I started to strip the pain on my 1961. It is alot more work tham I anticipated. How good does the inside trunk area, wheel wells and under the body have to be? The fiberglass finish seems to be pretty rough in the trunk area. I did not if it needed to be clean as the body. Thanks, Joe DeLuca 37862
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Re: LAZY STRIPPER
The stripper I used required three applications to get down to the primer/bare fiberglass.
I used a plastic paint scrapper with application #1. I used a 3M rough fiber pad for application #2 & #3. I would buy about 10 of these pads for a car. They become less effective after each use. The space between the rough fibers "loads up" with gook.
Attack one panel at a time. Figure the right front fender would be a 3-4 hour evenings work. Divide the panel in to 5 sections and keep the active work area small. Use the gloves made from rubber for doing heavy house work. Protect your hands. Dump powder in the gloves before you put them on. That way they will come off easily. Use a fan to blow the fumes away from you as you work. Work in an open shady garage, not out in the hot sun. The sun will cause the stripper to dry out before it has a chance to eat the paint. Take your time, this job is a long messy low tech job. The bad news is that the next step is even longer and harder! After the car is reduced to its primer/bare fiberglass state one must take it down to the 100 percent fiberglass state. I used a sanding block, lots of wet/dry 180 grit sand paper and 42 hours of elbow grease. Now, I have heard that some folks use lacquer thinner to do the same job. Might be easier. Some one else
may chime in on that idea. When using a sanding block do not sand directly on top of a peak. ( ie: top of fender peak on 1965) That will round them( BAD, BAD). Approach them from a 45 degree angle each direction, both sides. Then there are the cracks & crannies
in the door jams, the round inner areas of the tail lights. Like I said this is a lengthy process if you are going to do it correctly. Good luck. Try meditation as you hand goes "back and forth and back and forth and back and forth................" -
C1 Wiper Motor Mounting Plate
Joe, I also recently stripped the paint from the trunk area. It's also rough. Hope someone with expertise answers this question. I have a 1958.Comment
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Re: LAZY STRIPPER
Joe,
This is a miserable job, but I am convinced that time spent here will pay dividends for years to come. I ALLWAYS strip the entire body of every scrap of original paint, including the underbody and trunk. There is just nothing that compares to having a nice clean, bare fiberglass body to start with! I do not sand the primer off, but instead scrub it off with coarse scotch brite pads and additional spray-on stripper. With enough elbow grease, you can scrub ALL renmants of any paint or primer off the glass, and leave nothing but pretty tan fiberglass! Just be sure to scrub each section with warm, soapy water as you move along and rinse well. This will remove all traces of the stripper and not allow it to soak into the glass.
Regards, John McGrawComment
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Re: LAZY STRIPPER
Joe,
The inside of the Trunk area is rough from the factory. It is not finished at all from the mold. You should see strands of fiberglass raised in the glass, and you should still see them after you apply that big $ paint to it. It is also was not polished out after the lacquer was originally applied. If you use a substitute for lacquer you may need a little flattener in the trunk and door jam areas to avoid the over restoration blues.
JohnAdministrator
www.ncrs.orgComment
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Re: LAZY STRIPPER
If you be really lazy - hire the trunk, convertible top lid area and possibly part of the interior to somebody with a plastic media set up. Heaven on earth as long as you get rid of all the tiny plastic balls before painting. DCComment
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