mod paint-removal off!

how do you get the blinking stuff off? when I get the land back I fancy giving it a paint but I remember the last time I wanted to do that I was having more luck with a chisel than stripper! (gave up in the end and gave it a new coat of green!) it's last owner sprayed it but dunno how much of a rub down it got since it was only a working truck, is there anything that will take it off easy or is it just a case of lots and lots of elbow grease?

Orbital power sander with 400 grit wet and dry paper

Even then likely to be a slow process

Aaron's rebuild thread I think has some Piccys of the sanding approach he used, but no idea which of the several hundred posts it appears in!

Would a soak in cellulose thinners soften it up a bit? This has often worked for me on many different kinds of paint, and usually works out cheaper than many of the proprietary paint strippers.

Power sander. Its how we got the paint off my dads 110 FFR many years ago. Orbital sander or the flat fits and a detail sander for the trickier bits

why take it all off btw? can you not just flat it?

also had the sander on it but was getting nowhere fast, I have a belt sander now but not sure if i'd be risking cutting holes in it by accident? want to get it back to not quite bare metal but close, it must have about a thousand layers of paint! so it really needs to get stripped back to look decent as it's not painted in military colours anymore, it's not goin to be a big a task as before thankfully as doors, bonnet have been replaced and the roofs not bad as its ex UN and has a lot less paint on it than the main body

here she is as it was when I first owned it 6/7 year ago and as she is now, when I had it it was a coat of green oxide it got

I removed the layers of paint on my hybrid by using a angle grinder with a soft wire brush attachment, I did however want a smooth finish, so I took it back to bare alloy and etch primed and started over. Don't use a hard wire attachment though as it will rip through the soft aluminium. I found it way quicker than sanding or using the Eco liberal non toxic paint stripper that did nothing but make a mess.

by soft wire brush I take it you mean brass?

No an attachment that fits on the thread of a 4.5 or 4 inch grinder, it has steel wires, just they are not that stiff or twined together so they keep any damage limited to the Alloy beneath. Rips the old paint off quickly and leaves a smooth finish. The only down side is that the steel wire bristles are quite soft and eventually wear down after a couple of nights grinding.

I can upload a pic of the attachment on maybe tomorrow night or Thursday when I'm back home.

I remember a pal using stuff called Nitromors some years ago to get his panels back to bare metal.
Absolute lethal stuff but dammit did it work!

You tried a flame thrower? Lots of elbow grease and many many sanding discs

Caustic soda will do it, nicely Just wear gloves and glasses.

Mark L said:

I remember a pal using stuff called Nitromors some years ago to get his panels back to bare metal.
Absolute lethal stuff but dammit did it work!

Click to expand...

Nitromors isnt much cop these days unfortunately

Mark L said:

I remember a pal using stuff called Nitromors some years ago to get his panels back to bare metal.
Absolute lethal stuff but dammit did it work!

Click to expand...

Tried Nitromores last December, the EU has had whatever ingredient that removed paint..........removed, it's **** now, you need about 5 times as much for it to work. I understand that possibly boat builders, people that anti foul boats have access to old school paint strippers that actually remove paint, you might get it from them if your nice, otherwise it's game over for paint stripper now from normal retail outlets. I guess the liberals in Brussels are concerned we might drink it, or deliberately rub it in our eyes.

samc88 said:

Nitromors isnt much cop these days unfortunately

Click to expand...

That doesn't surprise me.
Obviously went down the same route as red oxide paint...

Mark L said:

That doesn't surprise me.
Obviously went down the same route as red oxide paint...

Click to expand...

Yep, red oxide paint is now just normal grey primer, only in........red

Caustic soda, mix it weak and apply to a test area. Strengthen concentration until it starts to remove paint. I use it to strip old bannisters spindles, architraves etc. Very effective at getting rid of old paint especially good on lots of coats at once.

Weve got some paont stripper that is absolutely deadly. Get a drop you can't even see on your hand and it feels like its on fire !!

Ill get a picture tomorrow

Other way is soft wire like nasty said or flap disks. I use flap disks abit on my cage to smooth out the tree scratches begore repainting after each event :doh:

I tend to favour thinners rather than Nitromors (or other proprietary branded stuff) - the solvent action is just as good if not better and if you buy 5 litre cans it can be very reasonably priced.

I had a nasty accident with caustic soda a few years ago. I was cleaning the paint off door knobs and letterboxes one day and the caustic solution found its way in through a tiny hole in the finger of one of my gloves. By the time I noticed, it had begun dissolving my finger. I lost the nail and it took several months to recover. Didn't feel a thing. It must have dissolved my nerves. Very good at changing the composition of fatty, oily stuff like skin or paint, cell membranes and the like.