macatzr1

What's the best way to remove the original paint on a 1978 Pace Car?
I tried plastic/glass media blasting, did not work
Any suggestions would be very helpful.
Mike

C3 4ME

I used Capt'n Lee's stripper, and I got it from Zip Corvette, because they're local to me. It worked great, and 7 years later, no complaints. I did do the stripping myself, so feel free to ask questions.

John 65

Used Capt Lees also on several of my vettes. Currently using it on my 77. Never a problem. Wash with water when finished. On the rubber bumpers just use some scotch brite pads and lacquer thinner. Google it first for the best price.

David Mc

I thought scraping the the preferred method on Corvettes. Am I wrong?

Mick71

#1 on Captain Lee's. I also used plastic squeegees to avoid digging into the glass.

rogman16

Citristrip, Aircraft Stripper for fiberglass, plastic putty knives, 5+ gallons of Lacquer thinner, and boxes of scotchbrites and shop rags...

Rogman

bmprhmpr

I agree with rodman, Aircraft paint stripper, apply heavy coat,let sit for 10 min. or so. I used razor blades in a holder and lifted old paint off. This some times does not remove factory primer, use scotch pads (burgundy color) and rub with laquer thinner or paint thinner, the paint thinner nutralizes stripper while removeing primmer to bare fiberglass. Remember you are also sanding the surface when useing scotch pads, go easy and take your time doing small areas at a time. Wipe area with clean thinner. Its a messy job. Good luck, Frank. ( PM me if you need help )

mrmagrath

Razor scraper with the corners slightly rounded off.

birdsmith

Now, you may wonder why I'd think I was qualified to offer an opinion about this, but on a Corvette with the original paint (and no other paint) still on it I would most definitely avoid the temptation to scrape the paint off, rounded corners or otherwise. OE paint was a high-quality lacquer that is tough as nails and not easy to shave through, making it easy to gouge up the fiberglass. The time you save by shaving vs. chemical stripping would likely be list on the back end with extra bodywork.

I'm not saying you can't use a carefully-shaped and sharpened putty knife to remove the softened-with-stripper paint-just be careful not to let the blade dig in while shaving off the gooey mess.

As Rogman emphasized, in the long run you're better off stripping all you can with fiberglass-safe stripper then scrubbing what remains off with Scotchbrite and lacquer thinner. You will end up with a clean, undamaged surface...my $1.380

mengelstad

just my .02 but i removed 95% of the paint on my car with no damage to fiberglass with a heated pressure washer it took me about 2 hours and 15 gallons of diesel fuel then a couple hours finishing up a few spots

Korevette

I too was faced with this same question of the original paint and two refinish jobs applied on my 1976 Silver Corvette.

I had considered 'media blasting' and 'paint stipper' although I am leary with this on a fiberglass car as it does get aggresive. If you are using stipper, mask all the jambs and place a triple strip of masking tape on the 'gaps' to eliminate 'creep' of the stripper onto the edges (strip this with sand paper) and jambs. Lacquer thinner is a good clean up.

After all options were exhausted for my 'best case scenario' I elected to strip down with a DA orbital with course grit down to the gel coat. I am glad I did this as I was able to rebuild back to 'specs' with poly styrene, epoxy and K2 primer to create a solid 'foundation' for my primer and top coat.

Sand, sand and sand. The price of a quality compressor and sander will pay off in the end.

razman

plus one on the Aircraft paint stripper, used it on every vette i've stripped (probably 10?) works great...and not the fiberglass wussy stuff either, used the regular Aircraft striper, putty knife, and coarse steel wool. comes right off.

PS....rubber gloves are highly recommended, that or a high tolerance for burning pain until you can't take it one second longer and RUN to a sink to rinse it off (put out the fire) just sayin....

rogman16

Yepper, forgot about the boxes of gloves, goggles and dust masks...

Rogman

coreyt

I am in the middle of sanding the the original and one repaint off my 75' vette. So far slow and steady with a block sander has worked fine for me. I am wondering about lead based paint, I have a good respirator that i use just because they look cool. does anyone know if 1975 white paint had lead in it? it was repainted later and i figure that coat probably doesnt contain lead. thanks in advance.

540 vette

Just wear a respirator no matter what the paint is. Unless you do it everyday for years I don´t think it will hurt you.

coreyt

Thanks, Thats always been my thought too, the only reason i am a bit concerned now is my clothes are pretty dusty at the end of the day and my wife is pregnant, I try to keep my Clothes in quarantine until they are washed but I was wondering if there were any additional precautions i should/could be taking.

540 vette

I have an area where I leave some other cloths. I change out of the dusty ones and put the others on. Then I go and shower. I usually wash the dusty ones each day. I try to seal off the door that leads into the house so no dust enters that room.
Take good care of that baby and good luck.

coreyt

thanks for the good advise.
~Corey

bmprhmpr

I was told by a vette resto. expert there is no "gel coat" on corvettes. In reply to Korevette.