Removing paint that has ended badly

So, i berkeleyed up. The challenge car has mostly original paint. Hood, ps fender and door have been resprayed at some point in base clear. So has the valance. Valance was cracking and peeling, so it went to bare metal. Othe spots of surface rust went bare metal. All orher damage was feathered to bare/factory primer/original paint.

All bare spots and bondo spots were coated with rustoleum rattle can grey primer.

We then used acrylic fast dry enamel with reducer and a splash of hardner from oriellys.

Everywhere I primed bubbled and reacted. Fender flares, roof, valance, etc. Every panel is berkeleyed.

I started trying to strip with 220. Clogged paper.then 80. Clogged paper. The 36 grit flap wheel. Clogged.

What the ever loving berkeley do i do now?????

Im trying not to go bare metal due to time and budget.

Wrap.

I feel your pain. Paint always treats me like Hannibal Lechter treats a government prosecutor.

Streetwiseguy wrote: Wrap. I feel your pain. Paint always treats me like Hannibal Lechter treats a government prosecutor.

I feel like bubbas boyfriend at the county lockup after this.

Wrap is out of budget, unfortunately.

I don't know, I was always told never put anything other than a spay bomb over a spray bomb primer. Try this:

https://www.amazon.com/Benchmark-Abrasives-Paint-Stripping-Wheel/dp/B008GS91TE

In reply to tuna55:

I have one for a drill. Ill go try it.

Keep the ideas coming!

if it's that soft, you may be able to scrape it off. Use something soft

Could you scrape the bulk of it off with a gasket scraper or something? Aircraft stripper? Wire wheel? Heat gun? Sand blaster? Paper mache over it? Put grm stickers over the crappy spots for brown nosing?

Plastic putty knife scrapers from Big Orange (HD). Or wire wheel.

FYI I now have a compressor and HVLP setup and am not THAT far from you. You put it in my driveway and buy some cheap primer and we can probably make it happen.

gearheadmb wrote: Could you scrape the bulk of it off with a gasket scraper or something? Aircraft stripper? Wire wheel? Heat gun? Sand blaster? Paper mache over it? Put grm stickers over the crappy spots for brown nosing?

A wire wheel on a grinder will work but take FOREVER!

Dusterbd13 wrote: In reply to tuna55: I have one for a drill. Ill go try it. Keep the ideas coming!

Drill will be slow, not enough RPM, how patient are you?

Just tried tunas coral reef stripper idea. No clogging, but scratches the crap outta the underlying surface. Metal included. Would probably have to get high build and block the car afterwards, not to mention what it would do to the fender flares.

Aircraft stripper: never used for anything but bare metal respray. What is the method reccomend in this situation?

Scraper: give me a few minutes and ill try it.

Ah yes, the beauty and downfall of a home office in the garage.

I don't think the coral thing will put scratches into the metal, but it might not be able to avoid going all the way to the metal.

Paint thinner and Scotchbrite pads? It's how I took previous owner spraybomb off the wheels on my car. Took it off like it was a bad sunburn.

Razor blades treated like a draw knife seem to be working. Followed up by 80 grit, then feather with 220/320? Maybe? Ideas?

Dusterbd13 wrote: Razor blades treated like a draw knife seem to be working. Followed up by 80 grit, then feather with 220/320? Maybe? Ideas?

What about a detailers plastic blades? They won't scratch deep to the metal like a razor can.

Dusterbd13 wrote: All bare spots and bondo spots were coated with rustoleum rattle can grey primer. We then used acrylic fast dry enamel with reducer and a splash of hardner from oriellys.

tuna55 wrote: I don't know, I was always told never put anything other than a spay bomb over a spray bomb primer.

Yup. I'm no expert, but i learned this lesson a long time ago.

To further tuna's statement, to use "real paint" over rustoleum (or krylon) is only asking for heartache and frustration.

Well, lacquer thinner and a rag is taking it right off for the most part. Will still have sanding ahead of me, but not nearly as much.

Its luckily going back down to bare surface in those spots, but the lacquer thinner isnt touching the rest of the paint. Im thinking scuff to 400, respray the whole thing. Thoughts?

Taking a heat gun to it and letting it cool will usually help it harden enough to stop gumming up your abrasives.

Fastest thing would be a stripping disk in a 4-1/2" grinder. They're available at big box stores in the abrasives section. (HF 4-1/2" stripping disk's only fit on 4" grinders FYI)

Painting and blocking to fix stripping disk's damage will still be faster than trying work around it.

As they say, for a good end result the fastest way is usually longest way.

Dusterbd13 wrote: Well, lacquer thinner and a rag is taking it right off for the most part. Will still have sanding ahead of me, but not nearly as much. Its luckily going back down to bare surface in those spots, but the lacquer thinner isnt touching the rest of the paint. Im thinking scuff to 400, respray the whole thing. Thoughts?

I somehow missed this. Thought I refreshed the thread before I replied.

Anyhow, if the lacquer thinner is working, that sounds like a good plan.

Also, if the lacquer thinner is working, you probably need a little more hardener.

In reply to Crackers:

The mixing sheet from orileys didn't call for any hartner. We added a little bit because we didn't feel right about not putting hardener in the paint. I think I added on A1 to 8 ratio. On my respray I'll add a little bit more. Any good rules of thumb?

Fixed. Wound up stripping all pf it. Scraper, lacquer thinner and a rag, 80, 220, 400, sos and dawn.

This sucks.

tuna55 wrote: I don't know, I was always told never put anything other than a spay bomb over a spray bomb primer. Try this: https://www.amazon.com/Benchmark-Abrasives-Paint-Stripping-Wheel/dp/B008GS91TE

Thanks for this tidbit, tuna.

I recently spray-bombed my Prelude with self-etching primer and then trusty old semi-gloss black Rustoleum; it actually came out better than expected but it's not yet a completed project. I'm going to apply a couple more cans before wet sanding and spray bombing clear coat on it.