Paint Stripper Advice

[70 Challenger Lover]

Tried sandblasting my hood today and got no where fast. The last coat of paint must be some sort of epoxy because it's tough as nails. I have a heavy duty sandblaster and it would only remove the loose flaky stuff. An hour into it, I was maybe 5% done and used 50 pounds of media. I know everything is working perfect because I could strip loose paint and surface rust away in seconds.

Tomorrow I'm going to switch to a chemical stripper but I was hoping for a few tips on neutralizing the chemicals afterward. Don't want paint issues cropping up someday. The can I have only says to wipe it down with mineral spirits afterward. I was thinking of using soap and water everywhere in liberal amounts followed by immediately drying it and using compressed air in every little nook and crevice. Once I'm satisfied it's 100% dry, I'd go back to the sandblaster again to get left over paint remnants and create a consistent finish for a good coat of sealer.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated!

Mike

[Cuda Cody]

Be extremely careful with media blasting.  Its SUPER easy to warp the panels.

Airplane paint stripped works good too.

[70 Challenger Lover]

Be extremely careful with media blasting.  Its SUPER easy to warp the panels.

Airplane paint stripped works good too.

Any advice on neutralizing the chemicals afterward?

[RUNCHARGER]

It's messy but that's why I use sandpaper.

[70 Challenger Lover]

It's messy but that's why I use sandpaper.

I'd be okay with that on the top surface but the underside is riddled with curves and sharp edges. It would take me forever to sand off all that concrete hard paint. Whoever sprayed it last did a poor prep job on the underside which is why I feel it's so important to get it all down to bare metal and seal it.

[Topcat]

Krud Cutter 1st. https://www.besttechnologyinc.com/industrial-parts-washers-cleaning-systems/phosphate-lines-powder-coat-prep/

Light sand paper off the white residue.

Then after, spray with a mist of Paint & Grease remover. Available in Aerosol as well.

Ready for Epoxy.

[1 Wild R/T]

Be extremely careful with media blasting.  Its SUPER easy to warp the panels.

Airplane paint stripped works good too.

  Hoods warp stupidly easy... Doors too.. And deck lids....

My preferred method, when the car is still assembled I duct tape all the gaps, door jambs, trunk jamb, hood jamb...  That way no chemical gets into the jambs where it can leach into seams...

If the car is apart stay away from the edges.... The edges are much more sturdy so use a DA with 80 grit to get the paint off the flat surface & blast the edges & jambs... You can use chemical in the jamb as long as you stay away from the seams but personally I blast the jambs...

Hate to say it but the back side of the hood & deck lid are mostly hand sanded or DA work...

I work on one panel or even 1/2 a panel at a time... I either brush or spray (Use an under coating gun, very effective, but wear gloves long sleeves, eye protection & a respirator) the Aircraft stripper on heavy & let it sit for 10-15 minutes, then try a scraper.. If it seems to be ready, scrap away... If it's still not ready I spray on a second layer of striper & cover it with saran wrap to trap the vapors.. then let it sit for 30 minutes...

BTW rubber gloves & coarse steel wool are good...  When your happy wipe it down with lacquer thinner or acetone...

When everything is pretty well stripped I like to stand back a few feet & lightly blast the panels at a 45 degree angle just to lightly etch the metal for better primer adhesion...

[mopar jack]

The old airplane paint strippers and paint removers that contained  Methylene  chloride have been banned . I used a lot of it when I did my car 25 years ago, worked well in hard to reach places.

[Topcat]

Mopar OEM primer = Rock painted on metal.   

Still wanna know WTH it was.

[mopar jack]

Years ago when you went to bare metal a good acid etch was recommended then a good epoxy primer. The old airplane stripper was such a hot solvent it would flash off very quickly so they used a paste to hold it longer on the  paint. Never had a problem just washed the paste off with water, of course water on bare metal would be a problem so you would acid etch to convert the rust.

[Topcat]

Be extremely careful with media blasting.  Its SUPER easy to warp the panels.

Airplane paint stripped works good too.

  Hoods warp stupidly easy... Doors too.. And deck lids....

My preferred method, when the car is still assembled I duct tape all the gaps, door jambs, trunk jamb, hood jamb...  That way no chemical gets into the jambs where it can leach into seams...

If the car is apart stay away from the edges.... The edges are much more sturdy so use a DA with 80 grit to get the paint off the flat surface & blast the edges & jambs... You can use chemical in the jamb as long as you stay away from the seams but personally I blast the jambs...

Hate to say it but the back side of the hood & deck lid are mostly hand sanded or DA work...

I work on one panel or even 1/2 a panel at a time... I either brush or spray (Use an under coating gun, very effective, but wear gloves long sleeves, eye protection & a respirator) the Aircraft stripper on heavy & let it sit for 10-15 minutes, then try a scraper.. If it seems to be ready, scrap away... If it's still not ready I spray on a second layer of striper & cover it with saran wrap to trap the vapors.. then let it sit for 30 minutes...

BTW rubber gloves & coarse steel wool are good...  When your happy wipe it down with lacquer thinner or acetone...

When everything is pretty well stripped I like to stand back a few feet & lightly blast the panels at a 45 degree angle just to lightly etch the metal for better primer adhesion...

I stripped the whole car by hand.
Took 3 months. Well worth it and safer from getting warped.

[70 Challenger Lover]

You all got me thinking now. So far I've focused my attention on the underside bracing. All the loose stuff is off and any area that might have had light rust underneath has been blasted clean.

Maybe from here I'll just use stripper on the top side and keep it off the edges and scoop openings. That should keep cleanup super easy. On the backside, I could use a small sander on a die grinder and hand sand the areas I can't reach.

[RUNCHARGER]

Yes: What you're thinking will work. You don't want a chemical sneaking in around the bracing on the underside.

[anlauto]

Man...I feel guilty just dropping them off at Techno-Strip and picking them up a couple of days later 

[70 Challenger Lover]

That must be so nice! I'm drinking coffee right now cringing at the thought of getting back to that hood this morning. I actually found myself thinking that I'd be better off buying a repop hood and selling this one. It's a nice clean hood it's just that someone sprayed it with rock hard paint of some kind that doesn't want to come off. I'd consider a scuff and squirt over that but they did a poor job of prep so too many bad areas to contend with. No, I'll spend some time doing it right. Not going to want to sell this car with all the effort going into it.