Paint remover

Taking the car apart over the winter with a question on paint removal from the aluminum body panels (dragster).I cant get very aggresive on removal,with fear of destroying the aluminum.What is the best way to remove this 30yr original paint/primer.thanks DAVE

 

Aircraft paint stripper. Take and put stripper on the paint and then cover it with plastic . Let it sit until it starts peeling. Usually takes about 1 hour. I'm a painter so I know this way works very well

 

May sound crazy but I used brake fluid to strip the paint off my wing. (learned it the hard way)Just get the cheapest stuff you can find and pour it on, spread it with some towels. Let it sit for a few hrs and the paint washes right off. It comes off in big strips so you can even put them in the garbage and not down the drain.

Not fancy but wow does it work.

Corey

 

x2 on the aircraft paint stripper. Wear rubber gloves it is nasty stuff. You will end up with pounds of goopy paint residue that will come off that you can scrape off with a plastic scraper. When I was done I had a box of goop that dried into a cube of hardened paint gunk! Right into the dumpster it went.

 

make sure you do the paint stripper in a well ventilated area... the fumes will really make you ill!

 

I tried the brake fluid trick,no luck, tomorrow I am buying the aero stripper. Thanks to all who responded,DAVE

 

Wow, who ever painted your stuff must have known what they were doing. I had a body shop do mine (supposed to be pro's) and the paint damn near jumped off the panel with the brake fluid.

Corey

 

Back in the day a painter by the name of Jack Burr painted it,three years ago I sanded the car down to repaint it.2 years ago I learned of Jack and have regretted ever touching the paint.

 

It will go faster if , Before you put the aircraft stripper on , hit the paint with a DA or scotchbright pad to open the surface of the paint up .

 

The reason you can strip your paint with brake fluid is because it cheap clear or an acrylic single stage paint. Believe it or not there is a reason some clear coats cost 400.00 . It's the amount of uv blocker in it as well as the talc power or junk filler they put in it. I have sprayed my car down plenty of times with brake clean , threw tools at it , had people lean on it with a belt , Girl friend runs over hood with the golf cart ....Not a scratch! Needless to say you get what you pay for .

 

Heres a question for you painters... How do you remove paint from a carbon body so you can repaint it without adding weight??? LOL

 

7" angle grinder!!

 

You will not strip paint if you use dot5 because dot5 is silicone base and won't harm paint.

 

oven cleaner! I use a 55 gallon drum full of water,spray it on and let it sit a minute and then wipe it off. I dunk it in water to not take off to much paint,I took off a bunch of painted on lettering and the water kept me from going through all the paint.It will take awhile but it works..

 

oc

ditto on the oven cleaner, keep it wet, and it keeps working. good for taking painted stripes and lettering off without killing the paint.