72SLEEPER

Ok, so I have read a few threads about removing old paint with a razor I have started and not sure I am doing it right. The vette is a 72 originally white and previos owner spray painted it black and it had a blue stirp like on the Baldwin. I started to cut through the paint ( not as easy as I thought) and I get to what appears to be fiber glass not red primer. What's the deal what precausions should I take to not hurt the glass? Thanks vette gods!

oldalaskaman

this forum has a paint and body section, you project is well covered there, look for member 'DUB' and a few others.

mikejpss

how does one get to this "paint and body" section?
Im interested in reading about my 80 model, and painting it as well.
Thank you very much.

oldalaskaman

upper left under 'forums', drop down menu, look for corvette 'general', scroll down to the bottom of that and you'll see 'paint and body'. Garage painted my C4 just on tech. from those folks.

69 Chevy

OK, the best kept secret on Corvette Forum. Apparently when folks scroll down the 'forums' list, they stop at C3 Corvettes, 1968 - 1982 and go no farther. Pity.

71rdster

Didn't they have to select "Technical and Performance" to get here?

BTW there is no C3 specific body and paint section. Its under general Corvette Topics

oldalaskaman

1. no they dont
2. my post said that'
3. why not just help the guy out?

Easy Mike

Are you getting down to bare fiberglass (possible) or original gray factory primer? Also possible. Depending on exterior color, the red primer coat was only a scratch coat guide for sanding.

Got a pic?

birdsmith

My '70 had a thin coat of red lacquer primer under the factory ('Donnybrooke Green') paint. It wasn't very thick. Under the next coat of paint there WAS a VERY thick layer of gray primer on top of another thick coat of red oxide primer/sealer.

Razorbladintg the old paint off may not always be the ideal way to get the old paint off of your car, depending on the amount and condition of the paint that is there. I used a sharpened putty knife to do mine, mostly because I didn't want to spend the money on all those razor blades but also because I could shape the edge to be exactly as I wanted it, which was to have a wide radius across its face with a tight radius at each corner so that it wouldn't dig in if the edge of the blade 'hung up' anywhere.

My car had three paint jobs on it totaling seven layers of paint (primer-topcoat-sealer-primer-topcoat-primer-topcoat) and I was able to shave through the top three coats pretty easily with the blade, but once I hit the primer that was underneath the previous paint job the blade stopped and I had to hand-sand through that. Underneath THAT the original factory lacquer was so freaking TOUGH that the only safe way to cut through it was to sand it as well which I did with 60 grit paper. Once I got halfway through into the red factory primer I scrubbed it with scotch-brite soaked in lacquer thinner and then finally wet-sanded the red primer remnants off with 320 grit paper.

I have seen a lot of reference to 'razor-scraping' on this forum and many of them seem to make it sound like it's a cakewalk. It's not. It is difficult, painstaking WORK that takes a lot of TIME and requires one to be very CAREFUL. Certainly no panacea. I had to use three different methods of paint removal on my car, among which was scraping or shaving, but there was a lot more to it than that...my $1.380

jnb5101

dull the corners of the razor blade by holding the blade corner vertically on a file and rotating your wrist. it will leave a round corner that won't gouge the glass (as much !). don't freak out if you gouge the glass in spots, there's going to be a lot of areas that will need a skim coat of filler. also, a wood chisel will work in spots the razor can't reach. once you get the feel of it, you'll get long strips of paint coming off.

nate99

I took a pass at scraping my '81. Your experience sounds very familiar.

Some areas will be easy, others will be impossible. A repaint at some point in my cars past stuck so well that it would bring up the smc in places no matter how much heat or what angle I used on the blade.

The parts that appeared to be original paint were easier, but not easy.

72SLEEPER

Thank you for the ones who kept it simple and just replied to my question. I will take pics tonight and post them. I am really scared about doing this cause the glass is so fragile it seems. The scraping has uncovered very poor attempts to bondo fiber glass cracks. My plan is to strip it and find a cheaper reputable shop to repair the glass and have them do a nice cheap paint on it. I am keeping original interior, going with VB&P suspension already have a 383. and just want a good daily driver 10 footer paint job so when the a$$ at the store lets go of his shopping cart and it slams into my baby it wont hurt as much! No red primer only thin layer of grey. Thanks alot guys I will be bugging you with novice annoying questions in the future and I promise I will be posting them anywhere I can!!!!Thanks Vette Gods!

69Vett

start with the blades in an area that has lose, or cracking paint.
I did not debur the corners of the blades and had no problem,
a few minor nicks here and there, but after a good epoxy primer/ sealer.
no nicks were present.
once you learn all the stripping, then do the filling, and blocking, and priming,
you will be ready to shoot the car, no such thing as a cheap Corvette paint job.
unless DIY.

mikejpss

"PITY" me no more. I just learned how to do this and found the paint/body section.
Thank you for your kind guidance .

Ralphbf

This is a real slick way to remove paint.

Don't try to force it, when you start getting curls of paint just go with it.

I had a lady help me do mine and she was better at it than I was.
I seemed to gouge more than her and learned to just take it slow and easy.

I had 3 different paint jobs. Silver and 2 white.

It's amazing on how easy the paint will come off.

Are you going to paint it yourself or have it done.

If your going to have it done talk to them first to see what the expect.


Ralph

72SLEEPER

Very good advice I am still on the fence on if I will dyi the more I read and talk about it the more I lean towards dyi. I don't want to be a proud vette owner cause i have a vette want to be proud cause I did it. Even if it looks like crap let's face it its a 72 vette. Have only seen one in the Katy area ( suburb of Houston, tx) hell it looks good with the crap it has on it now. This place is a wealth of knowledge from changing oil to making my garage a paint booth with yalls guidence it will be better than a hopped up Honda civic pics of my work will be on tomorrow if I could ever figure out this Photobucket thing. Thanks again

dannyman

Check out this older link and go to post #10 to a link to a video.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...stripping.html


The angle of the blade is crucial to success, which you will pick up quick enough. Go slowly and you will be happy with the results.


Dan

TopGunn

I razor bladed mine and found places where the paint was thicker due to repainting and other areas where it was just a son of a gun to get to break free. I used a heat gun just ahead of the blade and slowly heated the area..........the paint rolled off like butter. You have to use some common sense and not get things too hot but it only takes a minute to get the technique.

Still lots of work but it saved some money by me doing it myself rather than the paint shop.

72SLEEPER

Heat gun? Gonna have to try that! I am in Texas is it already hot enough or should i still apply alittle more heat

mrmagrath

Hey 72SLEEPER! Small world! Here I am in Christchurch, New Zealand, with a good mate who lives on Kent Falls Drive! Go Texans!
You're getting good advice here. I wish I'd tried a bit of heat on mine. I used a blade with the corners rounded off. If it dulled off, I'd use the other side. Wear glasses. I got heaps of paint chips in my eyes.