Paint Striping Nightmare Options

[dbarenboym]

Ok. The guy who I got my 914 from self painted the car over the previous paint without scuffing it or doing much else. I think in fact he did a spray can paint.

I want to have the car painted but I noticed that when i was cleaning the car with compressed air it started to peel some places. Not good places ether. So now I am worried. What can i do. Clearly if i just bring it to a shop and they try to partially scuff it and paint over at some point some of the places will peel.

I saw an ad for Aircraft Paint Remover that can be applied with a brush and once dried removed with a pressure hose (water).

Help I am afraid of doing the wrong thing and making it worst. At the same time I can't give it to a shop and pay $$$ for them to do something.

[boogie_man]

If it was poorly prep and painted, you can either sand it away with a D/A and 80 to 150 grit and spend a lot of time sanding it off or, you can carefully mask/protect your jambs and undersides and use aircraft stripper but it's a nasty chemical but very effective. Do it out of the sun and maybe do one panel at a time til you can get the feel of how it works, are the jambs the same with poor prep? Hope not as that will take some serious effort to do it right. Good luck and post some pictures for more help..


Scott

[dbarenboym]

here are some pictures. Don't be scared. It can all be fixed :-)

[boogie_man]

You can try using lacquer thinner in small areas 1st to see how weak that paint is as well as sand the holy heck out of the outside or use paint stripper. You going back to yellow or a other color of your choice ??

[r_towle]

well, you could use aircraft stripper and get it down to bare metal.
OR
you can use a sander which will allow you to get rid of that top coat, and get into that base coat to clean up the issues, and create some teeth for the next layer of paint.

Either way, you need to strip that paint off.

Rich

[dbarenboym]

This says it will only remove clear and top coat. Will not harm the base coat. I think I want to try this. http://www.wmbarr.com/product.aspx?catid=82&prodid=123

[boogie_man]

This says it will only remove clear and top coat. Will not harm the base coat. I think I want to try this. http://www.wmbarr.com/product.aspx?catid=82&prodid=123

You can try that but try it in small places 1st to check and get the result you want. I agree with sanding it with a combo off 80/150 grit one panel at a time. Sanding it would be better IMO as strippers strip to metal will require more work treating and etching the bare metal which is why I would have a sanding party to sand all the blue off almost thru the yellow as the factory paint and seal is pretty good.

[bandjoey]

WOW. Rattle can paint. Try the car wash or a pressure washer. It might blow a lot of it off. Then a DA sander. Electric one from HF is cheap and works great for this kind of work. Chemicals are messy stinky and takes a lot of cleanup.

Sand it down to the original finish and then repaint properly. What was the original color or paint code on the drivers door jam plate?

[2mAn]

If the paint job is bad enough you could even start with graffiti remover or oven cleaner. I used a graffiti remover and had a good start, but eventually I still had to sand a lot. Not fun. Good luck. It looks like it was blue originally, are you planning to go back to the original color?

[dbarenboym]

Not the answers i was hoping for. I want this baby on the road in 4 weeks. I was hoping for "yeah spray it and its gonna be beautiful" ;-). But i guess i knew better.

I am not going to original. I want the orange color on it. Love it.

I am more afraid that after i sand it ill find that there are more issues to deal with. Aghhhrr. I wish i knew people in Mass that were up for a sanding party.

[r_towle]

Stop shopping for the answer you want and trust the answer you are getting.

Sand off the crappy paint, try not to sand off what else is there.

First, for a simple test, try rubbing laquer thinner on that top coat....it will not harm the original paint, but it may take off that paint if its rattle can....so would mineral spirits, and quite possibly paint thinner...

Try a bit using a white rag, if the rag starts turning the color of the paint, you can wash off that paint with the right petroleum based product and get down to the original paint.

rich

[carr914]

Let me be the Voice of Reason

The Existing Paint Sucks
You want it done in a month, so you don't care about quality much more than the guy that rattle-canned it
The car ain't never going to a concours

Plasti-Dip the car! It looks OK, is self leveling, it's quick, it's cheap, you can do it in your driveway this weekend.

Done!

['73-914kid]

Consider Maaco.... Strip everything off the car and have them sand it down and spray it.. Might got you 1500-2000 bucks and will take probably 2 weeks..

Otherwise, strip it all off and start over.

[wndsnd]

If you want to drive it soon, forget the paint entirely at this time, and do the mechanicals. That alone will be enough to keep you busy.

