Paint Removal

[Havok1]

Alright guys and gals.  I'm getting ready to start this whole restoration process.  In thinking about the paint removal process, I want to take the back to bare metal so I can see where the problem/rust areas are going to be.  Understand that I'm going to try and do the majority of the work myself at home in my garage or driveway.  I don't have a sand blaster since I don't think my little air compressor will have the cfs to handle it (I need to check).  Most of the paint removal/clean-up I've done so far (on parts and such) has been with a drill and either a wire brush attachment or hard sponge looking thing (don't know the name) attachment.  Not crazy about the wire brush attachment since it scars the metal.  The other attachment doesn't.

Anyway, I wanted to get your ideas on paint removal methods I could use.  Thanks.

[daveSanborn]

80 grit paper on a DA sander would make quick work of the job, but those 3M "paint removal" wheels on a quality drill aren't bad either.

You're right about your little air compressor.  It likely won't be up to the task for sandblasting.

[Havok1]

The 3M wheel is what I was talking about earlier.

[daveSanborn]

Yep, you'll go through more than a few of those when it's all said and done.  Might need a new drill too!  The hard part of using those wheels is when you need to get the paint out of various cracks and crevices on the car.  The wheels work great for large flat areas, but say for instance you need to remove the paint from valley of the trunk seal.... the wheel don't fit so good in there.

[Sluggo]

80 grit, various wire brushes, propane torch, and a shat load of time.

[napaguy]

Have you considered sending the car out to be blasted? Its not for everybody but I am glad I did it. If not then autobody.com has some good tips.

[cmayna]

Pat has a good idea, but only if you were planning to take the car totally apart down to a rolling chassis.  That is what I did for I found quite a few issues on Shag that would have been tough to determine the extent of concern had I chosen to have done it with an orbital sander.

I think it just depends on how far you want to go.

[Havok1]

The thought has crossed my mind.  I just thought I'd try to be a little more hands on.  I know sending it out to be blasted would have much more thorough results.  I am planning on going down to a rolling shell, so it would be an option.  Guess I need to do some checking and see what cost looks like. :hmm

Hey PAT, autobody.com looks to be a generic website with no information.  Got a better address?

[monkeystash]

As someone who has stripped it themselves with a blaster, wheels, chemicals, etc; let me offer some advise.  Have is blasted professionally.  You will spend so much stupid time stripping it yourself, not to mention plenty of money on materials.  That alone is the main reason my 1 year project, has turned into 4, with no end in sight.   ~cry

[cmayna]

I think the following link will take you to one of the best auto body forums on the net.

autobodystore Forum

You might look into sodablasting it yourself, though I have never done it myself.

The only drawback I can think of when it comes to media blasting is that you will find little piles of media suddenly appear on your garage floor for the next couple years.  When I had Shag blasted, which they claimed they blew out all media, I was able to extract another 5.5# worth of media.   Even George the painter found more hidden in such places as the rockers and frame rails.

[Dne']

I have to agree with Monkeystas!  It's crazy the amount of time you'll spend taking the old paint off, and Aircraft paint remover is messy.  If I had it to do over again, I would have paid the money to have it blasted!!!
I blamed the fact that the car wasn't worth that much money!  I was trying to save money :doh I can't tell you how many of those 4.5" wheels I've gone through on my angle grinder! Some of 'em have even flown apart! and don't forget about warping metal from the heat of the grinding/depainting! It can heat the metal and warp it!

Wear saftey gear(goggles, breathing apparatus).  The paint, dust, fumes, debris is probably cancerous to breathe!!
dne'

[Havok1]

I seem to see a recurring theme here.  I think my mind has been swayed to check into having it blasted.  Now I just need to find time to check the local shops and see who does this and the prices.  Luckly (I guess you call it that) I'm working off-duty security at the State Fair over the next two weeks and I'll be making decent money for the stang.  Guess I know where it going.  Anyone who's had this done, can you tell me how much you paid so I can have a comparison to go by?  Thanks.

[67 evil eleanor]

Heres what I do. First I use a cleaner solvent like brake fluid. I coated the bottom once or twice and it done a good job to soften things up. Then I hit it with a high tempature pressure washer and some de-greaser. The next step was to use chemical stripper. I use it in the gallon and brush it on (basting brusher work great and are cheap). After the stripper softens up the crap, I hit it again with the Washer. The last thing is the sand blaster. By the time the blasting starts they are very little left to remove and most of it is in the cracks and corners. It will leave things nice and clean and any rust will show. I think I spent less than 30 minutes with the blaster. So even if you decide to sub out the blasting, this will cut the time down by maybe 80%. The blaster will not remove the undercoating so its best to have it off before even cranking it up.

[napaguy]

I cant believe somebody called me Pete..... :o...anyways Brian I think you will be happiest in the long run with blasting. I would guess 1000 to have it blasted but thats probably the worst case scenario. I paid 500 for mine. HTH

[Havok1]

Sorry Pat.   :notworthy:  That's what I get for reading too many posts at one time.  I have decided that I'll have it blasted somewhere close by.  Talking to another mustang guy in the area who might have a line on good shops here.

[napaguy]

Sorry Pat.   :notworthy:  That's what I get for reading too many posts at one time.  I have decided that I'll have it blasted somewhere close by.  Talking to another mustang guy in the area who might have a line on good shops here.

Brian I was just flippin ya shit. But I do honestly think you will be happiest with having it blasted.

[Havok1]

Alright boys. Against most of the advice here, I'm tackling it myself.  I started yesterday afternoon for a bit. I'm using aircraft stripper (brush on) and scraping it of with a putty knife.  Some sections go quickly, but some are quite stubborn.  The main problem I see so far is that there seems to be so many layers on the darn car that I have to do several coats.  When you look at some of it, its like counting tree rings.  The layers seem to go in this order from top to bottom:

1. Orange Paint
2. Primer
3. Burgundy Paint
4. Black layer
5. another burgandy/dull red layer (maybe this is red primer??)
6. Metal

The first layer of the stripper gets me to the black layer pretty easy most of the time.  Down to the metal from there is some work.  Anyway, here are some pics.  I'll post more later.

Before I started


The stripper working




Damage so far

[Fast68back]

Looks like a rash I had one time.....

[silverblueBP]

Man, those pics bring back horrible memories of aircraft stripper and hours, days weeks of sand blasting and sanding in the hot Kansas summer.

That's one job I don't mind never doing again.


Good luck and keep the air fresh.

[70_Fastback]

At least the metal looks good in the pictures.

[RustyRed]

Looks like a rash I had one time.....

I am 150% certain that I don't want to know the back story on that one  :rofl

[AzPete]

I spent time in Korea and Thailand and never saw a rash like that......

Yes, it does bring back bad memories of past strip jobs on Mustangs. I can feel the burn just looking at the pictures.

[Dne']

OMG! I never want to tackle this kind of work again! I'll let the bodyshop do it next time! But at least I only had one layer to contend with~ looks like you've got it on the run!! :pep
dne'