Need help with body prep before painting
12-27-2012, 11:55 AM
#1
Drifting
Thread Starter
Need help with body prep before painting
I've been thinking about starting this on my '77. At some point I want to have the car repainted and trying to save some money by doing some of the prep myself. I've seen other posts that talk about chemicals and bead blasting etc. I've heard and read that the chemicals may come back to haunt you and ruin the new paint in the future. Gel coat reapplied or not since the new paints do a good job sealing the fiberglass. Bead blasting also has its negative if you don't apply it properly so it seems more questions than answers.
How much of this is really necessary if you just want a decent weekend street car. I'm not looking for a $10K paint job. My car has the original paint, no body damage and I thought you could just sand it down, prime it and put a good paint job over it.
How much of this is really necessary if you just want a decent weekend street car. I'm not looking for a $10K paint job. My car has the original paint, no body damage and I thought you could just sand it down, prime it and put a good paint job over it.
12-27-2012, 12:04 PM
#2
Maybe this will help;
http://www.corvette-restoration.com/...o_articles.htm
At the top of the page is a paint and bodywork section.
Go to the paper titled " Corvette Body & Paint Repair Basics" by Lars Grimsrud.
That should be a good start.
http://www.corvette-restoration.com/...o_articles.htm
At the top of the page is a paint and bodywork section.
Go to the paper titled " Corvette Body & Paint Repair Basics" by Lars Grimsrud.
That should be a good start.
12-27-2012, 01:43 PM
#3
Team Owner
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...Gel coat reapplied or not...
12-27-2012, 02:20 PM
#4
Drifting
Thread Starter
Maybe this will help;
http://www.corvette-restoration.com/...o_articles.htm
At the top of the page is a paint and bodywork section.
Go to the paper titled " Corvette Body & Paint Repair Basics" by Lars Grimsrud.
That should be a good start.
http://www.corvette-restoration.com/...o_articles.htm
At the top of the page is a paint and bodywork section.
Go to the paper titled " Corvette Body & Paint Repair Basics" by Lars Grimsrud.
That should be a good start.
12-27-2012, 11:17 PM
#5
Le Mans Master
[QUOTE=Easy Mike;1582668418]Only if the panels are not clean prior to prime/paint. I've stripped two C3s with Auto Spray Strip and never had any problems.
Same here, never had a problem with it. Doing my 77 now and it works fine. I take it all the way down to the bare glass. Remove all the parts you can prior to bringing it to the shop, put them back on yourself if possible. This should help save a few bucks. If by chance you have a compressor and the body is real clean have you considered priming and block sanding it yourself ? Not high tech, although time consuming. Good luck.
Same here, never had a problem with it. Doing my 77 now and it works fine. I take it all the way down to the bare glass. Remove all the parts you can prior to bringing it to the shop, put them back on yourself if possible. This should help save a few bucks. If by chance you have a compressor and the body is real clean have you considered priming and block sanding it yourself ? Not high tech, although time consuming. Good luck.
12-28-2012, 12:14 AM
#7
Burning Brakes
I have a question in regards to the link given. In that link regarding stripping paint, it states, "Never use “Aircraft Stripper” on a ‘Vette." Now, I have been told by several major auto paint and supply places up here that Aircraft Stripper" is the only one to use because it is, I believe they said, a waterbassed stripper. I picked up a gallon of "The good stuff" and I'd hate to not be able to use it on my '79.
Any thoughts here?
Any thoughts here?
12-28-2012, 08:28 AM
#8
Race Director
Aircraft stripper works great on original corvette panels. It should not be used on gelcoated (aftermarket) panels. The stripper dissolves the gelcoat and makes a mess.
For gelcoated panels Kleenstrip makes a version called "aircraft stripper for fiberglass".
With either version it is very important to neutralize the chemical with plenty of water.
BTW, if you get any on your skin, don't rub it and try to wipe it off with a rag. You need to wash it off immediately with water.
For gelcoated panels Kleenstrip makes a version called "aircraft stripper for fiberglass".
With either version it is very important to neutralize the chemical with plenty of water.
BTW, if you get any on your skin, don't rub it and try to wipe it off with a rag. You need to wash it off immediately with water.
12-28-2012, 05:00 PM
#9
Melting Slicks
I used razor blades for most of the paint removal and then used Aircraft for Fiberglass for the remaining spots. I didn't want to risk and problems by using the original Aircraft stripper so I can't say anything pro or con about it.
