To add to Jackboxxx, I've spoken with paint shop and they don't like chemical stripper mainly because it's messy and they don't have full control over where it goes. Now the dry stripper that he mentioned is probably a product to overcome the problem of gooey stripper/paint residue. I'm letting the paint shop strip mine.

i like paint stripper and 3m clean and strip wheels use the paint stripper on the big areas and clean strip wheel to clean up and do edges

Thanks for the replies everyone - they are really helping with the decision making

I am planning to do all the preparation work myself so sandblasting is not an option really. I think I will be using chemical paint stripper on large flat areas as some have suggested and for hard to reach place I think I will be using a wire brush as opposed to stipping wheel because it gets used too quickly from my experience. Do you think wire brush will scratch metal deeply or is it safe to use?

Cheers,

John.

PS My car is going to be a very clean daily driver, but I want high quality finish anyway.

wire brushes want scratch the metal I used them in some place found the ones that fit onto 4" angle grinders work really well can get in all sorts of places and strip quickly

As for the clean and strip wheels if u use them on flat and areas with no edges they will last a lont time soon as u start on edges they will rip down but i still reckon there worth usung to clean up with and do the areas where u dont wnt to use chemical paint stripper

When I read Theianmonster's reply of using a razor blade, I thought, there's a crazy idea!!!

Then I went down to the car and tried it, works great. The left side of the picture was stripped with paint stripper, took 15 minutes plus the cleanup. The right side of the picture took about one minute, a little vacuuming and no odors.

After this worked so well, I tried a number of other areas that weren't as flat, same results.

I had it media blasted, and the underside and engine bay I just had it sandblasted!!! i have some great pics of it!http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17536

wire brushes want scratch the metal I used them in some place found the ones that fit onto 4" angle grinders work really well can get in all sorts of places and strip quickly

As for the clean and strip wheels if u use them on flat and areas with no edges they will last a lont time soon as u start on edges they will rip down but i still reckon there worth usung to clean up with and do the areas where u dont wnt to use chemical paint stripper

So what areas wouldnt I want to use paint stripper on and why? My car is getting stripped completely so the chemical cant damage anything.

And what is the advantage of usinga clean and strip wheel against the wire brush? Wire brush can be used over and over, whereas strip disk will wear out, I think I will stick with the brush.

blue leaf,

Sometimes the problem with chemical strippers is that you don't get it all off and then end up painting over top of it. After awhile, the paint can start to lift and flake off. Others here can explain this better than I can but that's the jist of it.

With all the work/cost involved in prepping and painting a car you wouldn't want some chemical residue ruining things.

Good luck with your car.

I used 36 - 50 grit sandpaper on a disk sander.

I DO NOT recommend that method.

The car is covered with small grind marks that I have been filling with bondo now that I am re-painting it. It has taken a really long time, and two cans of bondo so far. What a mess.

the best idea with chemical is to keep it away from anywhere u will have trouble cleaning it back out of

and if you just repairing to tidy up and panel is straight with bondo sand it and leave bondo in place keep chemical away other wise your just redoing what someone has already fixed

the clean and strip wheels will move a lot more paint quicker than wire wheel

wire is better on edges in cracks and hard to get places i found

mick

I really don't understand the point of stripping a whole car. The only reasons I could think of is a bad previous paint job (chips easy) or to repair body work that was possibly done wrong. IT really doesn't make much sence to me. My brother is an autobody painter and he is working on a 1940 ford that was in a wreck. The only spots that went to bare metal are the parts that needed body work, metal work, or the parts with rust. These are the only reasons that makes sense to me. Bare metal is alot of work for little reward.

Yikes Walter....

You can use 36 grit on a D/A sander and get rid of paint VERY quickly, but you should always follow that with 180 and then 220 to reduce those scratches. If you used a rotary disk sander (i.e. NO random orbital) with only rotational movement....YIKES! No wonder you're battling the scratches.

Blue Leaf:

JackBoxx owns and operates a Maaco franchise and the first line of his post says : "for really bad old paint" . Believe him in that what he means is REALLY bad old paint, i.e. cracks, chips down to the metal, burnt through to the primer and below. and last but not least, weather beaten to the Pool Cue Chalk stage.

On paint that hasn't reached that stage, you might be better off using a D/A sander to smooth the body as A7DZ and Beandip mentioned. Sometimes the best base for a new paint job IS the old paint job.....IF ..... you prepare it properly.

Remember, any and ALL of the prior dent / blemish repairs will have to be replaced if you get stripper on them.

Stripper works by using various acids and other nasty solvents. Most that I'm familiar with will give you a real nasty chemical burn if you get it on your skin.

They will seep into the tiniest of cracks and crevices and dry up....waiting for you to paint and then they'll react with the paint and leave you with blemishes in your new paint job. All of them will destroy and permeate any Bondo / plastic filler you may have on the car, rendering it impossible to paint over. Want a paint shop to refuse to paint your car? Tell them you used stripper and you "saved" the bondo by only scraping off the top layer.

The razor blade method might seem faster....until you STILL end up having to sand the body smooth, except now you're sanding hundreds of little uneven depth scrapes....talk about setting yourself back a couple days. Even if you scrape to the metal, there's going to be dozens of scratches from the razor blade on the metal that will need to be addressed. That is, if you have any feeling in your hands afterwards.

For a good looking daily driver paint job that doesn't cost an arm and a leg...D/A sander to smooth and prepare the surface for the sealer and then the paint.

OR

Save yourself a bunch of hazzle, clean-up and a bunch of other stuff and take it to Jackboxx's or one of his fellow franchise owners and have them do a job that will leave you quite satisfied. Remember, unless you currently DO own the tools to do the job right AND have the experience and knowledge, you might find it cheaper to have it done professionally.

2¢

Enrique