Striping a car back to bare metal?

[CutlassRacer]

Any advice/tips?

I have thought about having my car media blasted, but man that stuff gets everywhere and would really be hard to vacuum out with a full cage in the car.

Chemical stripper or wire wheel on a grinder maybe?

It would probably be a ton easier to just work over the paint that is already on the car, but I am not too sure I like that idea either, especially since I know there are at least two paint jobs on the car already.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Wile E]

I used chemical stripper for most of mine. Kept alot of sanding dust out of the garage. A little messy, but if I had to do it again, I would do the same thing. (old picture)

 

[Z-man]

Alot of it depends on how far you want to go with it, what type of paint, existing paint condition that is on it and if your changing color. I assume we are talking about your Cutty, If the paint isn't pealing I would block the car down to get rid of any waves, then if straight take it down to about the first paint job. Jambs and hood edges can (if in good condition) can be scuffed up with a red scotch brite bad , getting rid of all gloss. I would give it a couple good coats of two part primer guide coat that than block that out with grits 180,240,320 and wet sand with 600. A coat of sealer then paint. Any other questions let me know.

 

[westexun]

Chemical or go down and buy a cheap slow speed polisher/grinder and some 36 gr. disks and get 90 percent of the old paint off then switch to 80 gr. on a DA sander. Don't push on the grinder just use its weight to grind the paint off and keep it moving so you don't build any heat in one area. That thing's gonna eat paint like crazy, but it'll eat metal about as fast. You can do any plastic work over that scratcch and will give an epoxy primer good tooth. One thing i've learned it poly primer can save a bunch of masking and spraying since it builds way thicker than a 2k primer. Use it after all the filler work is done and you'll probably only have to block the car once then spray a 2k over it and block that for paint. Also that poly can cover an 80 gr. scratch. I used it a while back on a frame for a street rod we ground the paint off of with 36 gr. and it covered all the scratches after I ran over them with 80 on the da sander. It doesn't shrink back like the 2k primer either. If you don't want to do any bodywork you could just sand the two paint jobs off by hand with 220 wet then 2k over that.

 

[CutlassRacer]

Thanks guys! There are a couple of areas that need to have some metal replaced so parts of it will definitely have to go all the way to bare metal in those spots. It is pretty rusted around one of my rear quarter windows and I want to fix it right. I will probably take the doors and front fenders off and try each method to see what works better. I imagine the mechanical stripping will be a dusty mess, but its gotta be done!

 

[Longroof79]

Kevin,
I've used the aircraft stripper method before. It works very well, but messy. Besides, after it's stripped to bare metal, the surface needs to washed of all chemical residue. Make sure it's done in a well ventilated area.
Another method would be soda blasting. It too leaves alot residual dust in nooks and crannies.

Jack

 

[scuba_steve's_bu]

aircraft stripper works like a charm. we sell the heck out of the stuff. part # if you are interested is AR343G which might superceed to GAR343.

 

[BMR Sales]

The aircraft stripper works great but as the others have stated make sure you are in a well ventilated area and wear some thick gloves. Water will neutralize the stripper if you get any on you. Make sure you get all of the residue off of the car after you are done or your body filler and primer will bubble up. The fumes from the stripper are still on the car if the stuff gets down in the cracks of the body or between the body panels. Wear a respirator if the area is not ventilated well. Good luck.