xkeots

I am real upset and looking for help. I own my matching # 63 SWC about 5 years. By what is happening it appears the preparation was bad. My paint all over is starting to bubble then pop and get big. I did in a few spots was sand the edges, use a high build primer and top coat with a mixed close as possible Sebring silver with "Blendeze" so it melts in. It is starting to it all over the car. I think that my next step is to strip the car and send it out for paint. I am in the middle of moving to South Florida and 63 still in New York. A shipper broke a rear wheel seal on my 62 bringing it to Florida and it was not expected.
Can I get some tips on stripping the paint from a 63? Razor blades? I tried but I see some gauging in the glass from it. Chemicals?
also, can I get a recommendation of an honest good vintage Corvette shop (mechanical as My tools are in New York and paint) in the Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Deerfield beach Florida area?
Thanks
Jax
62 327/340
63 SWC 327/300

65 Pro Vette

I use a razor blade at a sharp angle and new blades. Then I use captain Lee stripper on spots you can not get with a blade and wipe down with lacquer thinner. If the blade doesn't work on your car I do it all with stripper. Tape all seams so you don't get stripper where you don't want it. There is a possibility your car was soda blasted and not neutralized the paint blisters all over. I know of a few cars that has happened to.

Frankie the Fink

I played around with the razor blade technique but I don't have the "touch" at all....many recommend Cap'n Lee's stripper.

Depending on the age of the paint maybe "solvent pop" I'm no expert but I can tell you this - when you bring it South to Florida - in our heat; its only gonna get worse sorry to say... Any contaminants are going to 'cook out' of that fiberglass quickly...

You have one of the top restorers/mechanics around anywhere if you are willing to drive 1 hour 45 minutes north of you to Sebastian, FL. (even if you have to U-haul it for a $48/daily rental it might be worth it). That's what I did from Orlando so Rich could do some work on my SWC.

Rich Mozzetta, owned an original split window, and one of a handful of people that I let work on my 63 coupe, nobody better but he stays slammed. One helluva C1 guy too and has a '59 IIRC... He's done so many frame-off Top Flight cars I've lost count... He no doubt knows some top quality painters in that area as well.

You can PM him on here as rich5962 or PM me and I can give you his email address... If your timeframe goes out to January he's always at the NCRS Lakeland Regional meet...

ChattanoogaJSB

I used Kleen strip aircraft stripper and lacquer thinner on mine. I love to paint but that right there was the worst job I have ever done on a car- stripping it. Awful. Messy. Toxic. Time consuming. Razor blades did not work for me either.

Many shops will want to be the one to strip it. In my opinion if you aren't going to do the body work and paint it, let someone else strip it. Good luck

SupremeDeluxe

Agree that a full repaint is the only way to solve. This started happening to my 67 in a few spots ~ 3 years ago. The paint job is almost 20 years old and still looks quite good, however after leaving it out for several hours during the middle of the day on a near 100 degree day, hell broke loose. It's minor and localized to a few spots so I have been living with it (I am not up for the cost or stress of a repaint), but after consultation with the best Corvette body guy locally I know there isn't any choice if I want it resolved.

Frankie the Fink

Burke's did work on my '61 on an insurance claim -- they are a bit slow but excellent!

Robbie at Corvette Masters right next door is also top notch for mechanicals but stays busy as hell..

Both are quite a hump North of Delray Beach however...prob not viable if you want to have a set of 'go to' people relatively close by for 'farmed out' work...

64365coupe

​​​​​​​

​​​​​​​

When I bought my 63 it had had one repaint in base cost /clear coat in red. The car was original Sebring silver. Media blasting scares the Hell out of me because of the fiberglass damage it can do if the guy blasting makes a mistake or has no experience. Chemical strippers can absorb into the fiberglass and cause problems later such as lifting, blisters etc... I block sanded my whole car by hand through the clear then the red until I got to the original silver and primer. It took forever but the paint has no problems at all. Try sanding all the areas in the door jams by hand! That's a sickness!

Frankie the Fink

Both sanding and bead blasting can destroy the crisp lines on a fiberglass car if done haphazardly. I'm not a big fan of media blasting as I had to clean handfuls of the stuff out of my coupe interior over several years of replacing cockpit soft parts.

I don't know that I've heard a single issue concerning Captain Lee's Stripper on here but I'm no painter for sure...

64365coupe

if you block it properly your body lines they will stay crisp. I think the problem nowadays is people are in a rush for the ol mighty dollar and just don't want to spend the time. Is sometimes the customers are just plain cheap and sometime it's inexperience. It can be scary handing your car over to somebody. FTF... Your red car has nice body lines by the way. That's the things I look at when I see a car. So important. Steve

DansYellow66

Maintaining crisp body lines is more a matter of attention to detail and having an understanding and appreciation for body work. I stripped my car with Captain Lees stripper and recommend it. It is a bit messy but with some visqueen and care it's not bad. I was amazed how quickly some of the body lines that had been obviously brutalized by past painters straightened and sharpened up with just a few careful strokes of a block and sandpaper. It's just a matter of paying attention to details.

Fiberglass is soft enough to easily messed up by the ham-fisted. I've body-prepped and painted two fiberglass cars and as a novice, I used power equipment for only two things, 1) to grind out a repair or crack for fiberglass repair and 2) to rough cut the fiberglass repair down to profile. Everything else was strictly performed by hand sanding with various blocks and boards.

mrg

I also used the Kleen Strip aircraft stripper along with lacquer thinner clean up on my car. Tedious and messy requiring several applications, the stripper got the job done.

After panel replacement and body work the body was re-primed and top coated at the paint shop. ..
Now 5 years since, no paint issues have shown up.
​​​​​​​John

xkeots

i used 800 grade paper on a da on my 77 till I hit primer then finished by hand. But 77 is SMC not glass.
might go blade. What grade paper you use? Also dry or wet/dry?
Thanx
​​​​​​​jax

MOXIE62

Do not let people scare you about using a stripper. Follow directions and the paint peels right off using a plastic scraper. May take more then one coat of stripper. I've removed lots of paint and never had one problem with paint lifting or anything else.

Frankie the Fink

Least destructive approach IMO; I don't know how the razor blade guys do it without gouging the surface, I can't....

I've seen a dozen fiberglass cars chemically stripped -- it works fine with no ill effects. Nobody would use it if it did

wmf62

razor blade...

Bill

mike coletta

Bill,

We have had this discussion. RAZOR BLADES WILL ONLY WORK ON OLD LACQUER.!!!! You will hurt yourself if you try to peel any of the catalyzed paints with a razor. You also cannot remove primer with a razor. I've stripped more cars than I care to remember. The easiest way is a GOOD chemical stripper. (aircraft).

xkeots

i tried a gallon of redi strip aircraft on my 77 and it did nothing but make the paint look like I waxed it. I had to DA with 100 paper and up.
Did hood, both doors and both bumpers so far. Wish I was younger.
jax