Enamel Paint issues...

[Pies]

Ok so my bright blue smurf-a-rolla has been very poorly painted and i want to know is there a way around bare metal stripping all the shitty enamel paint the previous owner has used?

he has left the factory grey paint underneath it all so id rather not damage that as i kinda like that color. just want to remove the enamel crap on the top

[Ae92typeX]

Pretty hard trying to get a top layer of paint off (if I following you correctly)
Ive seen a stripper used before which just took the top layer off, but that may have just been a fluke and was not an entire car body. Could always really really carefully wet sand it back, but that would take too long and in reality, would rub through in areas.
IMO, repaint.
How do you know the standard paint is good all round?

[Dell'Orto]

That paint stripper shyte we sell at work, it'll take off crap paint really quickly, and if you wash it off quick enough it mightnt damage the paint below.
Pretty sure that muppet orbitaled the car before brushing it though

[Ae92typeX]

yeah, if it has been fone even 10% correctly, it will have been sanded on the coat below before painted.

[Pies]

yea it has been sanded previously, but the way i see it. stripping the blue and then even if i have to clean up the original paint, its gonna be cheaper than going bare metal on it

[2LTR Rona]

Pies, will have a chat to a family member who lived and breathed spray painting for many many years & let you know what the possible options are

[Dell'Orto]

Pies, will have a chat to a family member who lived and breathed spray painting for many many years

Can he actually remember anything

[neo]

its enamel, just wet sand it till its silky smooth =)

[2LTR Rona]

Pies, will have a chat to a family member who lived and breathed spray painting for many many years

Can he actually remember anything

hahaha ya smart ar$e nicely done

& yes he remembers quite well

[Ae92typeX]

yea it has been sanded previously, but the way i see it. stripping the blue and then even if i have to clean up the original paint, its gonna be cheaper than going bare metal on it

But why go bare metal to begin with. Unless asked for, paintshops doing a respray dont strip to bare metal. As long as the existing paint is ok adhesion wise, they just 'ruff it up' and spray over. If adhesion of paint on there is bad, than its a different story of corse, but even if this topcoat is bad, its a case of sanding it back to the origonal and painting over it.

[2LTR Rona]

Pies - also posting here as FYI for those that want to know

The enamel has to go, no two ways about it, if you left it there and sprayed anything over the top of it, it would react.

It’s an import eh? The reason I ask is that apparently during the 80's & 90's the japs were painting their cars in a couple of ways. If the original paint is a metallic then it will have the base colours & a clear coat, if its a solid colour i.e. black etc then it will be just the colour & no clear

Now, as the enamel the cracked we are going to cross fingers that the original paint (what ever it is) is still in reasonable condition & what I mean by this is that it isn't cracked like the enamel but still all as one. If so then this could make life a hell of a lot easier for you Wink you see if it is then there is a very good chance you should be able to just peel the enamel layer off, leaving the original paint unmarked.

To do this you would take automotive paint stripper or if you wanted to do a test patch then use thinners and apply it to a small area, wait for it to react and what you should find is that the cracks in the enamel allow the chemical to get in and lift it off Wink if that works successfully then you could try the stripper on another patch, see how that goes and take it from there.

The key point to remember is this so long as the paint underneath is all in tact i.e. still solid with no cracks, both the thinners & stripper should not react with it and leave it as it is

If by some chance the paint underneath is cracked and the thinners or stripper did react and remove it back to metal then an etch primer would have to be applied followed by a primer. The time delay between the etch primer & then primer coats must be kept to a minimum, but allowing dry time of course, the reason behind this is that primers are very porous and will suck moisture in like there is no tomorrow, if this happens then it makes life a real baitch

My gutt feel on this one is to try a small test area on say the boot lid or a guard and see how it works out, until you do that you don’t really know what you are up against.

Oh the other option you have is to go hard with a DA, but going down that road I can see the chances of damaging the original paint being very high.

Once back to the original paint then you’re in a position to think about the prep for a re-spray

[Ae92typeX]

Nice reply

I'd still be wondering how much the under paint was buffed up befor the topcoat however as it could be affected depending on strength of paint strippers. but as sugested, its a case of testing.
You can put a sealer over enamel than paint (depending on enamel type), but yeah, if it is crap, than sand it away anyway!

[Pies]

ok so i semi attacked the petrol cap today. turns out he has used sum sort of filler primer shit that is stuck well and good to the original paint. might try a little bit of turps, followed byt thinners if that dont work. then followed by paint stripper as a last resort

big ups to 2LTR Rona for the $&#$% awesome reply (here and on sideways)

[Mr XXX]

yeah man, just go out with a da sander, get the serface of paint pretty smooth and gloss free, and bad craked areas sand till all gone, then seal it all off with a urathane 2 pak primer....... Then use regular primer on top of that (not sray can, but becasue you have already asked some pretty sensable questions I assume your not an idiot)

Then sand that, and paint colour on top, wether its 2k or laquire or what ever... what colour you wanna paint it??

Allan

[Ae92typeX]

.... turns out he has used sum sort of filler primer sh*t that is stuck well and good to the original paint. )

I dont want to sound like a sad c**t, but if it has filler primer under the top coat, I would be very surprised if the pannel and origonal paint is good all around the car. If spraying over a good finish, all one would do is ruff up, prime and then top coat. just imo anyway.

[2LTR Rona]

ok so i semi attacked the petrol cap today. turns out he has used sum sort of filler primer sh*t that is stuck well and good to the original paint. might try a little bit of turps, followed byt thinners if that dont work. then followed by paint stripper as a last resort

big ups to 2LTR Rona for the $&#$% awesome reply (here and on sideways)

No prob man, didnt want you to have to do more work than needed

you dont happen to have a spare petrol cap do ya

Give me the one you have attacked and I can take it to my source for a closer inspection and feedback on removal

[Pies]

what colour you wanna paint it??

Allan

either black, very extremely dark purple, very extremely dark blue, or very extremely dark red i want it to look black at night, but when the light hits it i want it to be red/blue/purple (havent decided yet)

nah i wouldnt do the spray can thing, im actually planning on doing this car properly (as apposed to some of my other cars lol)

2LTR Rona: how long will he need the cap for?

i dont hold much hope for the original paint as it does have ALOT of sanding marks in it. i just want to do the minimal amount of work i need to, to be able to paint in a decent paint. i know minimal makes me sound like i dont want a good job done but when i say minimal i mean, id rather not have to go bare metal, etch, prime, paint. id rather just strip, prime and paint.

[2LTR Rona]

2LTR Rona: how long will he need the cap for?

for as long as it would take for me to take it to his place, show him, get info etc and then return it