I finally found a place to paint my 72, and the price is reasonable, and he does nice work. So when he chewcked out my car, he said i should strip all the paint off to bare metal. I bought this shell from the south, and there is no rust, but some bondo where there were dents, dings and such. He suggested getting it media blasted, and since i had already stripped down my fenders, doors and trunklid, it should not be too expensive. But does it matter? couldnt i just use a DA snader and 36 or 80 grit to strip it down? Was going to use a chemical for the jams to get it all. I just think it would be more cost effective to sand. any advice? thanks all.

terry

Media blasting would be easier and faster but depending on the material used to blast the car you might have to sand the bare metal to get the primer to stick. If I remember right plastic the common media used, leaves too smooth of a surface so you need to sand the metal after its done at the blasters. I would apply a coat of wash primer or self etching primer over the bare metal. This would protect the metal from flash rust, by the time the shop wants the car a very light coat of rust will appear if unprotected. The primer is easly sanded so the shop can reomve it if need be.

Boy, I'll betcha this question brings on some opinions and counter opinions, but I'll take a shot, based on what's worked for me. I've always liked chemical stripping. It'll ruin the filler, but won't remove it. If done properly, I think it's easier than sanding. My 70 Chevelle was media blasted. It left some filler also, but really etched it. The result was good, but a lotta junk in nooks and crannies and the guy charged 800 to do basically the top, quarters and doors and cowl with all the glass out and the front fenders off which I thought was pricey. (front fenders not done at all as were being replaced with NOS stuff) A clown that was doing a car for me once did some sand blasting on it. Don't even think about it. It warps everything it touches. My Biscayne was done last year by a body shop with a sanding disc. The car was pretty cut up and now I'm seeing some shrinkage back under the paint when you catch the light just right. If you've got the time and patience, I'd chemically strip it. If quick and easy is the goal and budget considerations are secondary, I'd media blast. One other advantage to media blasting is it gets surface rust and places like underhood that are hard to strip with good results.

Here's another paint removal tip shown to me by an old body man. It works best on laquer; Use a razor blade holder (the kind that is used to remove windshield stickers etc.) to get under the color coat. If your careful, once it starts, you can push the blade along and remove alot of paint in a short time. It usually won't get the primer, but saves sand paper and/or stripper.
Rich

I used the spray on stripper from wal-mart, worked great, sprayed and stripped the whole car, much faster and cleaner than DA, when done I used a rag and wipped the car down with laquar thinner, cars been painted 3 yrs now with zero problems, I'll do the next one the same way.

Cortez - do you remember what brand stripper you used. I used a thick orange stripper on my dash but it took several applications for it to work, and I don't think I'd use it for an entire body. Any other suggestions for good strippers?

After seeing and doing most ways here is my $.02 worth.
1 dip anything that comes off easy fenders, doors,cowls,
2 sand large flat areas
3 media blast PLASTIC MEDIA ONLY intricate parts or areas
4 Sand blast thick metal parts you know are safe from warppage
5 strip thick old paint aircraft stripper works best
6 3m makes a disc of green plastic 60 grit works great on 1/4 inch angle grinders and the scotchbrite disc work great also

We use a rather unconventional method...a 8 or 9" angle grinder with a 36 grid sanding disc. It works very quickly, but you have to avoid and sharp enges or body lines. This method really works great for removing large amounts of old body filler. It will leave sanfing scratches in the metal, but then we go over the metal with an 80 grit disc on the same large grinder. The last step is to use 150 grit on a DA sander prior to laying down the DP etching primer.

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Malibumotorsports (http://www.Malibumotorsports.cjb.net)
79 Malibu, 414 ci BBC, 3550 lbs.
10.75 @ 125 mph, 1.49 60'

I am totally sold on plastic media blasting. The metal is not damaged. It is not bad for the environment. SOMEONE ELSE DOES THE WORK. It leaves the metal like new, so yes it will need to be sanded. You can take a DA with 180 over it in minutes, then a coat or two (read the tech sheet) of a vinyl etch primer and then epoxy or urethane and that's it.

After the first time I had a car plastic media blasted, I told my self I will NEVER chemiclly strip a car again. An sanding it only under certain circumstances.

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

I think its called strip ease, it comes in a blue&white can with a plastic spray bottle attached with velcrow, it works great, you start spraying the fender lets say, and by the time you get to the other end of the fender the paint is already starting to sage off the car, I've tried the aircraft stripper and its worthless in my opinion compared to this, my next door nieghbor was useing a DA on the hood of his challenger the other day, I went over with a can of this stipper and in 5 minutes stipped half his hood it took him about 40 minutes to stip the other side and what a mess. all you have to do is lay newspaper on the ground use a bondo spreader to scrap with and wear a mask for painting and youre in buisness

looks like spell check didn't take

Okay, we have votes for chemical, sanding, grinding, and media blasting. I am surprised that no one mentioned soda blasting. I am considering this for my car, but am trying to learn a bit more first. From what I understand, it is harmless to the environment, harmless to the sheetmetal, leaves a nice surface, does NOT flash rust, etc. So what is the down side? Anyone ever use this?

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1968 Chevelle SS396 - Yellow 4 speed, air, factory Buick interior
1998 Camaro Z28 - 6 speed
1999 Nissan Maxima SE - 5 speed
2000 Passat Wagon - 5 speed tip