I used the chemical stripper. If you follow the directions it works pretty good and comes off easily.

 

I took the razor blade method as well. It took about a week of a couple hours a night to get the job done. A nice rolling stool, some good tunes, a pack of razor blades (change often) and a nice comfortable handle is all the equipment I needed. As big of a job as it was, it was actually pretty therapeutic.

It was a bear in the complex curve areas as well as other spots that you can't get a good starting point. I only went down to the primer coat in my striping.

Dave

 

Pics of chem strip...I did the car in sections.

Before


During the process


30-40 min later



The car 1.5 years later

 

Im in the process and i must say it is a pain in the A$$ i have the captin Lee's stripper and a razor blade but it takes a long time even with the stripper. but one thing i found out when i first started to strip it is paint stripper and and sort of breeze,wind etc you better befully cover up other wise

 

I did the the razor blade method on mine.

 

I used a combination of Citristrip chem stripper and razor blades. The temperature outside the car has to be warm enough for the stripper to work - otherwise it will just sit there and do nothing. Like the pic before - it helps to put plastic over the stripper to keep the wind away. The sun will soak it up fast too. Chemical stripping requires a lot of patience because you will be tempted to scrape it off before its time to do so. Let the stripper do the work!
Grind down the 2 corners of the razor blade before using them - just rub them on the concrete a few times on each side. As the other post states, Change the Blades Often! - don't try to stretch the mileage out of them. You'll get good enough that you will know when to change them.
Good luck!

 

i've restored many cars.......nice cars too! mid-year big blocks etc. i've always used the aircraft chemical stripper and it is quick and effective. "they" say you can't use it on fibreglass, but thats just not true, you'll get right down to the original glass in no time. without any damage. if you have any areas where there was previous damage or work, it might festor up a bit, but those are areas that need re-work and examined anyway. JMO, rick

 

I used Captn Lees stripper on mine. It took it down do hte primer coat and then I sanded that off by hand. The car then sat for 2 months before painting. 2.5 years later and the paint still looks great.

 

Capt'n Lee's didnt work very well on my vette as I had numerous layers of paint to remove. I switched to Kleen Strip fiberglass safe stripper and that worked great. I brushed it on heavy and let it sit about an hour before removing. I scrapped it off then put on another application and let it sit for about an hour or more. That's just how long it took. Then, I scraped it off. In a few stubborn places, I still had to use a razor, but it was easy once it was gummy. It took it down to the GM black primer nicely. I finished with a scuff pad and stripper to get it all off. Then, another scuff pad while washing off scuffing as I went to make sure I got all the stripper out. I did the whole car in one long day. I didn't cover it up with plastic like one poster showed. I suppose that's not a bad way to keep fumes down. I just kept my garage doors open (in summer) with a fan on and did the hood and doors outside in the shade. I let the car sit for a couple weeks before doing any bodywork. Actually, it was a couple months Use a respirator if there are a lot of fumes in your work area ...and get some high quality neoprene gloves (2 pr). Stripper is wicked stuff.

In defense of Captn Lees, it worked better on the door jambs where there wasn't as many coats of paint. I found the whole spray bottle thing took a lot longer and less precise than just slopping stripper on with a 3" brush. Plus, I could get the Kleen Strip locally and didn't have to pay shipping.

Soda stripping would be a really good way to go if you wanted to start bodywork right away. Also, the fumes and stripper are pretty dangerous. That might be another factor to go soda ...especially if you can get it done for $400-$500 ish.

If it's original paint, it should wetsand out really easily though.

Mark G

 

I used Bix...worked like a champ, made to be used on fiberglass, cheap, and available at Home Depot.

 

I went with walnut shell blasting. I think it was $700/$800 for the whole car including the doors, tops, clip, etc...

 

I used a DA sander and razor blades. I found that the swing away type holder worked the best, I don't know why, but I tried all of them. The one I am refering to is an aluminum body with the blade which swings into the handle for storage. Once I found the right blade holder, I was a able to strip the paint in about 8 hours or so. The areas that would not scrape, I DA'd. I personally like this route, b/c you do not have the liquid mess of stripper to worry about leaving behind in the nooks and crannies of the of the body. Just watch the DA around the corners. Watch what you are doing and keep the DA perpindicular (or flat against the surface) you are working. Sand up to the edge, and not over it (round over). You may want to invest into an electric sander that you can do the corners with (I used a black and decker "mouse", but a much nicer modle is Fein multitool.)

 

What I found with the chemical stripping to speed it up was to scrape a small spot so that the chemical can get under the paint to do its work. If you spray on top it takes quite a while and a few coats to work. If you spray it to a small scraped area, you'll see it start to spider web under the paint. I used a squirt bottle and a quick coat to get the spider webbing started and you'll see the paint want to start to pull away. I then go back over and spray another light coat on that.

Sit back and drink a beer for a bit then go back with a plastic or metal scraper and it was like spreading butter on a slice of bread. Put a drop cloth or something under the car to collect all the paint droppings.