Need good way to strip paint off my car

[65fastbackresto]

Harbor freight has soda blasting and glass media blasting, which would be the better option? I have no experience with these things so any advice will be appreciated.

40 Lb. Portable Soda Blaster

20 Lb. Capacity Pressurized Abrasive Blaster

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Harbor freight has soda blasting and glass media blasting, which would be the better option? I have no experience with these things so any advice will be appreciated.

40 Lb. Portable Soda Blaster

20 Lb. Capacity Pressurized Abrasive Blaster

I have the larger capacity pressurized blast system like the red one pictured.

You'll need a decent compressor w/ alot of capacity (60 gal/3+ HP motor).

Otherwise it will run forever and never supply enough air, w/ the frustrating side effect of having to wait for it to build back up every minute.
Additionally, I see you live in AR Kansas, w/ the humidity where it is now, you better have an Excellent in line water trap, water in the reservoir will render the media worthless.

Soda is preferred to any other media because it's water soluble.

Any other media, to include sand (in any variety) glass, nuts, and plastic
will have to be swept up and disposed of. Then there is the fact that it will continue to "sift" out of every crack and compartment in the car regardless of how well you blow it out.

It will be everywhere, so be prepared to build some sort of enclosure to keep the stuff somewhat contained. Wear the appropriate clothing, it stings when YOU accidentally get blasted.
And that little "hood"??? that will be junk in 5.7 seconds.

 

[golf4283]

It seems like in the reviews they say the soda blaster isn't large enough to do a car or it would take forever. What are your thoughts on that cause I'm looking at stripping my car down to metal too and am looking at different options.

 

[65fastbackresto]

Nice video Mike.

I have a 33 gallon 2hp crafsman compressor, I think it was the biggest 110volt unit I could get at the time, is there a better option with a smaller compressor?

 

[golf4283]

upgrading your compressor is probably gonna be a requirement if you don't want to get frustrated with cycle times. Especially since it's an oilless unit I would guess. I recently upgraded to a 60 gallon 3hp unit made by ingersoll rand. Cost me $450.00 but is for sure worth it especially when I get to paint.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

It seems like in the reviews they say the soda blaster isn't large enough to do a car or it would take forever. What are your thoughts on that cause I'm looking at stripping my car down to metal too and am looking at different options.

I think you'd go through hundreds of lbs of the stuff before you got the job done.

If you don't have access to one of the companies providing the service, or that isn't economically feasible, chemical stripping is the fastest.

Just go one panel at a time, get good stuff, give it a chance to work for you and get it off before it dries.

Use news paper to catch the fungu falling on the ground, and throw it away.
When you're all done, Go have a beer and congratulate yourself on doing your part to contaminate the watershed in your area of the woods.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

I have a 33 gallon 2hp crafsman compressor, I think it was the biggest 110volt unit I could get at the time, is there a better option with a smaller compressor?

Yeah had that one. It'll drive you mad before you get the car stripped. I took avantage of the question "what do want for Christmas honey"?? and got the Home Depot 60 gal vertical/ 3.5 HP 220 v unit, knowing that I was gonna want to do stuff like this

 

[65fastbackresto]

I don`t have 220v in my shop

It not exactly the ideal setup for this, but for money reasons I`ll have to make due with what I have. Chemical sounds like the way I`ll have to go. Thanks for the info.

 

[robbz28]

Get a good razor scraper tool and a big pack of sharp blades....worked great on my car where there was no body work, peeled off in big wide strips. Where there was body work, a DA sander and 80 grit peeled it right off....just takes a little elbow grease and will be a HECK of a lot cheaper than having to upgrade your compressor, wiring, buying that expensive soda, etc. You can use sand...but you need to have an experienced blaster do that for you or else you can stretch your metal.

 

[65coupe408w]

When I stripped my 60' Falcon down I used a mix of chemicals and an angle grinder with paint stripping disks on it. I found the stripping disks to be pretty efficient. I picked them up at harbor frieght for about $3 each. I think I paid $15 for the grinder from there too.

I am now in the dent/rust removal phase...

 

[65fastbackresto]

Only one good thing about this for me

Elbow grease is free and I need the exercise anyway. One question though Robbz28, the razor blade method sounds a`peeling....lol Anyway I have the shelby stripe kit on my car, whats the best way to remove those? I was thinking heat gun and razor blade, but don`t want to mess anything up.

 

[2+2GT]

This car was stripped using plastic. You can see the natural sheen of the steel on both new and used panels, not the matte silver-powder appearance of sandblasting.

 

[robbz28]

Elbow grease is free and I need the exercise anyway. One question though Robbz28, the razor blade method sounds a`peeling....lol Anyway I have the shelby stripe kit on my car, whats the best way to remove those? I was thinking heat gun and razor blade, but don`t want to mess anything up.

If the razors work well, you may can get underneath the paint and stripes....if not then some of those paint stripper disks for a grinder will do it...they are pricey tho and dont last very long. A good DA sander and some 80 grit will take anything off the metal if you have patience.
Seriously though, with my car I peeled all of the paint off the roof in an hour with a razor blade, down to the original primer. It had about 5 coats of paint on it. Get a fixed blade scraper those that retract will break in about 5 minutes....make sure its short too, you won't do anything but gouge the paint and break blades with a long handled scraper.

 

[robbz28]

This car was stripped using plastic. You can see the natural sheen of the steel on both new and used panels, not the matte silver-powder appearance of sandblasting.

Wow....how much does that cost to have done? Id shoot some clear on that and look like a mustang /delorean hybrid, lol.

 

[sparx]

I stripped the aftermarket junk paint off my 66 with one gallon of heavy duty paint stripper from Home Depot. I used that and a putty knife. I did it in the hot sun, the paint bubbled up and sounded like bacon frying popping off the body.

Now a simple sanding of the factory paint that remains with the DA and 80 grit and I can epoxy prime it.

I was very surprised how easy the after market paint came up.
sparx

 

[65fastbackresto]

Is there any epoxy primer that comes in a can?

I`m going to have to strip it one panel at a time, so I`m wondering if I can seal it up as I go without the hassle of mixing primer.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

I`m going to have to strip it one panel at a time, so I`m wondering if I can seal it up as I go without the hassle of mixing primer.

So what are you wanting to "seal it up with"?

Good primer can be bought in a rattle can from the zone. Get the duplicolor metal etching primer for about 5.50. It should do one-two panels per can.

 

[DukeGnarley]

I'm in a similar situation as the OP. Is rattle can primer really ok to use under a decent paint job? can you use body filler over it?

 

[2+2GT]

Wow....how much does that cost to have done? Id shoot some clear on that and look like a mustang /delorean hybrid, lol.

Beats me. The photo is from the Glazier/Nolan Mustang Barn site, I'm sure they could tell you.

 

[2+2GT]

I'm in a similar situation as the OP. Is rattle can primer really ok to use under a decent paint job? can you use body filler over it?

Theoretically, but I wouldn't do it, too hard to get an even coat. Get a gun and do it right. Even a cheap gun will do a better job than a can. You'll be able to use better materials, too.