hawgn68

Well, I've given up trying to strip, razorblade and sand the old paint off my '69 project. The current finish scoffs at Cap'n Lee's Spray Strip and the "Majic Stipper" from the local PPG store. The old clearcoat slowly crystalizes to sand and the base coat just forms small cracks. The stripper doesn't even soften the old primer/surfacer. Razor blades just break off trying to get traction on the thick paint. Sanding with D/A sander is creating waves I'll probably never get out. The old paint seems to adhere well, but I've got numerous hairline cracks in stress areas (not in the fiberglass, just the paint and primer) and I don't want to have a new job ruined with cracking from underneath. So now I'm ready to fork over reasonable cash to get the thing blasted.

Anybody know or can recommend a place that can blast without ruining the panels? The body is completely off and ready, should be no prep/masking required. Thanks.

Jimbo

Michel B

Man,, what did they paint your car with,,lololl I stripped mine this winter, there was about 7 coats of all sorts of crap, some places close to 1/8inch think !!! I purchased two boxs of 50 razors, went through close to 70 of them. IMO it was the best way about it. There is no real secret, you will have panel damage to some degree, even blasting. I know because all my smaller parts where plastic media blasted by myself in a perfect environment,, all precautions taken,, and still some damage.
Also I would be carefull in assuming your hairline cracks are only in the paint,, there is a reason for cracking.

Belgian1979vette

take some good advice and don't blast a corvette. Ask me how I know ... Sand sand sand sand and did i mention sand ?

hawgn68

OK, Belgian '79, I'll bite. What happened when you had yours blasted? I'm debating whether to put good paint over the old, or to get it down to fiberglass. Here's a pic of the 5 layers involved (including clear coat). I'm just not sure what to do.

Jimbo

Belgian1979vette

I had about 4 layers of paint on it. I went to several forums to get an idea on the best way to remove it. Basically there are only 4 :
- chemical stripping
- sanding
- blasting
- razor

On a C3 it is a good idea to remove all of the paint and primer since most of these cars show bubbles in the paint, because of the chemicals using in the manufacturing to release the parts from the molds (insufficient drying etc.)

Chemical didn't work on the last layers that were on mine, so this was a no go. My painter also adviced against it since he was sure some of it would remain in nooks and cranny's (if this is spelled correct). He suggested either sanding or blasting it.

I took a look at the razor stripping, but it caused to much damaged in my opinion and sanding was a lott of work with the 4 layers on it.

So after a lott of discussion I finally found someone that was specialized in sandblasting at low pressure and with media. I gave him a piece of my lower valance that I had to replace anyway and it came back OK. I took the piece to my painter and he said that he could live with the result.

So I gave my body to the blaster...(big mistake). I told him not to take any risks and to start on a door panel first, since they are easy to replace. I specifically asked him to stop at the first sign of damage. The job would take about 14 days to get the car back.

I called him after 14 days and he said it was ok (?) and he would deliver it next friday to the painter.

I went there and I almost sank throught the floor.... the body was completly destroyed... There were holes on some pieces. It had a look as if it was crocodilleleather of some sort....

I was furious and to make the story short, I went to court for this. It took me about 4 years to get the expert to make a report and say that he was responsible and to get an estimate of the damage (that I did not agree upon) The lawyer got the case on the roll (courtappointment) as they say here, but 14 days after he got his supina (do not know how to spell this in correct English) the guy went bankrupt.

I got reemboursed partly by his insurancecompany.

Luckily for me about 1 month after he destroyed my body I decided to buy another vette which was not in a driveble condition but with a good body and used it as a donor car. (cost was about 6500 €)

This body had about 3 layers on it. So I sanded the whole thing.... damn big job, but I got it done with very good results.

Yet ... the story is still not finished... when I took out the windscreen I discovered birdcagerot.....only this time there was no way back, so I first dismantled my blasted body to the bare cage, so I had a good idea of how these cars where built and then I did a complete birdcage transplant.

The body is back on the chassis right now after an ordeal of about nearly 7 years !!! But results are perfect and I'm starting to do the primers right now.

So my advice after all of this is, do not take any risks. I don't say that it is technically not possible, but it all depends on the guy using the tools and since you cannot stand next to him all the time, i would not risk your precious car....

I have some pictures of the destroyed body somewhere if you are interested.

Yves

Michel B

What a nigtmare !!!

hawgn68; I would just add that no matter what method you dicide on, once the car is bare, the body work beggins, what I'm saying is you no longer have streight panels, the door/hood seams will be off etc etc. Everybody man has his own secret and the time and effort given here will pay off. There is an excellent tool on ebay for sanding, its a flexible 17x2/34 inch long board. Eastwood sells them also, but they are cheeper on ebay. The owner of the shop who will paint mine cannot believe how well this board works. Our cars are full of curves,,lol
keep us posted

Belgian1979vette

You said it a nightmare... The ordeal I went through gives a whole new meaning to this word and the word moneypit. However, if you fall in love with vettes there is mostly no way back

Michel B

Yves; I believe you have painted your vette Silver ?,, would you have a pic by any chance ?? Mine is being primed tomorow if all goes well, and next month its going to the paint shop, It will be metalic silver.

Belgian1979vette

You mean a picture when it was still complete. I will have to search in my archives. I'll get back to you.

Silver is a good color as I'm keeping mine in that.

1stCorvette69

Hello I am a Neebe to this site . I have over 35 yrs in the restoration of old cars.. The newest and the Best way to get a Corvette stripped is A new system in comparison, Soda Blasting.. They use it on Boat bottoms and also for stripping cars ect. this is truly the answer to a lot of prayers.All media washes away with No residue Go on line key word Soda blasting they hav video demos you can watch.. Regards Mark