I am in the process of stripping three paint jobs off my 72 Skylark so I can repaint it. Can anybody tell me if going to the factory paint is sufficient. It's obviously down to bare metal in spots, but I was told that it would be ok to just strip it down to the factory paint. On the front fender I tried a different technique using a 7 inch buffer with 80 grit. It takes the paint right off but feels a little agressive and it is definitely leaving scratches in the metal. Any advice would be appreciated. Photo Host by PicTiger
Once the finish has been disturbed with a stripper you really would not want to leave any of the old finish underneath. The factory primer and sealer were really not much good anyway, so I don't see any advantage to leaving it especially when other areas of the car would be bare metal anyway. Plastic media blasting is the nicest way to strip, but can get expensive. If chemical stripping, be absolutely sure to neutralize every last little bit of the stripper. With Aircraft Stripper, we have found laquer thinner works excellent to clean the residue off. But a person needs to go over it several times with clean rags each time.
You can get away with using the 80 grit paper but don't use it on the buffer. Instead, pick up a dual action sander for the job. Bill
Thanks for the advice guys. I finally decided to step up and get the car soda blasted and repainted. I have limited time to do this so decided it would be better just to get it professionally done. The car should look nice in a couple of months.
I had the car soda blasted and it looks great. It took 7 bags of soda and a full day to get it done but the results were terrific. I'm also pleasantly surprised that their is almost no rust under the old paint. Just a tiny bit in both rear quarters. Looking forward to seeing the finished results in a couple of months :TU:
