Topic: Advice needed on stripping the body for paint
in Forum: C3 Body
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I want to get the '69 repainted this fall, I have a question on stripping. I took it to a local shop for an estimate, $4-6k, he said that he would media blast it. I've blasted stuff before, the media gets everywhere. the fiberglass is in good shape, but there's alot of chips. The rest of the car is in good shape and I don't want to completely disassemble the whole car. What have you guys done and what works best?
Thanks,
Matt
Thanks,
Matt
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SHELBYVILLE, TN - USA
Joined: 7/5/2002
Posts: 3942
Vette(s): 1976 L48 auto
1978 L82 4speed
1994 LT1 6speed
1978 L82 4speed
1994 LT1 6speed
on my son 78 they used chemical stripper his paint job was $2500 that was stripp seal coat 4 coats primer 4coats base &8 coats cleargood luck



$2500 is a darn good price for that much work! My son and I do our own paint and body work and I think we spend about $1500 on paints and primers.
As far as doing your own stripping, the key I suppose is just be careful and tape off everything you don't want affected by the stripper. do as much dissaembly as you are comfortable with, lights, bumpers , etc.
We always use chemical strippers.
A long time ago, I saw a midyear car that had been "media blasted" Sand is a media! The guy that did the blasting had no idea how soft our plastic cars are and the car looked like it had been used for target practice.
The only media I have read about that I would be comfortable with is baking soda. It's supposed to just take one layer of paint off at a time and not hurt your glass or chrome.
If the car has only been painted once, I'm not sure I'd even consider stripping. A good sanding will take a lot of paint off and by all means, use a block!
As far as doing your own stripping, the key I suppose is just be careful and tape off everything you don't want affected by the stripper. do as much dissaembly as you are comfortable with, lights, bumpers , etc.
We always use chemical strippers.
A long time ago, I saw a midyear car that had been "media blasted" Sand is a media! The guy that did the blasting had no idea how soft our plastic cars are and the car looked like it had been used for target practice.
The only media I have read about that I would be comfortable with is baking soda. It's supposed to just take one layer of paint off at a time and not hurt your glass or chrome.
If the car has only been painted once, I'm not sure I'd even consider stripping. A good sanding will take a lot of paint off and by all means, use a block!


I just finished spraying on a coat of primer/sealer on my t-tops . i have never painted before but am going at it based on info from the following article.
http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/kb/question.php?qstId=437
Here's a couple of excerpts.
Paint stripping
There is seldom a need to strip a 'Vette down to "bare" glass or gelcoat. You need to remove oxidized, flaking, and non-adhering paint, but you don't need to go any further of you're using a good sealer
Chemical strippers
Never use "Aircraft Stripper" on a 'Vette. Remember the movie "Alien" when they cut the Alien's knuckle and the "blood" ate its way right through the floor and didn't stop going? That's what Aircraft Stripper will do to your FRP or SMC panels: you can't get it to stop "eating." We once spent 2 days with a Hotsie, steamcleaning and solvent wiping a 'Vette that a customer had tried to "strip," before we were able to get the stuff to quit eating away the body. There are other chemical products out there intended for 'Vettes, but I've never trusted them enough to use them.
Media Blasting
The other method of stripping that creates lots of work for us at the shop is when a customer takes his 'Vette to a place and has it blasted. Even the plastic bead blasting and walnut shell blasting will erode the surface of the FRP and SMC panels. This creates lots of work to restore the surface to a smooth, paintable condition. There are people out there who specialize in this and who can get good results. I've just never seen one
Sanding
Yup, you guessed it, Vern. If you want sure-fire, good results, and you don't want to screw anything up, you're gonna' be sanding. For rough, damaged, or filled areas, you can load up your 16" file board with a sheet of 80-grit and block sand the area to shape. For the rest of the car and panels, 150-grit works well to remove paint oxidation and to blend and smooth minor defects.
Don't know if this helps but here it is anyway .
Good Luck !
Gary
|UPDATED|6/26/2004 6:39:46 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|
http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/kb/question.php?qstId=437
Here's a couple of excerpts.
Paint stripping
There is seldom a need to strip a 'Vette down to "bare" glass or gelcoat. You need to remove oxidized, flaking, and non-adhering paint, but you don't need to go any further of you're using a good sealer
Chemical strippers
Never use "Aircraft Stripper" on a 'Vette. Remember the movie "Alien" when they cut the Alien's knuckle and the "blood" ate its way right through the floor and didn't stop going? That's what Aircraft Stripper will do to your FRP or SMC panels: you can't get it to stop "eating." We once spent 2 days with a Hotsie, steamcleaning and solvent wiping a 'Vette that a customer had tried to "strip," before we were able to get the stuff to quit eating away the body. There are other chemical products out there intended for 'Vettes, but I've never trusted them enough to use them.
Media Blasting
The other method of stripping that creates lots of work for us at the shop is when a customer takes his 'Vette to a place and has it blasted. Even the plastic bead blasting and walnut shell blasting will erode the surface of the FRP and SMC panels. This creates lots of work to restore the surface to a smooth, paintable condition. There are people out there who specialize in this and who can get good results. I've just never seen one
Sanding
Yup, you guessed it, Vern. If you want sure-fire, good results, and you don't want to screw anything up, you're gonna' be sanding. For rough, damaged, or filled areas, you can load up your 16" file board with a sheet of 80-grit and block sand the area to shape. For the rest of the car and panels, 150-grit works well to remove paint oxidation and to blend and smooth minor defects.
Don't know if this helps but here it is anyway .
Good Luck !
Gary
|UPDATED|6/26/2004 6:39:46 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|
I,ve used chemical strip and plastic media blast. The media blast did a better job without any worry of glass contamination. Media blast should cost about $400. It takes about 2 hours to do the job and cleanup is easy. It won't harm glass or chrome. Easy way to keep inside clean is to tape the door seams with 1" tape or duck tape and then sand the seam after blasting.. This keeps the media out of the inside.
Have fun
John 73
Have fun
John 73

