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What is a good paint stripper that can be used on Corvette fiberglass with out damaging or softening it? There is a lot out there and lots of opinions about the products. Does someone have some actual experience and a reccomendation?
Thanks
I used Captain Lee's stripper on my 1968 and my 1970 to remove the lacquer original paint over 25 years ago for complete repainting. It removed the paint but did not remove the factory primer which was easily removed with wet sanding. The repainted Corvettes are still owned.
Unfortunately, Captain Lee's is no longer available. I just began the stripping process on my 72 coupe and am using Klean Strip Aircraft Stripper for Fiberglass. I never had an opportunity to use Captain Lee's so I can't offer a comparison between the two, but I am happy with the results so far with Klean Strip. One thing I like about the Klean Strip is that the surface being stripped is neutralized with water instead of a special rinse. Be careful to ensure you purchase the Stripper for Fiberglass as they also sell a similar looking product called Aircraft Paint Stripper.
If you discover something better please let me know.
I've used Klean Strip Aircraft Stripper for fiberglass on several cars, including the one I'm restoring right now. It works great and I've never had an issue with it.
Since the original glass does not have gel coat, it is not very susceptible to paint stripper damage. You can use the stronger varieties of stripper as long as you work on one small area at a time and rinse it before going to the next area. Even the stronger strippers will probably leave the red factory sealer for hand sanding. Original lacquer comes off so easily that you can just use lacquer thinner and a rag. However, many of these old cars have several repaints, and if enamel or two-part paint was used along the way you may need a powerful stripper.
Non-GM replacement panels, even the nice press molded types, do use gel coat, and they would be highly susceptible to stripper damage. So you have to figure out what is under the paint before choosing a stripping method. Strong stripper also softens Bondo, but we are usually trying to remove the Bondo anyway to investigate the extent of old repairs. The thing to remember is that GM glass is tough, but after market glass usually is not.
I blast all my bodies - I dont waste time with stripper - gets right down to glass.
1954 Corvette #3803 - Top Flight 2012, Bloomington Gold 2012,
Triple Diamond Award 2012, Gold Concourse Award 2012, Regional and National Top Flight 2014
1954 Corvette #3666 - "The Blue Devil" - Pennant Blue - restoration started
1957 Corvette - FI 3 sp - Black and Silver
you have to make sure your remove ALL the chemical - you dont want any left over residue
1954 Corvette #3803 - Top Flight 2012, Bloomington Gold 2012,
Triple Diamond Award 2012, Gold Concourse Award 2012, Regional and National Top Flight 2014
1954 Corvette #3666 - "The Blue Devil" - Pennant Blue - restoration started
1957 Corvette - FI 3 sp - Black and Silver
It makes all the difference in the world what the paint is on the car your going to strip. Lacquer comes off with the least harsh stripper. While enamel takes a bit stronger. And urethane can be the worst but not as bad as epoxy paints.
Best to sample areas with the least lethal stripper and go harsher as required. Keep in mind what ever you use in the end needs to be neutralized when done before doing anything else. The above mentioned stuff is creditable except blasting as it digs up the fiberglass and makes extra work.
I used the aircraft paint remover on my 67. After scraping off as much of the dissolved mess that I could I went over the area with a 3M pad and lacquer thinner followed by a rinse using a high temp pressure washer. This took everything off down to the epoxy primer. The primer was very difficult to get off. I left the stripper sit too long in one small area and it removed some of the surface so be careful.
Stripping paint on a 1968
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