Time to say good-bye to the red.

[Michael]

Heat will probably re-harden the paint. It's best to use the stripper in a cool(50-70) degree environment. This way the stripper doesn't evaporate as quickly. The longer it stays wet, the better it works. Aircraft remover is really great, but for a whole car I would use the large can and brush it on, those spray cans get expensive.

If you have a pressure washer...or even better yet, access to a hot water pressure washer, you might want to try that route just to see if it would save you any time. If the paint is really bonded to the metal it may not work, but its worth a try.

Also as Nick mentioned, I would sand the fascias. Even though the stripper is advertised not to harm plastic, it will soften it. When you go to scrape it off you will damage the surface enough to where you will have to glaze the entire piece before any work starts. It best to just knock it down with 220 wet, then as you start hitting primer or original paint switch to 400.

Depending on how well or poorly the paint was applied, you will have to remove the fascias, side strips, marker lights and weather seals, and possibly a few panels to do get all traces of paint off. It's a good time to replace those things if they are in need. If they are original seals I would replace them anyway....except the trunk seal. Go to the second post in this thread for info on that: http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?16...ht=bonnet+seal

[Kenny_Z]

I'm planning on removing the fascias anyway. I think it'd be safer than just trying to mask them with some tape. I'd much rather go through the trouble of removing them than to accidentally melt them with stripper. The red paint is bad and flakey so it's got to go. The primer under it is releasing from the original paint. The original paint is adhering pretty well which is another reason I may want to go with sanding. With the pressure washer at the local car wash I can get the red paint to flake all over the car but that primer is really good. It's got a good bite into the metal and won't release.

I've read about using cling wrap to hold in the vapors. I'm trying that now. When I did the Tpanel I used old grocery bags and it did a decent job but they didn't cling very well.



Michael is right, the heat gun might dry out the chemical too fast. I can see using to heat the metal up a little before applying the material if it's too cold. We're in the mid-50s at the moment so I think it's ok.

[uhhair]

Just thought I'd jump in and lend you my 2 cents to this, as my brother and I stripped the red paint off our DeLorean last winter, and the job turned out better than I could have even imagined.

PM me if you'd like to discuss different strippers, techniques, etc. Seriously our stainless looks 100%, you'd never know it had ever been painted.

What we found worked best was to buy a product called "Peel-Away." It's the consistency of clay, you smash it on, wait a day or two, and then scrap it off, and the paint will come right with it. We used some other spray strippers to get the residue after that, etc.

Your best bet is to take the panels off (except the doors). The stuff works best when it's warm. We used my laundry room, shoved all the panels in there with a heater, got it up to about 80-90 degrees for a whole weekend, and when we scraped if off, the paint melted off.

The doors you should definitely leave on the car though, not worth the hassle to take them off.

Again, PM me if you want to discuss details, etc about the process. It's definitely worth it though, and if you do it right, your car is going to look like it was never painted.

[deloumis]

Just thought I'd jump in and lend you my 2 cents to this, as my brother and I stripped the red paint off our DeLorean last winter, and the job turned out better than I could have even imagined.

PM me if you'd like to discuss different strippers, techniques, etc. Seriously our stainless looks 100%, you'd never know it had ever been painted.

What we found worked best was to buy a product called "Peel-Away." It's the consistency of clay, you smash it on, wait a day or two, and then scrap it off, and the paint will come right with it. We used some other spray strippers to get the residue after that, etc.

Your best bet is to take the panels off (except the doors). The stuff works best when it's warm. We used my laundry room, shoved all the panels in there with a heater, got it up to about 80-90 degrees for a whole weekend, and when we scraped if off, the paint melted off.

The doors you should definitely leave on the car though, not worth the hassle to take them off.

Again, PM me if you want to discuss details, etc about the process. It's definitely worth it though, and if you do it right, your car is going to look like it was never painted.

I believe that is what I used on my car. I first tested on the hood. I brushed on the entire hood then covered it. I waited 24 hours and when I went to remove the cover sheet, the entire paint came off with it. Seriously easier than I would have imagined. Good luck removing paint, I didn't spend much time removing paint on my car until it came to doing inside the doors. That's a whole different ball game, at least in my experience.

[Kenny_Z]

The jams and inside of my doors are not painted so thank God for small favors. I think I've found a good process. Whatever is in that red paint is causing a lot of my problems. It's drying out the stripper very quickly and then creating a shell. I've found if a take a very small brush with brass bristles I can do a quick coat of the chemical and break through to the second layer quickly. I give that about 2 minutes to work and then scrape it off. I get all of the red and most of the second layer of primer in that step. Then I can let the stripper soak on the sealer without it drying out. I just have to be very careful with that brush and only move it with the grain just in case it gets through all three layers.



I would have had this door clean tonight but I had to go to the parents for their anniversary party.

[Nicholas R]

The jams and inside of my doors are not painted so thank God for small favors.

That is super lucky. I can only imagine how much of a pain that would be. Keep up the good work!!!

[deloumis]

That is super lucky. I can only imagine how much of a pain that would be. Keep up the good work!!!

A lot of pain, I wasn't so lucky

[thirdmanj]

Looking good man!

[Dangermouse]

You should do a time-lapse of that side of the car as you strip it.

Or amateur time lapse, by taking a photo from the same spot every day and stringing them together on the computer.

Would be cool too see it come off

[OverlandMan]

You should do a time-lapse of that side of the car as you strip it.

Or amateur time lapse, by taking a photo from the same spot every day and stringing them together on the computer.

Would be cool too see it come off

+1