I'm ready to strip

[bbyrnes1]

No not me personally. My truck that is.

I can think of 3 methods to strip the paint off the truck. Sanding, sandblasting, or paint stripper.

1. Sanding-I started by hand with 120 grit wet sand paper, and shortly realized I'd be the rest of my life to do the whole truck. I have a 7" 2000 rpm angle grinder, but can't find anything less aggressive than 50 grit for it.

2. Sandblasting-my boss has a sandblaster that I can use, but I don't want to boither him if I don't have to, and I also can't transport the truck parts in the truck, for obvious reasons.

3. Chemical stripping-does this stuff really work? I've read it can take more than a gallon, plus you end up making a giant mess. And that stuff is like $30 a gallon.

I'd really appreciate any input on the best way to go about this. Thanks guys.

Brandon

[Bob]

A DA (double action) sander...
You don't need to make the entire thing bare metal unless it was on fire or chalked out real bad. That's what they make sealer primers for... Unless you're wanting to go bare metal for some reason?

Aircraft stripper (a brand) aint cheap but it does work and yep it's messy. You might want to start out with pulling your hood and give it a whirl before you go nuts on the rest of it. After the hood you might decide you'd rather spend more DA time and skip the goopy mess...

[sargentrs]

I stripped my cab, fenders, inner fenders, doors and valances with a wire cup brush on my electric angle grinder. Worked well and faster than a sander. Get the knotted wire style. Then media blasted the areas I couldn't get to with the brush.

[Cipher43]

I stripped my cab, fenders, inner fenders, doors and valances with a wire cup brush on my electric angle grinder. Worked well and faster than a sander. Get the knotted wire style. Then media blasted the areas I couldn't get to with the brush.

were there any warp issues with that?

[sargentrs]

Not at all. I wasn't overly aggressive with it and took my time.

[chad67]

I have a 4 1/2 inch angle grinder and I used one of those stripper wheels that looks kinda like a sponge and it worked great. My truck had been treated to a rattle can paint job, and it gummed up sandpaper within 30 seconds. Wire wheels just smeared it around. Sometimes it depends on what your old finish is like as to what works best.

[bbyrnes1]

I picked up one of those wire cup brushes that sargentrs suggested. It was definitely faster than sandpaper and elbow grease, but this paint is like bombproof, especially on the backside of the fender I'm working on. I think I'm going to have to look into a da sander with 80 grit like I hear lots of people suggest.

[sargentrs]

Before you do that, try one of those stripper pads that chad suggested. They work really well too. 4-1/2 dia and about 1/2" thick. They don't last long but really take the paint off.

[bbyrnes1]

I tried one, but unfortunately I don't have the adaptor I need to make it fit on my 7" grinder. It wasn't threaded in the middle like I need.

[colnago]

Since you asked about chemical strippers, I've only used the "aircraft stripper" at Home Depot (rectangular can, I think it has an orange design). It works pretty well on small stuff, but it is messy, and it will burn if you get any on your skin. Goopy stuff, too; it doesn't "pour out".

Joseph