12-28-2012, 11:27 PM
#10
Melting Slicks
Now that you've had some time to digest all the other posts here, this is what I spent the last two years of my life figuring out...
If all you are really dealing with is the factory primer and topcoat, 'Aircraft Stripper' will take it off reasonably easily, but don't give in to the temptation to use anything stronger than that. The high levels of methylene chloride in regular paint strippers will destroy the fiberglass. And if you try to strip more than one coat of paint you're in for a battle; it will only take it off a coat at a time.
The easiest (and most expensive) way to get the paint off of your Vette is soda blasting, and ONLY soad blasting. ANY other type of abrasive media blasting will instantly reduce the car to powder.
I tried shaving the paint off of mine with a well-sharpened putty knife, and that was surprisingly effective at getting the top two paint jobs off of the car, but once I hit the factory stuff that was as far as I got. AND I did leave quite a few little gouges in the glass that I had to go back and fill in later. After that it was hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours of SANDING. By HAND. If you try to sand one of these cars with a DA or other such powered implement you will trash the fiberglass in short order, so don't attempt it or you'll be sorry.
If you spend a little time on "My Personal Paint Thread" over in the Tech section you can see just about every possible method of how to (and how NOT to ) remove the paint from your Vette. It took me over a year of weekends to get mine ready for primer. Bottom line, you gotta ask yourself (1) "Does my Vette really need a paint job?" (2) "Do I really need to remove all the old paint to repaint it?"
The original factory lacquer is actually a very good base to put a new paint job onto since it's generally very well fused to the car. Even if you want to change colors, it's a LOT easier to scuff that with, say, 220 grit paper to form a base for a new primer coat than to go to all the hassle of removing it. I stripped mine completely because I was going back to the original color and it already had three previous paint jobs on it; it was time. But getting all that old paint off of the car is probably the most difficult job I've ever done to a car, and trust me, I'll NEVER go through this again.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do...
If all you are really dealing with is the factory primer and topcoat, 'Aircraft Stripper' will take it off reasonably easily, but don't give in to the temptation to use anything stronger than that. The high levels of methylene chloride in regular paint strippers will destroy the fiberglass. And if you try to strip more than one coat of paint you're in for a battle; it will only take it off a coat at a time.
The easiest (and most expensive) way to get the paint off of your Vette is soda blasting, and ONLY soad blasting. ANY other type of abrasive media blasting will instantly reduce the car to powder.
I tried shaving the paint off of mine with a well-sharpened putty knife, and that was surprisingly effective at getting the top two paint jobs off of the car, but once I hit the factory stuff that was as far as I got. AND I did leave quite a few little gouges in the glass that I had to go back and fill in later. After that it was hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours of SANDING. By HAND. If you try to sand one of these cars with a DA or other such powered implement you will trash the fiberglass in short order, so don't attempt it or you'll be sorry.
If you spend a little time on "My Personal Paint Thread" over in the Tech section you can see just about every possible method of how to (and how NOT to ) remove the paint from your Vette. It took me over a year of weekends to get mine ready for primer. Bottom line, you gotta ask yourself (1) "Does my Vette really need a paint job?" (2) "Do I really need to remove all the old paint to repaint it?"
The original factory lacquer is actually a very good base to put a new paint job onto since it's generally very well fused to the car. Even if you want to change colors, it's a LOT easier to scuff that with, say, 220 grit paper to form a base for a new primer coat than to go to all the hassle of removing it. I stripped mine completely because I was going back to the original color and it already had three previous paint jobs on it; it was time. But getting all that old paint off of the car is probably the most difficult job I've ever done to a car, and trust me, I'll NEVER go through this again.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do...
12-29-2012, 12:04 PM
#11
Melting Slicks
Birdsmith's paint thread, best ever!
Now that you've had some time to digest all the other posts here, this is what I spent the last two years of my life figuring out...
If all you are really dealing with is the factory primer and topcoat, 'Aircraft Stripper' will take it off reasonably easily, but don't give in to the temptation to use anything stronger than that. The high levels of methylene chloride in regular paint strippers will destroy the fiberglass. And if you try to strip more than one coat of paint you're in for a battle; it will only take it off a coat at a time.
The easiest (and most expensive) way to get the paint off of your Vette is soda blasting, and ONLY soad blasting. ANY other type of abrasive media blasting will instantly reduce the car to powder.
