Well ive come to a fork in the road....really its not a fork, more a cut and dry path. Im 22 and im not going to be able to afford a good paint job on my Nova. Im more interested in this thing going fast, being very functional, and having a cool/comfortable interior and ive got to start saving for a house. SO... im just going to sand it down, straighten out a few minor things and primer it. And its going to probably stay in primer. The paint isnt terrible but its chipped, and theres about 4 different colors of primer on it in small spots. I believe the car is a laquer. Its not base coat/clearcoat because i can wipe it down with laquer thinner and that does nothing to the paint. So what would be the most effective, quickest way to strip all the paint off? any suggestions would be great. I do have an air compressor of that makes a difference.

have you tried jasco's epoxy and paint stripper?
i hear that works really well. there is also aircraft stripper which is the route im gonna go to do my 69, im 22 also and i wanna do most of the work myself to save some dough...

jasco is available @ the home depot @ $24 a gal
aircraft stripper available @ any aircraft supply mucho more dough

I have had to strip or have stripped more than a dozen auto's. The easiest way is media blasting, I have had so many done I get a break $300 for basic $500 for jams & exposed frame $700 for disassembled body & frame. Now this is usually a good chunck of change for your avg 22 year old but I will garauntee that it's money well spent considering the mess, toxicity & pain in the butt hand stripping a complete car is! If you don't have access or can't afford the blasting then I would suggest a combo of the aircraft stripper & sanding. If you can gain access to a variable speed (elec) buffer/sander & start with 80 grit & work your way down to 220 you will have a nice surface to work. Since I have the equip when I used to hand strip i'de start with 80 & then go over with 180 & use surcacer primer to cover the sanding marks/swirl. This is Not the perferred or recommended method of "real body men" but it does work well is relatively inexpensive & you really get to know your vehicle well. But as I said stripping with a medium sand, glass, plastic etc... is perferred & much less demanding on you physically, being exposed to chemicals & micro dust is highly damaging to your health, even if you are still 10ft Tall & Bullet Proof as most of us where at your age!

I am new to bodywork but I have been just using some regular paint stripper from the local hardware store. I bought a gallon for 16 bucks. I haven't even used half of it yet and I have both rear quarters done and the roof. I think I am doing it all right. I strip the paint off the best I can with the stripper and then use a da or sanding blocks to get clean metal

BIRT, do a water wash after the stripper and before sanding, the water washes the stripper away and nuetralizes any that remains. Sanding will not remove the stripper completely and can make it even more difficult to remove from the metal's surface. I have seen adhesion problems when cars were done without the water wash. Wash it well!

Im in the same boat, im 21 and dont have the funds for a pro paint job or stripping so let me know what path you take and how it works out. Im planning on going with stripper then sanding.

The first time I did paint work I used stripper (the aircraft stripper with the plane on the can)to get most if not all of the paint off of the car. Be prepared for some work and cleanup. The best hints I can give (besides what has already been said) is to take some 1" wide masking tape and tape over the door to quarter panel gaps, trunk lid to quarter panel gaps, hood to fender gaps, and so on. What you DO NOT want happening is to allow the stripper to get into area's of the car that you cannot get into and remove the stripper from. When you get the paint off of the car with the stripper and wash it down, THEN remove the tape to expose what little paint is left and come back over those spots with a DA to remove the paint. I would also get some old cardboard and put that under the car or even plastic sheeting to catch the excess stripper and old removed paint for easier cleanup.
Like anything else on cars the more time you spend preparing the body the better the outcome should be. Remove the window trim, door handles, moldings, etc so you can get in there and clean out the old dirt and debris so that when you go to apply the new paint it will look so much better when you get done.
Also fit the parts onto the car you are going to use like the window moldings and door handles to where there are no gaps and it looks more professionally done.
It's all in the attention to details.
Jim

I have stripped 3 cars. I use a DA sander and 40-80 grit pads. It rips the old paint right off. One word of advice, do one panel at a time. That way you can work that one panel, fill any dents with plastic filler, then sand it smooth. After that, you can use a putty, not bondo, to get it a little more straight. Spray it with a laquer primer then seal it so it doesn't rust. Once you have all the panels prepped, go get yourself some color and blast it on there. It seems as though all of the single stage urethanes are becoming more and more popular. I just started taking a body shop class at night and I am learning all kinds of cool stuff in the 4 weeks I've been going thus far.

Two words MEDIA BLAST

Don't use laquer primer over the bare metal.

I have been wiping the surface off with water on a rag after stripping it. Then I sand it down to bare metal. is this the right way. I thought it was

-not sure if you guys know this or not, but stripper will eat right through bondo/filler and possibly damage trim. It'll also cause adhesion problems like stated before. I work with this stuff all day, just putting the word out there.

*cause adhesion problems if it's not throughly cleaned down after use

i heard somewhere stripper would soak into bondo and eventualy seep out into the paint causing problems like bubbling any truth to this? makes me worry about hidden bondo or filler

Stripper softens the bondo and pretty much ruins it. You have to remove any bondo the stripper comes in contact with. Easiest to grind it out. Use a 3M rust removal wheel or wire wheel to get it out of the nooks and crannies.

Why not do what I did w/ my 68 for now. I am a former collision tech / painter but have no time for the resto right now. I just D/A sanded my car down w/ 150 & epoxy primed it black. It looks sinister for now & it's all one color. It will suffice until I can do the frame off as I am more concerned w/ the drivetrain etc... right now also. JOHN