Stripping paint?

[gregfarz78]

Whats the best thing to use to strip paint from a bumper or body panel? My bumpers look like they've been painted several times, I'm painting the entire car anyway so I'd like to strip off all the old crap and start fresh.

[Young]

wet sanding. Takes time but gets you down to the core.

[srpowered240sx]

aircraft stripper, be careful, the **** will eat through almost anything.

[Tulsa_S-13]

aircraft stripper, be careful, the **** will eat through almost anything.

Don't use aircraft chemical stripper on the bumpers, that would be a terrible idea.

I'm currently in the process of prepping my car for paint. Chemical Stripper works but is a mess, most professionals will agree that it isn't the best method for paint removal.

For everything else but the bumpers, I bought a polisher/sander at Harbor Freight and using 80grit discs to strips the paint. It works great. The prep work for paint is by far the most work involved, from my experience 90% of the work involved in repainting is spent doing good prep.

[gregfarz78]

I was hesitant to use a chemical stripper thats why I asked, I used it to refinish furniture before and that stuff eats thru everything and anything and its a mess I didn't want it to eat thru the bumper itself. I'll just stick with the wet sanding method I guess, I got a palm sander from HF too for the rest of the car

[tweekd]

we have used aircraft stripper on bumpers before and had no problem. you just have to make sure you dont leave it on there for a long time. as soon as the paint starts to fall off grap a rag and wipe it off.

[silpena]

best way to do is to da it off with 80. U only have to da the clear off with a da after that sanding it 180 by hand to get the base color off. If u are going down to the very surafce for ur bumpers i would use an adhesive promoter before u prime it and paint it. Also get a flexible primer and i would try to keep the minimun amount of clear on ur bumper since they flex alot and will be the first things to chip from rocks and crap. most oem manufactures put little material on bumpers to keep it from chiping or crack. as for the doors u can use air craft stripper or da it also 80 grit. I wouldn't go any lower since the metal is thin and please do not use a soda blaster it will warp ur panels easily.

[dontuhatepants]

You can get stripper specifically for plastic parts. It's very messy and kind of difficult to work with. And it will burn you if it gets on your skin. I have the burns to prove it.

[silpena]

i know a guy who once used stripper well it wasn;t it was acide etch for metal and even though his hands felt good that day the next day his hands were red, flakys and hurtin like he dipped his hands in a fryer so the moral of the story is "wear gloves made for strippers if ur going to use harsh chemicals) or do it by hand.

[ryan15]

wet sanding. Takes time but gets you down to the core.

LOL, dont wetsand to METAL... haha

I actually just finished doing my whole car with aircraft stripper, it will take you abotu 60hrs taking your time, so be prepared.

I am not a big fan of stripping with sand paper, chemical stripper, really you need 2 gallons, its like a 50-60 dollar job for the whole car, be carefull witht he type of primer you use if you plan on DDing it, for corrosion protection, I would go with a etch prime of course, and then a epoxy primer/sealer on top of that.

Good luck.

Ryan

[ghettoslide]

I used aircraft stripper, but only on metal. do not put this stuff on your bumpers they are fiberglass. I learned that the hard way. I had to back and sand the bumper clean of paint. I got lazy and it shows in the paint job. The paint on the metal just wiped of though, after you let the stripper sit and do it's thing. Strip paint, sand, then paint.