lookin' for a good paint stripper

[SwampRat]

As usual.....I'm driving a block of bondo and wood around.....wich is cleverly disquised as an FJ40. I replaced some trivial parts tonight and it's hard to tell what's decent and what is crap, with the whole thing being painted at least six different times.....with a brush I didn't do it.....but I'd like to see what's underneith without taking out the grinder. :G So if anyone knows of decent elbow-greasless paint stripper please let me know.

 

[Brog]

Well, brake fluid seems to do a good job but it was never intentional. I used Strip-eaze on a few spots with good luck.
Sandblasting would be the ony way to get through paint plus bondo and would also clear away any rust.
Brog

 

[Degnol]

I've posted something like this before, so forgive me if you've already read it. There are guys that do portable sandblasting and many of them can do Soda blasting. They do this on a lot of heavy machinery, like loaders, dozers etc. The advantage is, the soda won't mess up glass or chrome, and it doesn't mess with engines like sand. It only removes paint, so if you have any rust, you'll have to deal with that separately. If you call a guy and take your cruiser to him while he's set up on another job, you can probably get it done realativly cheaply. They usually have an hourly rate and you can do a lot of paint removal in an hour or two. A lot of guys that have a nice old car that just needs paint will have it done, so you might check with a local street rod/antique car club. You do need to rinse the vehicle to neutralize the soda.
Every stripper I've ever seen used was a total mess, but Aircraft Stripper was the best of the bad.
Check the Yellow Pages for sandblasters.
Good Luck
Ed

 

[toddslater]

I have chemically stripped a handful of cars over the years, but none recently with any of the new generation "green" strippers. I'd head down to the local autobody supplier and see what they have on the shelves. If they still carry the old (read non-green) stripper it will have a goodly amount of methylene chloride in it. Aircraft strippers of old were all methylene chloride based. The higher the percentage MC the stronger the stripper. One brand I recall getting at the supplier was called Talstrip. If you find it use in a well ventilated area or wear a suitable respirator (preferable both) and chhemical resistant gloves...it'll burn ya. And finally ....dispose of all the molten glop in an environmentally acceptable manner.

 

[Gus]

Resto-Motive labratories (makers of POR 15) makes a paint stripper that is powerful stuff, it stings if you get even a tiny drip on bare skin, it eats through some plastics. I used it with pretty good results. 3M abrasive wheels are great for removing paint but I wouldn't want to do an entire cruiser, let alone an entire body panel. As many others have already mentioned, blasting is the best way to remove lots of paint, rust and grime. :G

 

[PHAT MAX]

zip-strip works well...but messy and prolly not "green"

 

[IDave]

I have found that a wire-wheel, either on a bench grinder for small parts, or on an electric drill, does a great job removing paint. Obviously, it takes a long time for bigger areas, but then you're into sand or bead blasting to do it right. Chemical strippers are messy, toxic, caustic, and expensive, and they never seem to complete the job for me.

 

[CruisinGA]

3M rust remover wheel on die grinder-does the trick every time. Better than wire cause it retains its shape, wears down evenly, and cuts through wire/rust faster but good steel slower.