Hot Springs, AR - USA
Joined: 4/24/2004
Posts: 3236
Vette(s): 69 Conv #'s match 427, TKO-600/.64, 3.36HD-Posi, HT, T/T, PS, PB, PW, SP, Leather, Comp XE264HR & Roller Rockers & Lifters, Air-Gap RPM intake, Holley St Av 770 VS, MSD 6AL+Dist+Blaster SS, K&N, Jet-Hot Hooker Side-Pipes, Steeroids, Al Rad, Spal Fans
when i painted the green machine...
sand paper..
real men use sand paper !!
a lot of work.. but satisfying
sand paper..
real men use sand paper !!

a lot of work.. but satisfying
I'm with Ben. Years ago( more than I can remember) I stripped my 65 coupe. It took 40 sheets of #25 waterproof paper. There were 8 coats of paint & primer. This was before the days of media blasting and we were afraid of using chemicals or power sanding. Took me all summer but was worth it!
I think the worst one I ever got hold of was an original engine, 14 owner 69 coupe. It looked like each of the previous owners had the car painted. I even found a layer of black with purple glitter in it. It was in the process of being stripped when I bought it, but the owner let his little brother help. He sanded the fender peaks with a DA. Fixing that was harder than repairing collision damage.
We finished stripping that one with chemical stripper and steel wool.
We finished stripping that one with chemical stripper and steel wool.

Thanks Guys!
Matt
Matt

KEYPORT, NJ - USA
Joined: 7/6/2002
Posts: 493
Vette(s): 1973 Stingray Coupe and C5 and C6 Coupes.
I am on the tail end of refinishing my 73.
I had a somewhat local shop (50 miles away) media blast the car. I believe they used plastic media.
The shop was recommended to me by a Corvette restoration shop, so I know they had done Vettes before. I also got an extra sense of confidence just talking with the owner beforehand.
You will need to do lots of sanding regardless of what you do.
As you probably already know, the key to a good paint job is the preparation. Relatively speaking, the prep work will kill you, painting is the easy part.
Good luck
I had a somewhat local shop (50 miles away) media blast the car. I believe they used plastic media.
The shop was recommended to me by a Corvette restoration shop, so I know they had done Vettes before. I also got an extra sense of confidence just talking with the owner beforehand.
You will need to do lots of sanding regardless of what you do.
As you probably already know, the key to a good paint job is the preparation. Relatively speaking, the prep work will kill you, painting is the easy part.

Good luck

1973 Coupe
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in Forum: C3 Body
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