I know how you guys like a good stripper.

[rennch]

So, I got some aircraft stripper and I started the process of "depainting" my project 69. The body was in remarkably good shape. Not too many dings, and very little surface rust. It took me 4 hours to do both quarter panels, hood, and roof. I was following this thread:

Paint Stripping 101

It's a great primer on stripping your car. The materials (aircraft stripper, razors, gloves, brush, respirator) cost me about 60 bucks, and change. Sandblasting the car would have been a few hundred.

One thing I realized is that this wasn't bad *at all*. These cars are pretty small. No reason you couldnt have a car down to bare metal in a weekend, especially if you have a helper. At any rate, here are the pics...they speak for themselves.


First layer of stripper on the hood, underneath some modified trash bags to keep it from evaporating too quickly.


Yours truly working on the scraping.


Roof during and after.



Finished roof, pre-soapy rinse.

[rennch]

Back shot of the quarter and roof.


The hood turned out beautifully:



Current progress:

Left quarter in progress. A messy job, but I tried to stay as clean as I could.


Finished product for the day. Roof, both quarters , and hood. Tomorrow Ill get both doors, ducktail, remove the quarter windows, and maybe break out the DA to get the metal as clean as I can.



heading back in the garage...a very productive 4 hours!

[village idiot]

lol @ bare feet in 3rd pic but it looks like it came off easy.

[rennch]

Yea, those were my roommates feet. He knew the stakes, but walked around in bare feet anyway. A true California kid.

[Beetle Bailey]

Thanks for the link. That is a great post with ton's of info. I have been sanding and grinding but I am gonna go get me "some" and let chemical's do some work......
Looks like your car is going ahead full force........
David

[Gearbox]

Don't forget the Washing Soda (baking soda detergent) rinse. that stripper likes to hide in the pores and come out at the most inconvient times, usually right after you put on the last piece of trim lol. Good luck, looks like it's coming along nicely, Allan

[rennch]

Allan,

As instructed by that thread, I did a full brush scrub of dishsoap to deactivate the stripper. Do you think I should do the baking soda as well just to be safe? I suspect I'll be rinsing the car a lot of times before it finally gets a coat of epoxy primer on it.

Oh, and Allan...do you think you have enough cars?

[rennch]

Oh, and regarding my ducktail...what detrimental effects might the stripper have on fiberglass? Any? The tail is just rattle-canned at the moment...I think the paint will strip right off. I was thinking of doing a quick coat of stripper followed by a 3m scrub pad.

[EarlyPorsche]

You can leave the paint on it. Just scuff it down with a brillo pad of sorts. Your paint guy will just prime and paint that. Thats why glass is sometimes so nice to work with.

[kycarguy 935]

from this website:

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/ab_detailing/article/0,2021,DIY_13684_2278594,00.html

# Important: When using chemical strippers on a fiberglass body, use caution to avoid leaving the chemicals on too long and stripping all the way down to the bare fiberglass. Use the chemicals to remove only the top layers of paint, then follow up by sanding or other techniques. Chemical strippers can harm the surface of the fiberglass substrate, necessitating additional gel-coating of the body.

Nice car you have emptyo!

[PatrickB]

Originally posted by emptyo
Oh, and regarding my ducktail...what detrimental effects might the stripper have on fiberglass? Any? The tail is just rattle-canned at the moment...I think the paint will strip right off. I was thinking of doing a quick coat of stripper followed by a 3m scrub pad.

ABSOLUTELY NO!! Don't get the stripper near the fiberglass, as it can and probably will turn it into jello. The problem really rears it's ugly head after you prime it, and think all's good... Then you paint it, and the paint starts lifting off after a couple of days... Ask me how I know... I used to paint airplanes, and had this happen on a couple of fiberglass engine cowls...

