wanta81shark

Hey board,

I don't have a Corvette yet, but I am working towards one. I've been toying with the idea of restoration [I know it costs more this way then buying one that is nice], but I would like to know what is involved in stripping paint. Does it all have to be wet sanded, or can an orbital sander be used. From what I've read, paint strippers are :nono: .

I don't intend to paint it myself, but if I can't do the majority of the body work myself, I will have to drop the idea of restoring once because it would just be too expensive to have the body done by someone else. I found a 79 Shark localy today, the place that has it was closed today so I don't know if its a 4 spd, or if it runs. But paint work is desperatly needed. Going to go back later in the week after Christmas to get some more information. Should I try to get some pictures to show yall to get your opinions?
Thanks,
Denny

PS-I've done my share of sanding, but never on Fiberglass or anything as beatiful as a Corvette.

slide

You can use paint strippers as long as there made for fiberglass but if you've never done it I wouldn't recommend it. How bad is the paint Job ? Is there a lot of body work to be done ? Has the car ever been painted before ? Has it been wrecked ? Depending on the condition you may get away with a good sanding. Read through some of the articles here on the forum and you'll find other owners that are doing restorations, it isn't cheap and it's a lot of work.
Check out my homepage for pics of mine through the process. Good luck on whatever you decide

ZD75blue

a lot of sanding...
http://www.corvetteforum.cc/techtips...=111&TopicID=3

:seeya

JB

There was a thread a couple months ago about using razor blades and scraping the paint off. I haven't tried it, but it sounded a hell of a lot easier than sanding and a hell of a lot less destructive to your health than stripper.

JB

'78SA

Techno

I used the razor method and highly recommend it. My paint was thick lacquer and quite brittle so it worked well. The doors were too difficult so I used paint stripper and the razor. This shatters the paint so it may not work on all paint jobs.
If the paint is thin I would sand it off. You could use an orbital on areas to get it close. But the block sanding is useful practice for when your painting. also better control. If your going to strip and are afraid of the blade try sanding a small area just to see how much it may take. This could be easier than stripper. You could probably go courser than 100 until you get close. then go the 220.

wanta81shark

Hey,

Slide-I think I will stay away from the strippers. The paint looked pretty bad, but, the place was closed so I was gawking through a chain-link fence and could not get close enough for a thorough examination, so I'm not sure what shape the glass is in. I will try to find out some more info on it later this week and will post it to see what you guys think.

ZD75Blue-Thanks for that artical, that is very informative! It was really helpful.

I can't wait to get back out there later this week to check it out again, up close this time! I was excited out of my mind when I saw it was a 79 and not a 74-77 like I had expected it to be

Denny