> I chose to chemically strip the paint, after listening to everyone's
> advice: you can do it at your own pace and there is no risk of taking
> off more than you intended. There is quite a bit of lead filler around
> The stripper I used is called 'aircraft' and is a methyl chloride slime
> which works effectively providing you can stand the smell. With the garage
> door open and a fan you can survive. I used 2 one gallon cans of the
As I mentioned in an earlier posting I've been experimenting with a
water soluble stripper made by 3M. Much to my surprise, it has worked
pretty well so far. It has to be left on a lot longer (over night seems
to be about right) but it has the advantage of not drying out if covered
with plastic and can be worked longer once uncovered. Another advantage
is that a plastic scraper can be used without being dissolved by the
stripper. This is a big deal on an aluminum car. My Cobra has lots and
lots of filler underneath the paint so the total buildup is about 1/16"
thick in most place; even more in some areas. 3M also makes a plastic
pad that can be used with this stuff. I haven't tried the pads yet but
if they work that will be another advantage for me because even steel
wool does a job on aluminum; also these pads can be rinsed and re-used.
Steel wool gets rusty and nasty when rinsed with water.
I figure using this stuff will allow me to do larger areas in the
comfort of my garage. I'll just keep plastic sheet on the wet areas and
uncover as I progress. I've found that the working area stays damp long
enough to be recover with plastic if it needs to be left a bit longer.
The instructions also say that it can be re-moistened with water if it
gets too dry. If left on long enough I've found that it will penetrate
through the surface paint, primer and fillers underneath, right to the
bare metal. I'm not sure what kind of paint was used on my car but it's
what the AC factory put on it. Maybe this stuff won't work on modern
paints, but I think it would be worth the price of a small container to
find out. The cost is about the same as for the methylene chloride
strippers.
Roland
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