Hey, I've almost got my car disassembled, and want to start working on the body. It looks as though the previous owner (or someone somewhere along the line) did some body-work to the car, and just shot it with a coat of primer to protect the metal. I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to how I could go about stripping the car of the old primer/paint, and get it down to bare metal? Is there any product that I could use to do so? Thanks!
mistermuscles, There are several ways to do this. the best way for you will depend on your resources and tools. I use an 8" random orbital sander and course paper to sand off the paint and finish up with a dual action sander with 80 or 120 grit. I try not to sand bare metal very long with course grits. I have a big compressor - needed for all this. If you have none of this, you may want to use an aircraft paint stripper and apply it liberally with a brush, cover it with plastic, and when it has sat for say a couple of hours just peel up the plastic, lay it on the floor - gewey side up - and scrape all the remaining paint that you can onto the plastic. Then just wad the whole mess up and dispose of it. Rinse with water dry it right away and repeat as needed. USE RUBBER GLOVES AND SAFETY GLASSES FOR THIS. The aircraft strippers are really rough on bare skin & eyes. This actually works really good when I do not want to heavily sand a panel I am stripping. Another way is to get them media blasted and just pay for them to be stripped. NOT SAND BLASTED. Sand blasting warps body panels as it puts heat into the panel and swells the metal. A little sand blasting in the corner or something is fine, stay away from the big flat areas. Media blasting strips paint without all the heat. Acid dip strips also, but the acid gets into the folded and mating surfaces and remains to come back later and rust the panel at the seam. I only acid dip single thickness panels. once it is stripped, I can speak to next steps. Let me know if you want more info.
If you don't wanna go the chemical route, you can use the 3M/Scotchbrite Clean-n-strip pad. Takes paint/primer off fast. Might take a while for a whole car but it works. Chuck one up in a drill motor or an air powered die grinder. I suggest you find the purple ones. They work better and last longer than the black ones. You'll need to buy a mandrel for them. I just bought a pack of 4 at Oreilly's a couple of weeks ago. I think it was $35 for the 4. Oh yeah get a particulate mask cuz you're gonna be making dust! Hope this helps you in your decision! newsithlord
I got some enviromentally safe degreaser in a purple bottle from my local parts store. Turns out that it will take paint and primer off and leave clear metal... ..also turns out that if you leave the bottle sitting on the fender in your garage in 100 degree weather that it will expand and spill out the top onto your fender.... ..Oh, well that fender needed painting anyway.
Get yourself apiece of sheetmetal about 6"x6", round the corners, duct tape the one end for cushining on your palm, "sharpen" the other end and start scrapin'.... Sounds crude, but it works great!! Oh, you'll have forarms like Popeye when your done..... HAHA!!! Oh, I stripped three cars like that and didn't have to contend with paint stripper.....
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