1st time stripping

[Jim D.]

Getting ready to strip the paint from my 66, its on a body dolly and the interior has been totally removed. Since this is the first time that I'm going to strip paint from a car can anyone give me the do's and don't of stripping? Also, what's the best method to use to remove the paint from the hard to reach areas? Do I need to worry about getting the stripper on places that won't be painted, i.e.,the interior floor or door panel?

[Todd L.]

Re: 1st time stripping

I have not done it, but I have seen several corvettes which have been soda blasted and it looks fantastic.

Once I have my rolling chassis completed I will have my body soda blasted. I have been quoted a price of ~$1000.00 which includes inside and out.

I was told that areas can be excluded with no problem if needed.

[Paul J.]

Re: 1st time stripping

Jim, be sure to use a stripper that's compatible with fiberglass. I use Cap'n Lee's, but there are others. There are several threads about it in the archives. As for soda blasting, it works fine but you have to be careful to prep properly for painting. Read this thread.

https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthre...=soda+blasting

Paul

[Bill H.]

Re: 1st time stripping

Hi, Jim: Regarding stripping the paint on your Corvette, I am assuming that you plan on doing the paint stripping yourself, since your body has been removed and is now on a dolly. Whereas I do agree with the previous recommendation about soda blasting as an excellent way to strip paint from a body, but there are additional considerations for you to be aware of. Using a commercial pressure induced body stripping process (soda, plastic media, walnut shells) means your car body will have to be transported to the facility where it can be done....this is not a mobile do-in-your-shop process. While it is completely safe to transport a Corvette body while still attached to the frame, it is a different matter when the body is removed and placed on a body dolly. Attempting to wheel a body on a dolly onto a car trailer, then driving it to wherever the paint stripping facility is, then unloading, and reversing the task to return the body to your shop is a recipe for disaster. The Corvette body is designed to be secured to the frame, with factory mounting hardware +SHIMS to prevent the body from undue movement that would possibly cause the body to crack at bonding seam locations. When I attended the "Corvette University" hosted by Bloomington Gold for classes in Corvette body stripping, repair, and painting, we were advised to use "Capt. Lee's Auto Spra-Strip", an excellent paint stripping chemical that is safe for use on Corvette fiberglass bodies. It is sprayed on with with a hand held sprayer bottle (think Windex sprayer), allowed to work for a period of time, then scraped off using plastic bladed scrapers. The residue is then washed off/neutralized using a mixture of water and rubbing alcohol, applied by sprayer, scrubbed with red Scotch-Brite pads, the hosed off completely with running water, and allowed to air dry. You will achieve excellent results this way. The stripper is very caustic, and makes a mess to clean up, but if you cover the floors with newspaper around the car, the scraped-off paint falls on the newspaper, which you then pick up and bag in large plastic bags. ALWAYS WEAR GLOVES, EYE PROTECTION, AND A FILTER MASK! Disposable coveralls you purchase from an auto paint retailer are a good idea, too. To prevent stripper from seeping in to any location on the body you do not want it to go, use Duct tape and plastic sheeting. Please feel free to PM me if you want or need any additional info.

[Stephen L.]

Re: 1st time stripping

I transported my 67 coupe body on a homemade wood dolly in an enclosed trailer. Round trip was about 200 miles. Absolutely no damage. I secured the body to the dolly with straps and then the dolly to the trailer with other straps. I did this twice as there were some flaws in the first paint job that had to be fixed. I was amazed at how ridged the coupe body was. I'd recommend soda blasting but first make sure the person doing the blasting is familiar with a fiberglass blast process. You may want to do a test panel (rear Valence or door hinge area?) to see the results before proceeding with the whole body.

[Donald H.]

Re: 1st time stripping

I did my 1960 myself. I would recommend you try the razor blade technique first to see if you can get the paint to easily peel off. I was very successful in most of the rear of my 1960. You need to be careful, but once you develop a good technique, the paint can come off in long ribbons and much less of a mess. I also used the Cap't Lee stripper and it works great but obviously much more of a mess to deal with than using razor blade. I did nick my glass a few times, but my car was gel coated before painting so the glass was sealed very good. Also, you need to clean the stripper off the glass after you used a plastic paint scraper to scrap off the loose paint. Cap't Lee instruction say to use water. I used water, but then also used a cleaning solvent to make sure the glass was clean.

[Gary F.]

Re: 1st time stripping

I used Aircraft Stripper for Fiberglass. I didn't need to scrape at all. The paint was 40+ year old black lacquer, and came off easily, but each situation is different.

[Bruce B.]

Re: 1st time stripping

I have done a few cars using a DA with 80 grit sanding discs.
Worked great, you just have to keep the DA moving.

[Bill W.]

Re: 1st time stripping

Gary . I also used the same aircraft stripper for fiberglass . I liked it better than Caption Lees .

[Mike M.]

Re: 1st time stripping

Gary: I stripped my '65 Coupe. I used a fiberglass 'Aircraft' stripper. That stuff would take off the old lacquer itself pretty well. I used a bondo 'spreader' to sort of scrape the old paint off. It makes a mess and you have to protect you hands and especially your eyes from that stripper. The funes are bad too so you must have some ventialtion. Getting the paint off was not a big problem. For me it was the old primer that was the problem. The stripper would not dent that stuff. I ended up using lacquer thinner (on a rag I think) and elbow power (and lots of it!) to get the primer off. All in all it was a multi day, labor intensive job. Good luck.

[Gary C.]

Re: 1st time stripping

FWIW when using stripper - let the chemicals dry out. I let the bare body set out in the sun for a couple of weeks.

Stripping, while messy and slow is a safer (no fiberglass damage) process than bead blasting and you control it as you're stripping. Bead blasting is up to the person operating the bead blaster. Doesn't take much to do damage.

Gary
....

[Jim T.]

Re: 1st time stripping

When I stripped the original paint from my 1968 and 1970 I used Captain Lee's stripper. Did small sections, took my time. The stripper removed the color paint. The primer remained and was easily wet sanded off the fiberglass.

[Ken K.]

Re: 1st time stripping

Look at my videos of my stripping paint. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FEQjQOC-M0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCgYxMoyJrQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npHazy61B8E http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqt1CJSQnxw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nja4QUJr2fM It can be done. You have to be at a good angle. Have fun.

[Larry M.]

Re: 1st time stripping

Ken, very interesting videos. Was the blue color a repaint over factory white; or was it the original color on top of white primer?

Larry

[Ken K.]

Re: 1st time stripping

It had a repaint. The only area that did not want to come off, was the headlight covers. They were aluminum. The old color was the same blue. You could see the two paints when you looked at the side of the big chips. In some spots the repaint came off and I had to go over the spot several time to get the original paint off. That was on some spots on the doors and a bit of the hood. I did not damage the fiberglass. The angle you use is the big deal.