Trying to get bubbled paint off ‘62 Hawk

[San Diego Ron]

Been using dual action air sander and electric sander with 40 and 80 grit paper to get down to bare metal, not going so well. Any helpful ideas?

[60HawkJim]

You can check your local area to see if there is a mobile soda blasting service. There are other services available as well ( water based blasting and Dry Ice blasting). You can look into chemical stripers but the options on those are getting scarce due to EPA regs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV8U_RXUfd4

[altair]

A good quality paint remover will take it off, paint remover is expensive, but will save a lot of labor. The hood would have to be removed and done in the shade out of the sun. When the paint is lifted it can be washed off with a garden hose. The paint lifting takes about one-half hour but may require 2-3 applications, a second option is sandblasting, but care must be taken. There is an expensive third option is having the hood dipped in a chemical solution that removes the paint down to bare metal. I have had fenders sandblasted and dipped with a good quality outcome but very expensive. I had a trunk lid that the weather had removed all the paint and traded it for a good coating of rust, I removed the rust with an industrial grade of vinegar (30%). Everything must be thoroughly cleaned before priming.

[Topper2011]

I used a spray on orange smelling stripper on some doors that had goosebumps all over it.

[San Diego Ron]

That is what my paint was doing, what do you thing caused it on yours? Believe mine was my mistake for not preparing original checkered paint properly, only sanded thinking primer would take care of the cracking…it did for a year or so then when the hot sun hits the car the bubbles appear. Looking into having it sansblasted but could try stripper first.

[Topper2011]

I'm not sure what happened. I don't believe it was original paint. I thought about using my orbital sander, but since I'm not sure there was lead in the paint, I didn't want the dust everywhere. I also heard not to sandblast as it damages the metal, maybe walnut shells?

[52 Ragtop]

Use aircraft stripper, (brand name) slop it on generously, lay a sheet of plastic over it to prevent it drying out, let the stripper do the work. Any plastic filler on the panel needs to be completely removed, as the stripper will soften it. Since you're in California, good luck finding anything that will work!

Jim

[altair]

This is the product I use, you must read the instructions.

[Hallabutt]

What level is the damage? It looks to me like it might have been caused by moisture. Only you will be able to tell in what paint layer it occurred.

In looking at some of your recent posts I was able to verify that your car is a 1962 GT. That's interesting because over the years I've seen some troubling production issues with 60's Studebakers. The heart of the matter is that prep work during the factory, painting, process was almost nonexistent. At some point after the stamping process, a light coating of black primer was sprayed over the sheet metal parts. This was the only noticeable protection that was used before it was stored for future use. From what I have been able to establish, top coat was often sprayed over rust. It usually shows up as little squiggly, worms of rust coming through otherwise undamaged paint.

That does not, however, seem like your issue, which often shows up in a repaint where primer is allowed to accumulate moisture, or that the topcoat was shot without a proper water trap. The production issues took decades to show up, the repaint issues will show up quite quickly. What I'm trying to say is that you may not have to take the stripping process down to bare metal, depending on what layer the damage occurred.

[Noxnabaker]

Old brake fluid is cheap & does the job, just be careful where you flush it afterwards...

[5brown1]

I used a scotch brite type of disc on an angle grinder. Made quick work of stripping paint. And does not scratch up the metal like sandpaper.

[swvalcon]

Do not soda blast. It leaves behind a light film on the metal and if not completely washed off anything put over it will come off in sheets. No paint manufacture will cover their paint for peeling if used over soda blasted metal. I use a 8" DA with 36 or 40 grit to remove paint. Just be sure to keep it moving so you do not over heat the metal. Then finish off with 80 grit clean with wax and grease remover and you are ready for your epoxy. Then do your body filler or 2-k prime.

[sweetolbob]

If you decide to use a DA the downside is it's difficult to get into low spots, formed areas, creases, etc so you might consider sand blasting. I've done so many bodies, frames et. al. that my neighbors in the old place figured I raised my backyard a few inches with all the sand I blasted on to car bodies, frames and parts.

If you have the room and compressor here's a $160 alternative to the chemicals and sandpaper approach.

https://www.harborfreight.com/110-lb...ter-69724.html There is also an $80/20# alternative if you only want to finish off what the DA left.

As far as warping panels, this has been discussed to death in older posts and the consensus was a commercial unit can do that but these shop blasters can't generate the heat and force necessary. I have never warped a body panel on any vehicle I've blasted and I've worn out several pressure blaster over the years.

If you want to conserve hard media (sand, Black Diamond, etc) put a tarp under the work site. You can potentially use the media a couple of times before you discard it.

Bob

[altair]

Sand blasting is like pressure washing if you get too close it will tear thing to pieces. A couple of inches away makes a big difference. When I say "sand" I am referring to all the various media. Even sand itself can vary if used 2-3 times over. When I had my car sand blasted, I personally scooped up the used sand and put it in the hopper. The operator stood about 10' - 15' away from the car and just dusted over it gently. This was on a Model T Ford, and I have owned it for 60 years now and the paint is still perfect.

[IndStudenut]

Orbital takes forever to strip paint. I have a polisher with a 8 " pad on it that I stick 80 grit on (polisher turns slower rpm than grinder). Like grinding only with a much finer grit. Definitely do not want to use a course paper. Start conservative (120 - 100 grit) and progress up. It will cut the paint right off but you may want to work a while let the metal cool and work some more. However I have never had issues with warpage doing it this way. Some of the old orbital sanders had a tab that you could slide to lock up to a direct drive but not sure yours has it. Looks like a HF orbital that I bought and I know mine does not. But I use my polisher and have a pad I can change out to put sand paper on. If you have a polisher you can probably get the pad from HF.

Rick

[wdills]

Be careful with chemical stripper. It can get down into little cracks and crevasses and then come back to cause problems later after your new paint is applied. Mechanical stripping with sand blasting or glass bead blasting or sandpaper or paint stripper discs is the safest way to go. Doesn't leave a potentially harmful residue like soda or chemical paint strippers.