progress of my car being chemically stripped

more progress. probably another solid five hours or so and it will be ready to send to the body shop. spoke with the guy yesterday, and based on where it was, he gave me a quote of 1800 to 2400. that will include welding and grinding all the trim holes, grinding off a few trim tabs, aligning the drivers side door, priming and block sanding and a two tone paint scheme of satin black on the top and metallic silver on the bottom like my avater.

so here is where it stands right now...

 

It's almost there :TU: Body actually looks like it's in pretty good shape!

 

If anyone is doing this still, try scuffing the paint with some 80 grit sandpaper first. Supposed to make it work better. Haven't tried it.

 

thanks for the tip. ill give it a shot tomorrow on the parts i havnt stripped yet. if it works much better, i think i might shoot myself ou:

pete

 

Pete, did he mention how many coats he's spraying on? Your car is looking good! I wish I had the time you have. I can never find time to work on my car...

 

nope. one of the few questions that skipped my mind. ou:

hes gonna send me an idemized list of what will be done in a day or two. should be all ironed out then.

 

I know it has been mentioned a few times on this thread but you need to get all the acid residue off the metal. Otherwise it'll bite you in the *** and cause bubbling of the primer and top coat. I have a car that proves it.
Ray

 

so im at the point now where im just sanding to get the body smoothe. all the trim holes will be welded up so i wasnt too concerened about those areas as far as the acid residue comeing through. so after i get it all sanded, what should i use to prep it for primer? would it be easier just to let the body shop know what i used, and have them prep it?

pete

 

HI, NEW GUY HERE! I DID THIS SAME THING TO MY 70. IT WAS PRETTY EASY DONT USE 80 GRIT! DONT SCRATCH MORE THAN YOU NEED TO.ANY SCRATCHES YOU MAKE YOU WILL BE SANDING AND PUTTYING UP, DO A COAT LET IT WORK.AND THEN DO SECOND COAT OF THE STRIPPER.MAY TAKE 3 TOO LET IT DRY AFTER ITS ALL DONE. THEN WEAR A MASK ( STRIPPER WONT TASTE GOOD AS DUST WHEN ITS DRY ) AND USE AN ORBITAL SANDER WITH 220 TO GET OFF THE LEFT OVERS. HERES A FEW PICS OF MY DELOREANIZED BUICK.

 

I DID NOT GO TO THE EDGES SO THE STRIPPER WENT IN ALL THE CRACKS AND WELDS. DO THAT WITH THE SANDER. OR A MINI SAND BLASTER. I HAD ACCESS TO A POT BLASTER TOO. USE THIS FOR EDGES WHERE ITS STRONG METAL. I DID NOTHING BUT STRIP, BLAST,SAND, WASH DRY AND USE PREP SOL BEFORE PRIMING AND GOT NO PEELING. DONT GET STRIPPER IN NOOKS N CRANNIES AND IT WILL SAVE THE RISK OF THE STRIPPER REACTIVATING WHEN WET PRIME IS ADDED. I DID THE WHOLE CAR IN ONE DAY. THEN I PULLED IT APART FOR PAINT

 

hey all. another update. so my car is finally off to the bodyshop. here is all that is being done.

aligning the drivers side door
welding all the old trim holes
primer
block sanding
five coats of base (two tone)
two coats clear
color sanding
buffing
10 year warrenty

should be done in a little over two weeks or so. cant wait!!! :grin:

pete

 

Can't wait to see some pics! :kodak:

 

Just a note: Chemically stripping fiberglass is way easier than trying to sand it flat. Done this on a couple pieces for a 70's camaro and it worked wonders, with no peeling upon primer or paint. Just make sure to prep it good and get all the acid off!!!

 

Most likely 3-4weeks.
Dont count on them finishing it soon. I havent met a body men that delivers on the due date.
But hopefully we see pictures as soon as you get it back.
:kodak:

 

i hear ya marvin. im going down at there at the end of the week to check their progress.

pete

 

you got that right.. when my car went into the body shop the guy told me it will be a matter of a couple weeks and the car will be done. well it's been a month and no end in sight..luckily i didnt believe his time estimate.:bla:

 

Hey Pete,

Car looks WAY different than the last time I saw it!
Didn't read all the posts, but I hope you (or the body shop) sanded/blasted off all the body filler. Like someone else mentioned, that stripper gets into it and when you paint over it the paint will bubble and who knows what else.

Glad to see you were able to bring that car back.

Dan

 

Huh, scuff the paint with 80 grit..the paint you are trying to remove. Not to mention that if you can see 80 grit scratches in bare metal through your paint job you are using some cheap materials. I am not a painter but I remember most primer material sheets that I have read usually say prep the metal with 80 grit or maybe 150. I am pretty sure you want to prep the panel to provide surface tension for the materials to adhere properly.

It is probably unnecessary but I guess you could sand half a panel and leave the other half unsanded and apply the stripper evenly and see which one works better.

I have worked with lazy bodymen that finish their filler in 80 grit and these days the primers are so good you won't see the scratches ...at first anyway. I would hate to see these cars 5 years later........

 

if your priming and painting over 80 grit sand scratches your a hack and would have maaco laughing at the job. prime and paint should not be used as a filler ive done alot of cars and prime doesnt get sprayed until the car has been done down with 220 over all filler and bare metal . then after prime the car is sanded wet with 400. color is then put on then sanded with 600. then cleared and sanded with 1500 and polished with microfine compound. if you look into my paint its 5 miles deep. thats the diff between a quality job and earl scheib $99.95 job.