Stripping a body using chemicals

[Dennis B.]

The last time I stripped my 66 Coupe in 1974 I used chemical paint remover for furniture. Is this still the way to go these days?

[Terry F.]

Re: Stripping a body using chemicals

It has been heavily discussed on the board so you can check the archives. If you use chemical striper, go to an auto paint store and buy striper that is safe to use on fiberglass.

Get a couple areas going and cover with plastic wrap/cellophane. You don't have to cover it. I don't. I just use a little more stripper to keep in wet. It keeps it from evaporating. Take your time and then keep going back and forth between the locations. I put a tarp under the area that I am working on.

Depending on the type of paint you have on the car, it might take a while. I use a dull rounded steel putty knife to slide the loose paint off and into the trash. I try to work neatly. Have lots of paper towels to wipe things down. I wipe down with lacqure thinner and then wash with water real well. Goes through a real ugly phase but when you get the paint off you will feel better. I really start to question my sanity about 1/3rd the way through when I have this big nasty blob in front of me that looks like someone finger painted my car.

The paint remover softens the fiberglass a bit so don't get carried way if you have a spot that doesn't want to come off all the way like some primer or bondo. After the car has dried a couple days A go back and I use a utility knife blade to sort of scratch any hard to remove spots. I like it because the blade is flat and it seems to stop when it gets to the fiberglass. Works well for me and I feel like I have a lot of control over it. Factory primer can be tough to get off, you may have to soften it with striper and then use lacqure and a scratch pad to get it off. I believe the main thing with striper is that you need to get all the paint and primer off or the chemicals will soak into the paint that is left behind and reactivate when solvents from new paint hit it. Scrub the car down with water real well and get everything off of it. I also wipe it down with lacqure thinner and paper towels to get the oil off and out of the surface of the fiberglass.

You must let the car dry for several days before putting anything on it. Put a small space heater under it if you like, don't blow yourself up and don't burn your car down. Let it sit out in the sun with a breathable cover, etc. Just force anything that is in the fiberglass that could evaporate out once the paint is applied and make sure the fiberglass is clean, clean, clean. Make sure if you use compressed air that is clean, clean, clean. The end!

Have fun and I apologize if I gave you more infor than you asked for, Terry....all this is my humble opinion and I always stand to be corrected by the professionals that hang out around here.

Painting is another story!

[Dennis B.]

Re: Stripping a body using chemicals

Terry,

Thanks. You included some ideas that I did not use way back when. I'm removing a 30 plus year old lacquer paint job. Several have suggested I strip it again before I put on a new paint job. I was a LOT younger when I did it the first time. Thanks again.

[Terry F.]

You are welcome! *NM*

[Mike G.]

Re: Stripping a body using chemicals

A couple of additional thoughts to help this process be as enjoyable as possible. While watching my friend Bill H. in Upland strip the 100th-plus Corvette he's done, I was intrigued by his practice of actually masking off the section being stripped. He used Aircraft (yellow) stripper which is pretty hot stuff and the masking prevented any excessive attacking of the resins by overlapping applications. He also used a copper (not steel) pot scrubbing pad to speed in removing the softened paint.

I found the yellow Bondo paddle to be the perfect scraping instrument, used in conjunction with a wide tray intended for wallboard joint compound. Got that idea from Armand Filer's article years ago in which he suggested a metal ice tray (try to find one of those now).

For underneath, if you are dealing with undercoating --use kerosene applied with a spray bottle for the final step. The heavy stuff needs the ol' heat gun and putty knife first.

For the final cleaning wash, I use tri-sodium phosphate (TSP) followed by several rinses 24 hours apart. Once you've got it clean, keep it covered with a plastic drop cloth until paint.

[mike cobine]

Re: Stripping a body using chemicals

A lot of guys used to mask the bonding seams so that the stripper wouldn't soften them. Otherwise they could swell, then be sanded flat, shrink, and leave a dip in your new paint.

Not sure if that actually happened but I have masked the seams before.

[Ray C.]

Re: Stripping a body using chemicals

Hi! Dennis

I have stripped three Corvettes using chemical strip. I use Kleanstrip fiberglass safe and have not found it to damage the fiberglass. The problem with using chemical strip is insuring that you have totally removed all the chemical strip after each application. Strip small areas and wash with warm soapy water when done. Then wipe the area with lacquer thinner. I also like to let the body set in the sun after I have wiped it down with lacquer thinner.

Ray

[William V.]