Advice on paint stripping..??

Tweekend · Oct 13, 2010

Hey all I'm about to start a restoration my '67 Fastback, and I just want to get some advice from you guys on the best way to go about stripping the paint from the body and the interior.

I'll be gutting the interior and removing everything under the car, too. Ideally, I'd like to get it media/soda blasted for a thorough job, but if I can get the same effect by doing it by hand and saving some money in the process, I don't mind putting in the hard yards and doing it by hand.

Basically, I'd like to know if it's possible to get the same thorough job done by doing it by hand, and what products/tools are best for the job..?? I've researched this topic and found some people recommend wire-brush grinding and paint stripper combo, others say play it safe and sand by hand. And what method works best for the body panels versus the floor panels/wheel arches..??

Please excuse my lack of knowledge as I am a first time restorer, very much a novice to this game. My dad is an auto-body repairer of 45yrs, so he'll be helping me once I strip the paint.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated Thanks!!

robbz28 · Oct 13, 2010

Soda blasting is by far the easiest route if you have it stripped down to a shell, but to do it by hand can vary by the shape of the paint on the car. I was fortunate enough to be able to skin my paint off with a razor scraper (like used to peel tint off of a window). I went to Lowes, got a couple of scrapers (they are flimsy and break) and a 100 pack of razor blades, it peeled the paint off all the way to the primer, took me an hour to do a quarter panel, but theres no chemicals to clean up. I followed it up with some sandpaper and it looks great. It takes some time getting the right angle needed to not gouge into the body or break blades, but once you get the hang of it its pretty fast. Anyway, thats my story, might not work as well for you. For those stubborn spots I bought one of those rust/paint wheels for my 4" grinder and peeled the paint off, the only problem with those is that they are expensive and don't last very long and they can cause heat and warp the metal on large surfaces such as hood/roof.

65coupe408w · Oct 13, 2010

so far I have had luck using aircraft paint stripper. I let it soak for a good 15 minutes, then use a scraper to peel the majority of the paint of. After that I hit the panel lightly with one of those stripping disks.

NasaGT · Oct 14, 2010

65coupe408w said:
so far I have had luck using aircraft paint stripper. I let it soak for a good 15 minutes, then use a scraper to peel the majority of the paint of. After that I hit the panel lightly with one of those stripping disks.

+1

The stripper disks throw up alot of paint dust - make sure you're wearing some protection so you don't breath in that nasty stuff.

npg3 · Oct 14, 2010

I am going to have mine media blasted....right down to the metal.

Tweekend · Oct 15, 2010

Thanks for the info, guys I just read about a new method of blasting known as 'Diamond Blasting'... supposed to be far superior to soda-blasting. Might enquire about it, just outa curiosity, as I'd rather take some time and do it myself.

Advice on paint stripping..??

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