Any experience w/ Paint Remover?

[MDyer]

I've been sanding and sanding (and sanding) with an orbital sander. Started w/ 100 grit, and out of impatience, fatigue, boredom, moved to 60 grit. Not much faster, but etching into the steel.

With over 75% of the vehicle yet to do, I'm inclined to use paint stripper. I tried some on my donor 73 as an experiment, and it seems one helluva lot easier/faster.

Any advice /warnings?

[nutxo]

dont let it dry, it takes almost as much to take off the dry stripper and more time too

[EScanlon]

Some notes on paint stripper:

It can cause chemical burns if you're not careful, and usually, the first indication is when it is ALREADY burning you. Wear gloves, eye protection and if possible an apron designed for the job. You can get these at Harbor Freight or other discount places. Remember you're looking for something to protect YOU from the stuff.

You must remove ALL of it from the body afterwards. If you leave little streaks of it in the seams, cracks, corners it WILL leach out when you paint the car and ruin your paint job in that area.

It WILL destroy any bodywork that may already be on the car. It will also destroy any primer, caulking, rubber, plastic etc, that it comes in contact with. About the only thing it will NOT destroy, is metal, and if you let it dry, there are some that will say you've ruined the metal as it is a B!TCH to remove then.

The DRIED residue can become active again with just the sweat from your body. If you grind, sand, or blow it off the car, it is a burn waiting to happen. Trust me, it does NOT feel good on tender parts of your body.

Now, from what you're saying, it sounds as though you're removing ALL the paint. I'm guessing you're doing the typical remove all the paint to the metal type of paint job. I've asked Why? so many other times I'll presume you've read those posts, but I will reiterate that that is not always the BEST way to do a paint job.

2¢

[MDyer]

My current paint is "chalking" through. In cases like this, I'm told by several people of whom I respect their opinion, it's best to take it all off. This is due to the fact that fresh paint won't stop the chemical reaction that causes the chalking.

[EScanlon]

Chalking, or when the paint is so burnt (dead) that it literally pulverizes on contact. Actually what has happened is that the paint has been oxidized by years of exposure to UV rays and lack of proper washing and waxing. There used to be a wax for sale that purportedly "revived" the paint so it would look good again. The exact name escapes me, but I think Color-Guard or something like that. All it was was COLORED wax in the same color family as your car. It had a high amount of polishing compound in it (in order to remove the oxidizing) and the colored wax was to "tint" whatever was left afterwards. Just more snake oil as far as I'm concerned.

You're right, you need to remove that paint, but if the BASE primer or bodywork is in good condition, you don't need to go much further than that. If you have cracks in the primer / bodywork, or if you can see areas where the primer has been exposed to the elements and you can see surface rust, or the primer or base paint is flaking off, then you MUST go to the metal.

So, repeating, but concisely, you can D/A the paint off quickly using 80 or 120 grit, 45-55psi at the tool. Sand the PANEL and not just in spots, when you start seeing the primer, you can continue, but I would recommend you just continue on the PAINT. Then, do a second pass using 220 or 320 grit paper to remove the last of the paint and a good amount of the primer and smooth any scratches from the 80/120. You can then go to Etch Primer followed by Fill Primer, or Epoxy and then Fill.

Hope this helps.

Enrique Scanlon