what are the opinions on blasting the paint off the BODY, not the metal parts like the frame? if it can be done, what kind of blast material and pressure do you recommend? thanks

 

I would personally use a chemical stripper, as opposed to a sandblasted media. I'd be too worried I might crack, or blast through the fiberglass. That's just my opinion. I don't know much of anything about body work.

 

I know there are specific media for fiberglass but it doesn't work well on cars loaded with paint. If it only has the original paint it will work well but again chemical stripping is really a better idea. :cheers:

 

I would also like to hear the answer to this question. I have heard that the only proper way to strip is to hand sand on SMC.

Pete

 

Soda blast it. I hear that the paint can be blasted off a soda can without distorting it. I had some pieces done when I fixed my 94, they looked new when he was done.

 

I agree with moffitt...I had mine soda blasted and it came out fine...But you still need to know what you are doing.

 

I've sand-blasted metal, is there any trick or extra skill to do fiberglass? Could I practice on something, like a soda-can or something?

Whats the soda stand for in soda-blasting?

Thanks!

 

Sodium Bicarbonate ...like when you get an upset tummy :D It is not an abrasive act that allowed it to clean as well as sand, but rather miniature explosions that take place as each soda particle hit the surface. Unless you have practiced and have the proper tools, I would say leave it to the pros.

 

Im with Jon on this one,leave it to the pros if you get the body blasted.Its easy for rookies to make many mistakes.

I also do NOT recommend strippers.Especially on factory baked paint jobs,it will barely bubble it off and the scrapers will scratch the fiberglass.It will be more work then you can imagine.If a car was stripped once and repainted,strippers may take that off,but the factory paint is baked and very tough to bubble off with strippers formulated for SCM and fiberglass bodies.Anything stronger can ruin the car.
Ive tried them on spare panels to see if they worked and they had a tough time eating the paint off.It even says on the container not recommended for factory paint.

They tell you to use plastic scrapers but they dont lift the paint like metal ones do.

The best way aside from blasting is sanding the car down.Doing it by hand takes too long and can be done with a DA sander and use different grits as you get closer to the factory primer,go finer etc,to avoid scratching into the glass.
Then you can use a file board and then block sand the remaining off.

Also,If you go to the tech tips on the home page,Lars wrote a good how to on bodywork and paint and he also doesnt suggest strippers.Sand,sand,sand...very tedious and time consuming.It took me about 3 hours to take the door paint down to the factory primer with a DA then block sanding.Lars doesnt suggest DA but to me,it did the job fine and I stopped long before the primer came through.
Im sure a pro may be faster but I had to be careful not to oversand.

Hope this helps..its a big project either way.
:)