Paint / tar removal

[Michael L.]

The engine compartment of my C1 was coated with a combination on speckle paint and a tar like paint. Chemical strippers do little to remove, sandpaper clogs within seconds. I was thinking a heat gun on low and a putty knife may be the way to get most of it out. Opinions?

[Chuck G.]

Re: Paint / tar removal

Kerosene is great for removing tar. Not sure about the speckle paint.

I'd guess you'd need to strip it, using chemical stripper...like regular paint. Chuck

[Joe L.]

Re: Paint / tar removal

Chuck and Mike----

Yes, kerosene works perfect for tar. In fact, that's what most commercial "bug and tar removers" contain.

For the paint, especially if it's long-cured, no solvent is going to touch it. You'll need a chemical stripper or sanding. Either will likely cause "colateral damage" to the paint you want to stay. However, you can repaint without too much trouble.

[Michael L.]

Re: Paint / tar removal

Joe, the good news is that I'm stripping the entire car for repaint and the engine bay is almost the last part of the car with paint... It appears that the speckle paint was sprayed over the tar like stuff, I'll just use a combo of both stripper and solvent and scrape away... It has been a year and a half since I started the body off, I guess an extra 8-10 hours won't kill me.