Opinion on paint stripping.

[72vet]

The old question,

 What's the best method to remove paint from fiberglass. I'm not one who would spend time removing paint by hand. I know that's the preferred method by many, painful and time consuming.

Are there any lazy one's out there that have used -  Abrasive Blasting -  Soda, walnut, plastic, etc

Any feedback would be appreciated.    

[demonx]

I have spent several (possibly a couple hundred - I'd never be able to guess) hours sanding mine by hand. I had a couple of the hard to get spots soda blasted and I bought a portable sandblaster and a cabinet sandblaster for all the metal parts like the inside of the doors, hinges and all those sorts of things.





I have seen other people have their whole car sodablasted. Be prepared to spend a FORTUNE.

I've heard of a person on another forum have their car sandblaster at low pressure. In the end it was totally destroyed. Their local sandblaster said they could do it at low pressure - apparently it wasnt and ruined all the fibreglass.

I've heard that some people use chemical strippers with success - I've also heard people say NEVER use chemical strippers on a vette cause if it soaks into the fibreglass it'll ruin it and you wont be able to paint it.

At the end of the day it comes down to whether you have time or money. Time = sand by hand, money = soda blast.

[MADLT1]

scott at corvette alterations is the guru when iot comes to preparing a vett for paint,give him a call as the vetts he has done in the past have lasted,allso the trick is once all the paimt is gone and there is repair work to be done,it is best to let it sit for a couple of months before paint is aplied as glass will shift with time

[demonx]

the trick is once all the paimt is gone and there is repair work to be done,it is best to let it sit for a couple of months before paint is aplied as glass will shift with time

I agree. I've let the fibreglass repairs sit for three + months before starting any spraying to allow for the shrinkage that occurs during the curing process.

I was looking at a beautiful Warbonnet Yellow LT1 the other day and I noticed there were cracks in the paint around where the luggage rack holes were fibreglassed up. THeres proof in itself that the wait is more than worth it in the long run.

[gtc]

scott at corvette alterations is the guru when it comes to preparing a vett for paint,give him a call as the vetts he has done in the past have lasted,

I'll second that unreservedly. Scott did my C3 back in 2002.