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Paint removal


Robin

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Hi All

 

The panel behind the hood on my Vitesse ( that one that the boot hinges attaches to)  is in need of a respray and I wondered if a chemical paint remover would be better that rubbing down (less dust). If so, what products would anyone recommend and how do you make sure all of the stripper is removed before spraying?

 

Once I've gone back to bare metal, my plan would be to spray and undercoat and then top coat using aerosol cans - is that the way to go and if so how many layers of top coat should I apply?

 

All advice welcome!

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I painted my bulk head this summer. I used rust inhibitor, then zinc undercoat, then top coat. I bought two rattle cans of top coat from the club shop but could have got away with one. I'm quite pleased with the results but I'm not sure I would trust myself to spray anything permanently visible. I found spraying as lightly as possible, letting it dry and then repeat, gave the best results. So not sure how many top coats there were, four or five, maybe?

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Does it need to go back to bare metal? I ask as the factory primer on Triumphs is amazingly good and tough (OK, does have its limitations, but it is better than any other primer I have come across)

 

But back to the question. 3M strippping discs are very good. There is no way round the dust issue really, and chemical strippers can come back to bite you after it has all be repainted. You could try a hot air gun, but it may affect paint on the underside of the panel.

The next issue is (are) the seams. I haven't found a way of stopping them cracking, even the concours winners are cracked along them. The only thing I have done is put a thin cutting disc though the seam and then mig weld it. To be honest braze would have been better, but I don't have the facilities. & years on and no cracks, so it did work but it is also not as neat as the seam sealer.

 

Re painting, on bare metal use a decent etch primer. Acid 8 is very good. Follow by a few coats of filler primer, and then topcoat. Allow plenty of drying time, and flat the primer with 800-1000 grade wet and dry paper. Then topcoats and leave for a week or two, then flat with 2000 grade and then polish.

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There was quite a lot of discussion on the old forum about paint stripper. Basically the new 'environmentally friendly' stuff is no good for cellulose, or 2 pack paints.

You need to get hold of something old with methylene dichloride, but the EU have banned it.

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To be fair, it isn't the EU really. It is medical peeps who advise H+S who have a say with the governments etc.

DCM is VERY nasty stuff and generally poorly used by the public. It is exactly the same reason as who you have to use a "gas safe" engineer to fit a boiler or repair a gas leak. Not because many people can't do the job themselves safely, but there are enough idiots out there who cause injury or worse to themselves and/or others. 

 

If anybody wants a paintstripper with DCM in it just search for Starchem synstrip. You may have to make a declaration that you are a professional/trade. The other idea is to buy DCM, I bought 5L of recycled stuff, but it is neat. It can be added to normal useless stripper, about 10% to make it like old nitromors.

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Another quick question....

 

I think my car was resprayed in the early 90s - how do I tell if they used cellulose or 2 pack ( sorry, don't know much about paint). If I rub a small section with thinners and the paint comes off on the rag, does that indicate that it's cellulose?

 

Thanks again

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  • 2 months later...

Hi Guys

 

Just wanted to pick up this thread again

 

I've managed to get a passenger door for my vitesse and I want to take it back to bare metal to assess what needs to be done before respraying. The options seem to be either rubbing down (long and dusty) or paint stripper (very messy). Would sandblasting be another option and if so is this expensive?

 

Thanks

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Hello Robin.

 

Good advice above, BUT the way forward on modern paint removal is to use an ABRASIVE POLY STRIP SANDING DISC which fit to grinders (4 1/2" or 115mm).

 

Fast, effective and leaves the finished area perfectly set up for the next stage. Discs such as those made by Abracs are very good and are not expensive; 1x disc will do a couple of doors no problem and with plenty of disc life left.

 

I use them and never bother with anything else.

 

Easily obtained via Ebay etc and decent hardware shops.

 

Good luck.

 

Richard.   

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If you are putting primer on to bare metal, which will be the case after sanding, then you will need an etch primer which provides a proper base for bonding the next layer of the paint process.

 

I use POR-15.

 

The next layer will then be a couple of coats of High Build Primer or you can use 2x coats of Zinc Phosphate primer. 

 

This then needs to be flatted back before any top coats go on. Ensure you spray a light coat or rubbing down paint as this will assist in letting you know when you have rubbed the panel back far enough before going to bare metal again.

 

You may want / wish to put a coat of Rust Preventative Paint in between the etch & high build coatings. If you have done your basic prep properly, basically getting rid of and neutralising any rust then the RPP is not needed.  

 

Hope that helps & good luck.

 

Richard.

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U Pol "acid 8" is a superb etch primer.......

 

Top hint with repraying anything. Buy a tube of acrylic stopper. It is a super fine filler that is brilliant for getting those last tine imperfections, and is OK to use even between topcoats if you have missed anything (but be careful it doesn't show through subsequent topcoats, a few will be required)

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