i know this has been gone over 100 times but i'm getting ready to strip paint on my 68 vette could i think it still has oringinal paint it looks like just primer and base coat what is the best way to strip i have never done this before any help will be thank full thanks pete

 

Are you sure it needs to be stripped? If no body work is necessary you may be able to get away with just sanding it and putting the new paint right on top of it. I painted a Corvette this way 10 years ago and it still looks great.

 

I used a razor blade on the body and stripper on the hood and t-tops, (they were painted with rustoleum ) and the headlight surrounds and mirrors.

If I were to do it again, I would look into soda blasting.

 

I did razors and DA Sander.

Before:



During:





After:



Very pleased in how it turned out and it is all in the prep!

 

I used the chem stripper and had no issues. Paint has been on the car for a little more than a year and a half and I have not had any issues. Paint looks great and it was easier than the blades...IMO

 

I agree with razor blades, because the original primer coats, particularly the red oxide, are very durable and worth saving.

I've never been a proponent of "stripping to bare glass", can cause more problems down the road.

Steve

 

http://www.corvette-restoration.com/...Tech_Paper.pdf

 

Wait tell the paint gets wet and all the paint runs off the car! I heard the guy that painted your car has no idea what he was doing!

At least he learned by the time he did mine!

 

Hey, at least my decals didnt come from walmart

 

razor blades, plus use shop vac while you are using them, no mess that way.

 

When you guys say you use razor blades, do you hold the tiny little blade in your fingers and scrap off the paint, or is there a blade handle that you attach the blade into and scrape the paint off with that and are there some better then others?
Walmart has corvette decals?

 

I used both a 'Richard' brand scraper holder as well as a dollar store holder. They both worked well, and I bought probably went through 15 - 20 razor blades but I wasn't counting.

Tight curves are tough with a razor, so I decided to use Cap'n Lees. I don't think that stripper will cause a problem as long as you use lots of water and wipe down with a laquer thinner afterwards.

Take a razor and a beer into the garage. I'll bet you will have most of a fender or panel stripped before you think "Oops, I guess I'm painting my car then..."

 

So if I take a razor and a beer in to my garage and begin stripping my red 77 I should see signs that it was once an Orange 77 if the car was not stripped to the glass when it was painted red. How cool is that. Any suggestions how far down to go? Meaning, if I can get through the red, find the orange, how far beyond the orange would you suggest I scrape. I get really motivated to work when I have a beer, that is why I ask.
David

 

I know that a lot of people have used the razor method but it sure seems like a lot of work. I mean a razor blade is only 1 1/2 inches wide at best and you have a lot of surface to cover. I saw an article in the Corvette restorer about media blasting and that seemed like the ticket. I removed all of my trim, bumpers and interior, stuff your going to remove anyway to paint it had it towed of to the blaster. He had down to the laquer primer and back to me in less than a week and I was sanding it for primer. No cut fingers or messy striper I just blew out and vacuumed it. But he only charged me $400 which seem like a deal to me I know in other areas you may not get done it that cheap.

 

But he only charged me $400 which seem like a deal to me I know in other areas you may not get done it that cheap.[/QUOTE]

I may have to drive mine to Wisconsin. I don't seem to have anyone here in Pennsylvania that would do it that inexpensively. If I am wrong and someone within 50 miles of Easton can and does do that please do share...
David

 

You know you have a point there!

 

If the person does not know what they are doing when the media blast, you will have a bigger problem than just paint at that point. I checked around and they all said yeah we have done corvettes before, that does not mean they guy doing the work has and I did not want to risk it.

You would really be surprised how easy the razor works. Once you get started, it literally just flies off with not much effort.

 

I was quoted $800 for soda blasting around Frederick Maryland. That did not include tow or primer. Are the T-Tops a good place to start?

 

I know that seems like a lot there is only one guy in my area who does blasting and it's illegal to blast in the Madison city limits but he is out in the country a little ways and has always been reasonable if not down right cheap. I started with stripper on my hood and it was a mess and the paint was not coming off. I think that it had been repainted in lacquer at one time and the paint was really hard.

 

It comes down to how much elbow grease you want to put into it, and your budget. If you don't mind a little hard work and it is original paint, you should be able to wetsand it with 180 grit (3m wet or dry sandpaper) wrapped around a paint stick. If you would rather let someone else do the hard work and just pay them, then blasting with soda might be a way to go. I would stay away from plastic blasting on a Vette, but some do it. On steel, it's fantastic. Doing is with razors may work faster in some areas. I find it is easy to nick the surface around the contours, but it might be an option on the flat areas. Lacquer is brittle.

Sanding it shouldn't be that much work if it's original paint. Lacquer is thin paint and easy to sand. But 'work' is subjective. To some guys, anything that causes them to break a sweat is too much work. It depends on you. If you do it, you can stop at the primer. The nice thing about doing it this way is you are doing prep work at the same time and it'll dramatically cut down the amount of sanding work you need to do at the primer stage (compared to blasting). You could use a DA too, but you won't get the paint as 'flat' as you will with a paint stick (or a rubber block) and sand paper.

How much time are we talking about? Well, to wetsand it down, it shouldn't take more than a day if you really get on it (provided it hasn't been repainted) ...or weekend if you do a couple panels at a time and watch a game here and there. Same goes for stripping. I stripped mine in a day with stripper. Guys who claim stripping caused paint problems later on are not informed or didn't follow the proper proceedures. Shops have been stripping with stripper for years before blasting was an option. I've personally been involved with dozens of vette projects that were chemically stripped and not had any problems when done properly.

One thing to consider about soda blasting is you could actually be setting yourself up for MORE work downstream if the blaster doesn't do a good job or the blasting depth isn't even ..which is the hardest thing to control. Then you'll spend a lot more time during the primer sanding stage trying to get the surface flat and straight. Blasting can also knock the nice sharp edges off the top of the fenders and around the T-top area if not careful.

So ya have to weigh the costs and work and see what fits your style best. Good luck

Mark G