Best way to remove factory paint?

[Jhogan0101]

Whats the best way to remove the original factory paint to the metal(outside, trunk, engine bay, underneath)? Hood is already peeling
82 sc

[Dpmulvan]

I'm at the same stage and was also wondering what to use. I don't think we really want to sand through the galvanized layer if at all possible. I was going to use aircraft stripper carefully and then a light sanding

[onboost]

I not understanding the need to remove the paint in trunk, engine bay, underneath. You're asking for a really big job.

Aircraft stripper and then sanding will get you there.. its long, tedious, and messy. Also, in the engine compartment and underneath you are also dealing with the gravel guard, is this something you are looking to remove or just repaint? If you're looking at removal, welcome to a new time consuming mess.. if you want just paint.. then you need to clean and degrease, prep and scuff sand, seal and paint.

If I missed anything I'm sure 962porsche will chime in and correct..

[962porsche]

onboost pretty much hit it with why do you want or need to strip the finish totally off the car every were ?

for the bolt on panels you unbolt and remove them from the car get some real good paint stripper then using duct tape ,tape over all the edges so the stripper will not eat up the paint over the edge of the panel .
dump a good amount of stripper on the panel and coat the panel all over real good .
then with a sheet of plastic cover the panel . this holds the vapors under the plastic sheeting nd speed up the stripping proses .
after your finished is all stripped down you would sand with 80 grit to remove the paint left on the edges and any little areas you may have left on the panel it's self .
from the 80 switch to 180 grit and sand the hole panel again .
then clean and spray one or two coats of a epoxy primer .

as for the galvanized coating forget it the coating is so thin your going to sand it off any sanding will remove it . this is why you want to use a good quality epoxy prime to replace the galvanized coat .
so there is no saving the galvanized coating this is one reason needless stripping is out on things like the inner trunk engine bay and places like that .
you only screw that areas like that when you have to other then that you can repaint over the finish in those areas .

your other option is to media blast the finish off .

as for the chip guard on the under side of the car it is not to bad to remove but again if your not having to remove it don't .
areas were you have rust use air scrapers and scaler will make quick work to remove the chip guard . it may take a little time to get used to using the tools but once you do it goes quick .

on Wednesday I removed all the chip guard on a E30 BMW we are turning into a race car took me just over 4 hours to remove all the chip guard on the car .

[Dpmulvan]

His car is probably in the same condition as mine. Paint peeling off the inside of hood et. I wouldn't feel comfortable painting over my factory paint either at this point.

[Dpmulvan]

Ok so no saving the galvanized, can you paint over the factory paint with the RM epoxy primer.

[962porsche]

on the under sides of the panels if you need to strip them use a DA sander and 80 grit then change to 180 .
if the under sides of the panels were repainted over the OE finish at times is easier to just sand off the repainted pealing paint then to strip every thing down to bare .

you can't use the EP primer over plastics or solvent sensitive products like lacquers .

[Dpmulvan]

So what kind of paint was used on our 1980's porsche? Can you epoxy primer over it?

[962porsche]

yes you can but over going over the OE finish with a product that is made more for rust protection and giving good adhesion to bare metals is more of a waste of materials .
for over a sanded OE finish all you would need is a medium or high build primer .
the e type primers you should spray on bare metals .
you can get it on the OE finish and it will be fine your just wasting it though .