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Since I had to put my engine rebuild on hold, thought I would work on other things. I fixed and painted my hood. It was all flat so it was easy to sand. The grill however isn't that easy lol. The paint is old and hard. I thought about a paint remover, but the body shop said the new paint remover sucks. If anyone knows of a good one that will work, I would appreciate it. Sand blasting or a fine wire wheel crossed my mind, but I don't want to damage the grill to the point primer won't fill the marks. So if anyone has any info on the best way for me to go with this, I would greatly appreciate it. ty
A while back a couple of knuckleheads decided to strip parts in their bathrooms with no ventilation. I think one of them was even trying to strip the bathtub. Anyway, inhaling the stuff in confined areas can be and was deadly. Outrage ensued, testimonies before congress and people claiming to be smarter than us banned the culprit. Didn't matter that it was safe for many years prior. The missing ingredient is not legally allowed in strippers anymore but is available for other uses. Since I do cabinetwork and refinishing I have yet to find an off the shelf paint stripper that works.
ty Tony, that's what my friend who does the body work on my truck said. New paint strippers are crap. I may have to go with a fine sand blasting and hand sand the rest. tyvm for your input
FWIW - the new strippers are not as effective as the old but it will work by following some directions. Don’t kill the messenger here… just saying what has worked with this lower grade material.
lop it on but do not brush it with back and forth brush strokes. Spread it with a cheap brush in one direction only and with a minimum amount of same direction brush strokes.
place clear wrap (like Saran Wrap product or similar) over it and let it sit for a couple hours to keep it from drying. Plenty of other things to do while it sits and starts lifting the paint.
because these strippers are not as strong as the old it may take two applications.
Since aircraft are riveted aluminum, the only choice is to chemically strip one. This stuff used to be the best, but they may have gone green also. Sea To Sky SPC-909NS Blue Gel Paint Stripper - 4 Oz (skygeek.com)
The new stuff will work barely. The steel grilles will tolerate sand blasting if you don't go after it like it was a dump truck bed.
Since mostly do woodworking, will continue to modify off the shelf stuff. I refuse to wrap in plastic and wait hours.
Wondering if anyone has tried powder coat remover. If conditions right could be reasonable alternative.
AZSCAWPION: Hadn't even occurred to me there were specialized strippers for PC. Totally make sense though. But here's one article a really quick google search turned up, sounds like they work, but aren't cheap, and require neutralization with TSP, and that requires a dip tank?
AZSCAWPION: Hadn't even occurred to me there were specialized strippers for PC. Totally make sense though. But here's one article a really quick google search turned up, sounds like they work, but aren't cheap, and require neutralization with TSP, and that requires a dip tank?
Once the powers that be decided to protect us from ourselves the price of paint stripper nearly doubled instantly. Chemical additives not cheap either, so cost not really the issue. Cleaning with TSP not an issue either as still readily available (although as things go, who knows. Ever wonder why dishwashers now take 3 days to clean?)
Biggest issue for me is haven't seen any powder coat removers that can be brushed on. Admittedly though, I haven't spent much time looking.
Was hinting at that in my initial post. To be effective need to add aprox 15-20% total volume. Bought quite a bit back when under $50/gal. Major down side is extremely volatile . Even stored in glass, lids, and wrapped in plastic it will disappear before your eyes.
I did use store bought chemical strippers on part of my '65 last year. California stuff too, which is probably not as good as stripper bought in other states.
No, it's not as good as the stuff we could buy 40 years ago. But, it did at least loosen the paint, and I did have to scrape and sand the remnants. And it did take a couple applications to get down to metal. But it did work.
Your choices are to blast it, sand it, or chemical strip it. Maybe a combo of those. Regardless, there is no cheap and easy way. It's one or the other.
Cheap isn't easy, and easy isn't cheap.
