to get the metal back in shape . i have seen body parts laid to wast by sand blasters . grinder with 16/24 grit . and DA.s . (putty knife) this one could be fixed but i want to use the putty knife on the guy it was a vett but some could not be fixed . the most energy efficient on you and you air compresser. is using air craft stripper start it the roof and work you way down . do not hop around just work the one panel or if big work a spot at a time till clean. with stripper most all paint will come off what will not mostly stock primer may hang on do not use any thing sharp that can cut in the steel adding more work . what works the best is a body for filler plastic spreader to clean old paint off when it start to lift at this point you can rewet the stripper if many coats or if to old OEM red primer stop . at this point a red 3m pad and some rubber gloves and use lacquer thinner and most all the time it comes right off wipe clean throw rags out or some were if they catch fire you do not loose a houes car ... you . this was the way i done many cars when i was not on the flat rate book you can cut down on many thing and one big thing is dust and $$$ sand paper . when metal was clean of stripping i DA the stains or left over off with 80 or 120 grit on a DA many guys get this wrong .when using a DA you only need to run the sander at a speed the still keeps it running not 10.000 rpms wide open kills sand paper and will take long to do the job had a 64 gto hood that the guy destroyed with a DA by running it wide open and to fine paper put heat in the panel loose the hood skin on inner structure

Originally Posted by 34_40

I've done the sandpaper deal once and chemical strip once. They both have their advantages / disadvantages. If I could have one dipped.. I think that would be the way to go. jmho..

bad thing about dipping as after you paint it in time the dip can creep out of seams parts need to be very clean and sealed inside and out

Having it soda blasted is another way to go. But the metal must be cleaned after as the soda does leave a residue.

Originally Posted by pat mccarthy

bad thing about dipping as after you paint it in time the dip can creep out of seams parts need to be very clean and sealed inside and out

So true. But, just like using a DA with to high a speed and to fine a paper.. There are pros and cons to all the methods as we all know. I think as long as we are aware of the pitfalls and take the steps to avoid them, we should be in good shape. A couple towns away was a crew that could dip your car in solvent and then had 2 more tanks to neutralize and rinse the solvent(s) off. Car would come back to you just sheet metal in most cases. I always wanted to try it and save my fingers and back!

I've used clean strip discs with great success. They strip paint and body filler without harming the metal. You'll use a few of them but they are fairly cheap.

Yea--I'd like to get it dipped as well, but I'm thinking it would be cost prohibitive. Looks like me and my DA are in for a workout. Any suggestions on the best source for abrasive disks? I like the idea of the clean strip disks, but cheapest I've found are around $10 each! I've got all the machines, DA, 6", 4", Grinder etc lots of scraping utensils.

I've chemical stripped lots of furniture and while it's time consuming it does get the job done. Guess that is an option.

$10 dollars a disc is about right for the clean strip discs. I've never stripped an entire car with sand paper so I'm not sure how much paper you'll go through. Even at $10 a piece the clean strip discs seemed economical to me. If you stay away from sharp corners they'll last pretty long.

Good luck with whatever you decide. I'll be interested in hearing about your experience.

fortunately i own a blasting business so it's no big deal for me.
for many years i used a heat gun and razor blade scraper. when paint is heated it will soften and come off in strips. i have stripped many vettes this way. you only use low heat and do not need to melt the paint . i will not use chemstrip on anything.

yes please go back and read my post a DA .s really no need telling me but with stripper there no need to wet seams from the inside and is not dip so there is on fall back .i have worked on driped parts nice but if not neutralize ? some one not on there job?? you will not know how well the job was done.... you hope someone did there job but your going to end up fixing it .there many ways to do the job but he asking so at this point he may never stripped any thing so the best fool proof way is the best .i feel that dry stripping can screw many things up if your not doing this every day like i did after you get the paint off with the right speed on the DA a with 80 grit your looking at 4 pices per panel that roof about 10 with paper that some what good brand

I use aircraft stripper if I want to go down to bare metal. Works great in the heat. Summers in the midwest can get in the high 90s on average and at that point you watch the paint, primer, and any plastic filler bubble up as you brush it on.

you say it`s been painted once before .. how old is the paint ? .. even old paint can still be good paint .. i dint take my stang down to bare metal and have never taken any car iv`e done all the way down cept where damage needed to be fixed ..