I tried shaving the paint off of mine with a well-sharpened putty knife, and that was surprisingly effective at getting the top two paint jobs off of the car, but once I hit the factory stuff that was as far as I got. AND I did leave quite a few little gouges in the glass that I had to go back and fill in later. After that it was hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours of SANDING. By HAND. If you try to sand one of these cars with a DA or other such powered implement you will trash the fiberglass in short order, so don't attempt it or you'll be sorry.
If you spend a little time on "My Personal Paint Thread" over in the Tech section you can see just about every possible method of how to (and how NOT to ) remove the paint from your Vette. It took me over a year of weekends to get mine ready for primer. Bottom line, you gotta ask yourself (1) "Does my Vette really need a paint job?" (2) "Do I really need to remove all the old paint to repaint it?"
The original factory lacquer is actually a very good base to put a new paint job onto since it's generally very well fused to the car. Even if you want to change colors, it's a LOT easier to scuff that with, say, 220 grit paper to form a base for a new primer coat than to go to all the hassle of removing it. I stripped mine completely because I was going back to the original color and it already had three previous paint jobs on it; it was time. But getting all that old paint off of the car is probably the most difficult job I've ever done to a car, and trust me, I'll NEVER go through this again.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do...
If all you are really dealing with is the factory primer and topcoat, 'Aircraft Stripper' will take it off reasonably easily, but don't give in to the temptation to use anything stronger than that. The high levels of methylene chloride in regular paint strippers will destroy the fiberglass. And if you try to strip more than one coat of paint you're in for a battle; it will only take it off a coat at a time.
The easiest (and most expensive) way to get the paint off of your Vette is soda blasting, and ONLY soad blasting. ANY other type of abrasive media blasting will instantly reduce the car to powder.
I tried shaving the paint off of mine with a well-sharpened putty knife, and that was surprisingly effective at getting the top two paint jobs off of the car, but once I hit the factory stuff that was as far as I got. AND I did leave quite a few little gouges in the glass that I had to go back and fill in later. After that it was hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours of SANDING. By HAND. If you try to sand one of these cars with a DA or other such powered implement you will trash the fiberglass in short order, so don't attempt it or you'll be sorry.
If you spend a little time on "My Personal Paint Thread" over in the Tech section you can see just about every possible method of how to (and how NOT to ) remove the paint from your Vette. It took me over a year of weekends to get mine ready for primer. Bottom line, you gotta ask yourself (1) "Does my Vette really need a paint job?" (2) "Do I really need to remove all the old paint to repaint it?"
The original factory lacquer is actually a very good base to put a new paint job onto since it's generally very well fused to the car. Even if you want to change colors, it's a LOT easier to scuff that with, say, 220 grit paper to form a base for a new primer coat than to go to all the hassle of removing it. I stripped mine completely because I was going back to the original color and it already had three previous paint jobs on it; it was time. But getting all that old paint off of the car is probably the most difficult job I've ever done to a car, and trust me, I'll NEVER go through this again.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do...
12-29-2012, 10:07 PM
#12
Drifting
Thread Starter
The original factory lacquer is actually a very good base to put a new paint job onto since it's generally very well fused to the car. Even if you want to change colors, it's a LOT easier to scuff that with, say, 220 grit paper to form a base for a new primer coat than to go to all the hassle of removing it.
Bingo! Years back (early 80's) I had a '79 vette and some one keyed it while I was at the mall. The car was all original paint and I remember having a tough time with my insurance company as all the shops wanted to strip it down. The insurance wouldn't cover it. I finally went to another local body shop that always had some nice cars parked up front and got a quote. The kept the original paint on the car, sanded it down and primed it before painting it with I believe and epoxy enamel. The only parts removed were the bumpers due to the flex paint. The car came out great and it always had a wet look.
Bingo! Years back (early 80's) I had a '79 vette and some one keyed it while I was at the mall. The car was all original paint and I remember having a tough time with my insurance company as all the shops wanted to strip it down. The insurance wouldn't cover it. I finally went to another local body shop that always had some nice cars parked up front and got a quote. The kept the original paint on the car, sanded it down and primed it before painting it with I believe and epoxy enamel. The only parts removed were the bumpers due to the flex paint. The car came out great and it always had a wet look.
12-30-2012, 04:13 PM
#13
Melting Slicks
Consider that at this time even the newest C3 is 30 years old and so is the factory paint (if it is still there). This is well past the "sell by" date on even a garage queen lacquer paint job. It is your car and your choice, but if I were to go through the pain of preparing my own car for paint I would strip the thing naked and start fresh from bare glass. Come to think of it... I did exactly that on my 1977!