Then, when you are ready, maybe late fall, you can take it down to bare metal. That is the only way to fix any underlying problems so they don't come right through the nice orange paint you want to put on there. If you are going to use stripper, get the most aggressive you can get that can be neutralized with water. Aircraft seems to be it these days. Get a large roll of craft masking paper from the auto body shop and layer it out under the car. Start on one section and as t dries, reapply until you see uniform lifting of paint. Wear gloves with a scotcklock pad and aggressively apply more till you get down to the steel. Roll up the paper with the mess and the scrap and lay down a new set if needed to go around again.

The paint remover likes to be on at about 50 degrees or better for good activation! Don't get it too hot from direct sunlight. I have found that it is messy but effective and will do the least amount of damage to a virgin panel.

Grinding also has its places on outside panels and large spaces but I would start at 120 and move down to 80 if necessary. Dust is neutral also, you don't have to worry about it being in any unfound corners and lifting new primer and paint. and you can be careful with sanding and protect the body. If you chemically strip you have to chase down all dripping and excess pooling and get it off and neutralized and the car wiped clean. There will be places on doors and jambs that you will have to strip anyway, so ven if you decide to sand as your primary removal process you will use both systems.

If you decide to strip chemically, you can do everything this way be glad to help demonstrate some options for you if you want, I shouldn't be to far away.
Can you transport the car to Amesbury? We could have a go at it and try a couple of removal systems.


John

edited: because my autocorrect and spell on my tablet writes like an idiot.

[carr914]

If you want to drive it soon, forget the paint entirely at this time, and do the mechanicals. That alone will be enough to keep you busy.

Then, when you are ready, maybe late fall, you take it dwn to bare metal. Only way to fix any underlying problems so they don't come right through the nice orange you want on there. If you are going to use stripper, get the most aggressive you can get that can be neutralized with water. Aircraft seems to be it these days. Get a large roll of craft masking paper from the auto body shop and layer it out under the car. Start on one section and as t dries, reapply until you see uniform lifting of paint? Wear gloves with a scotcklock pad and aggressively more give down to the steel. Roll up the paper with the mess and the scrap and lay down a new set if needed to go around in carnage in.

The paint remover likes to be on about 50 degrees fo a good activation!,,don't get it too hot info seem direct me sunlight. I have found that it is messy but effective and will do the least amount of damage to a virgin panel.

Grinding does also has its places on outside panels and large space but I would start at 120 and move down to 80 if necessary. Dust is neutral when you grind so if you are slow and careful on you can protect the body all. If you chemically strip you have to chase down all dripping and excess pooling and get mit off and neutralized and the car wiped clean. There will be places on doors and jambs that you will have to strip anyway, even if you decide to sand as your primary removal process so you will use both systems.

If you decide to strip chemically, you can do everything this way be glad to help demonstrate some options to you if you want, Ishouldnt bee tomfar away.
Can you transport the car to Amesbury? We could have a gomat it and try a couple of removal systems.


John

I mostly agree, except whenever you get to the point of doing it close to right, you going to find problems and then it is going on JackStands - for Years!

Fuch That! Drive it Like you Stole it. Have Fun with it - that is what is supposed to be about! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

[boxstr]

I have used a citrus based paint stripper that I found on The Samba. I will post the name tomorrow. It sprays on and you leave it over night and it takes the paint down to the bare metal. I have given it to friends and they love the stuff.
Craig at CAMP

[rick 918-S]

Don't waste your time or money if your not going to do it right. You don't like the job the last guy did. It can't be recoated as is. Disassemble the car, strip off all the paint and start over. Any shop worth it's salt wouldn't touch that car with a ten foot pole unless the paint comes off. All off.

[boxstr]

The product that is have used is Citristrip, works great. The other way to get that paint off is media blasting. Companies here can do the whole car. But it would be best if completely disassembled.
Craig at CAMP

[ThePaintedMan]

Piling on with others here. You want to drive it in four weeks, then worry about what makes it drive.

I wouldn't even go near any kind of aircraft remover or the like unless you're planning on doing the requisite metal work, sealing the bare metal appropriately, filler, primer and good paint. Once you take the paint off, you need to follow the appropriate steps to put it back on, otherwise you're wasting your money and spinning your wheels. Paint is not cheap, but can be made less expensive by doing it right the first time.

There is a reason why the car was rattle-canned the first time, most likely because the underlying paint isn't pretty and there are rust problems. In which case, the whole thing needs to go back down to bare metal, or at minimum, the areas where rust is/was an issue.

[CptTripps]

Seriously. PlastiDip would be great for what you want. Until you can afford the time/money needed to do it right.