Hey guys

I'm a paint/body newbie, and I was wondering what chemical(s) I could use to strip all the paint/primer/etc off my car. I want to get it down to bare metal to see what I've got to work with while the body is off the chassis.

Thanks in advance.

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1979 Chevy Malibu 2-Door with a lumpy Chevy 355. (Hot Rod)
1983 Chevy Malibu 4-Door with a 231 (3.8L) Buick V-6 with Edelbrock Goodies (Daily Driver)
The 2-Door (http://robertsoncustomcomputers.hypermart.net/malibu.gif)
The 83 4-Door (Pic Soon)
Aaron "The Hammer" Robertson.
Speed kills...drive a Ford and live FOREVER
Youth And Hotrodding - A Car Club for Those Under 25 (http://www.geocities.com/youthandhotrodding)

Well I hvae used "Dad's Stripper" and works ok, take a couple of times to get all the way through the layers. Water nuturalizes the stuff so don't add water untill it's bubbled up and be sure to dry it before you add the next coat. Be careful it will burn you. The "Aircraft stripper" is more expensive and havn't tried it.
I finally went for the sand blasting..much faster, no mess.

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71 SS-454 El Camino

Won't sandblasting warp the body? And be a real PITA to get all the sand out of the nooks and crannies all over the body?

Thanks

-Aaron

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1979 Chevy Malibu 2-Door with a lumpy Chevy 355. (Hot Rod)
1983 Chevy Malibu 4-Door with a 231 (3.8L) Buick V-6 with Edelbrock Goodies (Daily Driver)
The 2-Door (http://robertsoncustomcomputers.hypermart.net/malibu.gif)
The 83 4-Door (Pic Soon)
Aaron "The Hammer" Robertson.
Speed kills...drive a Ford and live FOREVER
Youth And Hotrodding - A Car Club for Those Under 25 (http://www.geocities.com/youthandhotrodding)

The guy who did mine, did a really good job. I didn't have any warping. It was in every nook and crannie. I took the end off a small air hose and pushed it through all the areas. Some still found it's way out when I primed it. Sanded it out and was fine. The chemical stuff was just so slow and I have a El Camino with alot of surface area. He did everything, frame, loose parts, suspension, brackets..everything for $600.

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71 SS-454 El Camino

I have one thing to say (well, not really, I never keep it to only one thing http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif)

DON'T EVER SAND BLAST A CARS BODY PARTS!!!!!!

caddpro, you may have had the one person on earth that can do it without destroying the car, that does not mean we could find that some person. I have been doing this stuff many years and I have seen too many cars or parts DESTROYED by sand blasting then I could list here.

Not only does the sand blasting warp panels from the heat, it gets EVERYWHERE. Get out even your little hand held sand blaster at night in an area with the lights off. Blast a metal part, you will see sparks! Those sparks are created my the friction of the sand hitting the metal. Friction = HEAT. Now, I don't doubt for a minute you could strip "some" cars or parts (you sure as heck are NOT going to strip a Honda hood without warping) but you don't want to find out what you can and can't do. And the real biggie, you don't want to find out after the blasting what skills your guy has!!! A sandblasted and warped panel is basicly JUNK, there is no turning back.

There are places that plastic media blast with little balls of plastic. These are just fine and the best way I have ever seen to strip a car. The do no damage to chrome, glass, etc, it is truly amazing. The plastic media blasting place near me (a Chevy dealer) charges $400.00 for any car and $600.00 for Suburbans and Trucks.

I agree chemical striping is the last resort, too messy and dangerous. I have a friend that did a couple of cars in two days just beautifully. He wore thick rubber gloves and still damaged his hands. It is BRUTAL stuff.

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1965 Buick Gran Sport Convertible
1965 Buick Skylark H/T
"Fan of most anything that moves human beings"

I agree. I only chemically strip parts that I can soak in a bucket of stripper that is actually spray gun cleaner. That works pretty well on small parts. Other than that I use a guy that soda blasts the outer body and will sand blast really rusty areas and areas such as door jams. I agree Martin that many sand blasters are down and dirty guys that are used to blasting heavy things like bridges, so they don't have too much finness.My blaster is also a restorer so I'm confident that he will go easy and not warp anything. The soda works pretty well and is fairly easy to clean up,It get out old bondo real well, but doesn't get the rust out very will use a grinder(aalso requires much finnesse) or a DA.
Gordon VM
Restoration Motorsports http://groups.msn.com/Restorationphotos/shoebox.msnw?Page=1

I stripped my entire car with POR-Strip. Two gallons at about $25 each. I had 4 layers of paint on my car and if you do it correctly it will eat through all the layers. It stops at bondo though. Just make sure you do it in the shade because the stuff evaperates off immediately in the sun. It's really messy too. It sure beats sanding 4 layers off with a DA.

I just went through this myself, and decided to use aircraft striper. It worked great, I used about three gallons to do the entire car. Cleaned everything really well. It does burn if it is on your skin and make sure you have good ventilation. Worked great for me.