Honestly, I would never recommend the use of aircraft paint stripper on auto metal, or iron. Sanding or bead blasting is the proper way to do cars. Many lingering problems may occur by using aircraft stripper on automotive metal. Aircraft stripper was designed to be used to remove paint from aluminum. It was industry standard to NEVER use it on spring steel, or any other part that was subject to any level of load stress, as it is possible that the chemicals actually impregnate the metal, and substantially weaken it's tensile strength. Obviously, the metal on the car are body panels, and strength is not really at issue. Where the problem starts on your car, is that you have now polluted the paint surface, and rust and adhesion are now a real problem. no amount of soap/baking soda water will clear up the surface. When we stripped aircraft grade aluminum, it was always followed with a 2 stage acid etch that would be a "super cleaner" if you will, that would be used just prior to an aluminum etching primer. This type of cleaner is not available for or used on "metal." I would at least suggest sanding down the car with a "DA" sander. This would hopefully take down the metal enough to get rid of any of the damage started. Otherwise, you are really rolling the dice as far as contamination, and adhesion issues come painting time!

[PatrickB]

Furthermore, I hope you're not just placing all of that material in the trash can...
Or worse, hosing it down the street... It is classified as hazardous material, and if any of the neighbors see you and report this...

That's one of several reason's why I got out of the business about 7 years ago... Between the haz mat genorator fee's, and work comp insurance literally quadrupling over a 2 year period, I couldn't afford to stay open if I wished to run a legitimate business...

[rennch]

Patrick...thanks for the advice. Too late for this project, but I'll keep it in mind next time. It seems like everything has pros and cons. If you click on the link I posted at the beginning of this thread, Freddie *does* use a DA sander after this, and some sophisicated metal etching prep. I think Ill be safe for this project, as long as I take the proper steps.

Stay tuned for new pics from todays work.

[rennch]

Ok, here's the latest. As it stands, I have about 6-6.5 hours total into the paint stripping.

The doors looked pretty good. There was some filler herer and there, and I uncovered a rust repair I had done a few months ago that probably needs a bit more welding attention. Its so nice to see everything exposed.

Three current pics:





Today I removed the door trim, door panels, door handles, and got the doors fully stripped. The next step is probably to remove the glass, quarters, and wipers and strip all of the door jams. Then it's grind grind grind....

[rennch]

So, I've made some more progress this weekend. I got my hood, roof, and right door done. I had to hit it with the grinder first, then a d/a at 80 grit to smooth it out. All looks great except for this big ding on the hood. (See pic) I can't get to it from the underside, and it's a little too large (for me) to fill with bondo.

My options are: 1. drill a hole (or three), pull it out, and weld the holes shut. 2. fill it with lead, or some other metal solder. 3. Load it back up with bondo.

Tthoughts?

Happy Hood:


Not-so -happy-hood:



Half the roof done (note the oxidation on the roof on the right side of this pic):



Roof done:



I'm off to practice some welding and get some more stripper involved today.

I got the windshield out yesterday (just a gentle push from the inside...easy) so I can get the gutters, cowl, etc...stripped.

[oregonmon]

Wow! Sounds like you are getting a lot done is at a pretty pace. Seems like that messy process would be time consuming.
Great job and thanks for the pics. Keep'em coming.
Nice wheel and tire combo too. What color are you painting the car?

[rennch]

It wasn't all THAT messy, actually. It's coming along fairly well now that I'm really focusing on it. It will be mexico blue, most likely.

[curlesw]

Cool pics, thanks for sharing, makes me get excited about my project...keep them coming.

Wayne C.
83 SC <--- engine in

[rennch]

Thanks Wayne. You can see the whole project progress here:

Check out the new project 69'er

[amschnellsten]

there is a stripper called dietrich 606. it is a masonry and metal stripper for buildings. You brush the stuff on and 24 hours later you can just pressure wash all and I mean all the paint. It does not bubble like normal strippers but turns the paint into liquid form and will remove every nook and cranny with a pressure washer. Be careful though it is nasty. I was stripping a building and I got a drop on my arm and within 2 minutes I had a 1/4 deep hole in my arm. Good thing is one coat is all it takes.