Hey fellas,

I want to strip all the old paint off my car ( tired of seing it purple [sm=lame.gif] ) . what is the most effective way of doing this?

if it is just sanding the car, what grit should i start with and what grit should i finish with?

 

If you are going to remove the paint from your car, prepare yourself for one of the most labor intensive things you can possibly do. Its tedious, time consuming, and brain numbing to sand a car to bare metal. It can also be relaxing and give your hands something to do while your brain works through other problems, like something at work or what to do next on the car.

If you are going to sand it off, start with 80 grit and hope it wasnt painted 6+ times like my Cougar was. If you dont have an aircompressor that will put out enough air to run a dual action sander, then you are going to need a garden hose and lots of elbow grease. Wetsanding is the only way to get it off by hand. You dont need vast amounts of water, just enough to wash away the paint so the paper doesnt load up. Dont go rougher like 40 grit, that will gouge the metal easily.

I strongly suggest only doing one panel at a time if you are doing it by hand. A floor jack to lift the side of the car to get the lower parts is helpfull. Getting it to bare metal takes rough paper, but try not to gouge the metal or sand in one spot too long. It will make the panel wavy and you will spend hours block sanding the car to make it straight again. Once you have the paint off a panel put down some epoxy primer to keep it from rusting.

A typical compressor like you get at WalMart or the like wont cut it, you will wait for it to recharge more than you will be sanding. A compressor capable of running a DA will often cost over $400, and most are 220V rather than 110V.

The fastest way to bare metal is chem striping, it will burn you and is illegal to do in the driveway in most places. Dont do it inside the garage, especially if its attached to the house, the fumes could kill you inside. It is neutralized with water and it takes a few applications to get all the paint off.

If the paint is in good shape, there are no rust spots bubbling up or making holes, and the paint isnt too thick, you can rough it up with 240 grit, lay down some primer and paint it another color. That is the way Maaco and Earl Sheib type places do it. Often they dont even use primer again, but then the paint comes off with a hard rain. you can get ok results with only scuffing the paint but you are still using the paint under it for a base. If that base isnt good paint with no orange peel, fisheyes, or rust, you will have anything the paint on the bottom has when you lay down the top coat.

Good luck...

 

Thank you for the extremely in depth responce, i appreciate it.
would you recommned taking off one pannel and working on that at like a work bench or something then when thats done move to the next pannel or should i do it with the pannel on the car?

 

what about sand blasting

 

Its easier to do them on the car, otherwise they move around and you can bend them easy. Esecially the hood.

Beware, the more you take off, the more you find to fix..lol.. like my avatar..

 

tell me more about keeping them from rusting once the paint is off....

 

Keep it out of the rain, dont let dew form on it by leaving it outside over night. If you are in a humid area like Alabama or South Carolina, a primer should be applied soon after getting to metal.

Gotta go eat, be back later.. There are plenty of people who know this stuff..lol.

 

oh and sandblasting requires you to removes almost everything from the car, including glass and interior. see avatar...

 

im in california LA..... our summers are dreadfull and extremely dry, but our winters....lots and lots of rain... last winter we had a streak were it raind all most literally non stop for a week..

 

OH! and btw, my car sleeps out side, not a inside car....... we dont have a garage..