How To Paint Your Car

Although the product I use is called Spray and Strip I have found that it's much easier to control and produces faster results using a brush for application. You should pour an inch or two into a coffee can and apply it with a throw away bristle brush (often called chip brushes). Do not use a plastic bristled brush because the stripper will dissolve it. Put on a pair of rubber gloves at this time because the stripper is caustic and will burn your skin if it comes into contact with it. Make sure that you have a garden hose or other source of water available to neutralize the stripper. Also make sure you wear safety glasses and work in a well ventilated area not directly in the sun. Starting from the top of the car apply the stripper to a one or two square foot area. The stripper should be applied thickly and in one direction only. Don't go back and play with it. What you are trying to do is create a surface of stripper under which the paint will dissolve. Re-brushing the stripper disturbs this surface film and defeats the purpose. Let the stripper sit for a few minutes. After a few minutes take a plastic body filler spreader and scrape the edge of the stripper to see if the paint has lifted. If it hasn't, let the stripper sit a little longer but don't let it dry. The directions on the can will give you approximate times but temperature can make a big difference in how long it takes for the stripper to do it's job before it dries. Once you've determined that the stripper has softened the paint use one or two plastic scrapers to scrape the remaining stripper and softened paint off the car into a large coffee can or other suitable container. With any luck you will be down to bare fiberglass or metal at this stage. If there is still a large amount of paint left on the car repeat the process. Once you are down to just a few small areas of paint use the stripper in the supplied spray bottle and work it into the stubborn areas with a medium Scotchguard pad. After

the stripper softens these remaining stubborn spots scrape up the residue. The stripped area must then be neutralized with water. Take a garden hose and spray the affected area thoroughly with water while you rub the area with a clean Scotchguard pad. All stripper residue must be removed or it will react with the topcoats you apply and cause failure in your paint.

Congratulations, you have just stripped one square foot of your car. You can now continue this process on the rest of the car. As I said before it is a slow tedious job but it will also unveil any defects, old bodywork, or other flaws in your vehicles body which can effect the outcome of your paint job. If you are per

forming this process on a Corvette or other fiberglass car you do not have to worry about the bare body rusting. However you should take care not to let the bare panels get dirty or contaminated with oils, silicone or other chemicals which can affect the topcoats. Try to keep the car clean until the process is completed. On a metal vehicle you should prime the surface as soon as possible with a metal etching primer. Primers such as this are available at most auto paint supply stores or Restoration specialists such as Eastwood.