Paint stripping

i block sanded my 65 falcon with 2 different ... it was horrible, i never want to do it again, unfortunatly i now have a 65 coupe to do, im in the same boat as you, any way but block sanding

I strip cars with a razor blade in a good holder. The secret is to get the right angle and once yu get a small area started it goes real quick with the paint coming off in flakes that are easy to sweep up. A lot of times this method leaves the primer intact but if you want the primer off then you can get most this way also. When done scraping I hit the car with a DA sander to smooth things out. If your dedicated you can stip a whole car this way in a day with minimal mess and $10 in blades and a few dollars in sanding discs.

allcarfan said:

Id advise against the wire brush as it will leave swirls when you paint.

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Not if you use a filler primer. I stripped my whole '67 'vert with a Makita 4" angle grinder and knotted wire cup brushes (it'll take more than one). Trick is to not sit in one spot too long, or you'll heat the metal up and warp it. In my opinion, it gave it a nice "tooth" for the primer to stick to. I was just spray bombing it to keep it from flash rusting (I was in Albuquerque though, it probably wouldn't have mattered), my intent was to take it to a body shop, let them sand the spray primer off, fix the body, then let them paint it and get it back to me for assembly, but alas, it was T-boned just a few weeks before going to the body shop.

I agree with Ron, the cheapest way to strip a car is with razor blades. But I don't use a holder, it was easier doing it by just holding the blade, I felt I had more control (and ended up with more blisters). Once you get the hang of it, it goes pretty fast. This is the way I'm stripping my '65 coupe, I'll use the Dewalt 4" angle grinder and a knotted wire cup brush to clean up anything too hard to get. The razor method leaves no dust, so it doesn't float all over the garage, getting on everything else, just paint chips, which are easy to sweep up or just use a shop vac, so it's the easiest cleanup. Once you get the angle right on the razor blade, don't try flipping it over, it'll dig into the paint then. You can even scrap down to the original paint with a little practice. For some reason, subsequent layers on my car come off easier than the original.

My car seemed to have about 10 Layers of paint on it. I used Aircraft Remover which worked well on about the top 8 but doesn't seem to affect the factory paint and prime at all. At this point I've used about 6 of those 3M Stripping discs. I don't remember what the actual name is for them but they look like Pumice or something and they are a few inches thick. They can be used with a regular electric drill and last a pretty long time. These worked best for me, and were the only thing that could make a dent in the bulletproof factory coatings. As I got finished with each panel I coated it with a Product called "Jasco Metal Prep." I believe it was. This puts down a phosphate coating that protects against corrosion. It's Been this way for nearly a year now with no corrosion. This is vegas though and I don't know how it would stand up in other climates. I bought the stuff at Home depot By the way.

-Dave

An abrasive grinder pad, then use a high fill primer to fill the swirls. That’s what I did and it worked perfectly. However, be ready to do a lot of hard work.

The best and quicket way outside a professional media blasting shop is to use aircraft stripper followed by 3M Rolac Stripping Discs. The trick to the aircraft stripper is to not paint it on.. but dab it on in thick and let it really sit for 10-15 minutes (at least here in AZ). Then use a metal putty knife to scarpe it off. Once I found this combination and how the stripper works best i only have to do 2 coats max to strip the car down through 5-6 layers of paint/primer (including factory) to bare metal. Then i clean up the couple tiny spots that still have some residue with thr Rolac Discs. This is better because it down't leave scratches in the metal, also it doesn't have the problem with the potential warping that you can do with a wire bursh or sandpaper.

Bassically I stripped the roof, both rear quarters, both doors, one fender, and the trunk in about 9 hours of work (not all in one day). This has been my experiance trying almost every which way to strip 3 cars. This is the fastest and cheapest way i've found so far that you can do at home.

I used the 4" makita with the twist knot and found that it left a great finish