How long does it take to mechanically strip a complete car?

[Doug C]

I am "restoring" my car outside in my drive way, will be painting it in a temporary booth there too. I'm still welding in replacement panels at the moment. The car's a volvo P1800 (about the size of a Karman Ghia I'd say) - how long can I expect it to take me to mechanically strip the entire car to bare metal? The reason I ask is because, it being spring time and rain events being a little unpredictable.. I'd like to get it stripped and in epoxy prime with in the same day if possible. I can dedicate an entire day (or two or three) and I plan to use the poly-carbide paint stripping disks that mount on to a grinder. I can strip half (or a few panels) and prime just those if need be - but I have no idea what to expect time wise. Anyone have experiences to share?

Doug C

[Bret2094]

It could be done in 2 days, but you are going to devote from dawn to dusk in those two days. Flat panels don't take long, but when you start on curves, and places with tight spacing like windshield lips, door jambs and such more time is required. You could strip a car in a single day, but you would need help, use a blasting company of sorts, or use a stripper in conjunction with your paint stripping pads, and an army of 3 dedicated friends.

Last summer I stripped my 59 to see what metal was metal vs filler and did it in 2 days using an orbital sander and paint stripper. Gonna have to wind up taking all of my primer back off since i used a crap paint as a temporary sealer,but that's beside the point. Bottom line 2 days of hardcore dedication for paint removal. The horror of bondo you find may slow the rate of putting paint back on


Bret
_________________
1959 baja beetle ragtop( going back to Full body)
1959 beetle
1960 Beetle frame Custom buggy
1962 Karmann Ghia
1967 beetle( august 66, first car)
1967 beetle (parts car)

1977 Westfalia Camper

1972 Plymouth Duster

Just another 22 year old jackass who caught the bug, and lives by the motto " NO fatchicks allowed" , I've got too many cars as is (buses N/A)

[Doug C]

Ok so, if I strip it partially on the first day.. and plan to prime just that area towards the end of the day - do I need to worry about edge lines? I will be adding a thin layer of light-weight filler over the entire car, to block with, after epoxy primer is on - so I wouldn't think edge lines in the primer would be a concern, right?

Doug C

[marklaken]

At a minimum, sand all your edges with the recommended sand paper that your primer requires for prep. Paint on edges likes to chip, so I would try to get all the old paint off at the edges. I would worry less about getting all the paint off in the middle of a panel. It will make sense when you get started.

I allow myself 2-3 weeks of part time work to strip paint using orbital sander and paint prep sanding using hand sanding blocks. Add a couple more weeks if you are also stripping the interior paint.
_________________
Wish List:
1967 Wesfalia SO-42 Parts Needed: Kitchenette, Cot Poles

'65 rear left beetle fender

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Mark Laken
Fort Collins, CO

[jpjohns]

Why strip it instead of blasting it. I thought that same thing but an engineer I work with pointed out how stupid I was. I had already spent almost $250 on aircraft stripper and fiber wheels for my drill and it had taken me two weekends just to strip the roof and rear fender.

Needless to say, it would have taken me way more money and time to finish versus the $600 a guy wants to sandblast it in 4hrs. 600 bucks against less work.....no brainer!
_________________
-Jared

"Scrapyards are for quitters" - Beetlenut (a Samba member)

[chrisflstf]

Thats fine as long as the blaster doesnt crank up the psi to Get Er Done, and you wind up with a warped blasted body.

[VintageVulture]

This project is going to teach you a lot about auto body restoration
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The best things in life aren't Things
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[buguy]

Ive done it both ways lots of times. Mechanically stripping is the better way to go. I use a rotary buffer with an 8" hard back and I can strip a full size muscle car in 2 days. The sandpaper disks last a long time and it costs very little to do. Plus you dont have to really worry about warping the panel. I usually "pepper" it with the blaster to get down into the spots you cant get with the buffer when im done.

[m.pendzick]

hello,

so for blasting media, would you recommend aluminum oxide for removing scale corrosion and soda blasting to remove paint?

[ExtremeBean]

Doug, I've just gone through exactly what you are trying to do. How are you applying the primer?, would be my first question. Are you doing it in your driveway, taking it to a shop, rattle can, spray gun, etc. I would allow a few hours to a half a day for that alone depending on your application. (I like to start backwards when figuring out a goal, and I'm very anal by the way) Also prepping (cleaning) the metal prior to primer needs to be factored in as well. So say a full day dedicated to that alone. I dont like to rush or half ass things.

Secondly, how much paint is on the car now and what kind of shape are you in? Working a DA sander for hours on end can get pretty tiring on muscles you never even knew you had lol. And of course my car had like 7 layers of paint on it so it took alot longer than say if it were just the original.

Third, as someone said earlier, the nooks and crannies take the longest. Flat panels are relativley easy and don't take that long. If there are panels that can be removed (i.e. doors, hood, decklid, fenders, etc) I say you start with those first. Do that during the week after work or whatever and it will cut down a ton on what you need to do during your 2-3 day time frame. 2 hours a day Monday thru Friday is 10 hours. That's one of your days right there and will give you a huge head start.

Lastly, be safe. Get some dust masks, eye protection, gloves if youre using chemicals, etc. I was blowing blue snot for a couple days after having first not used a mask. All in all I'd say it took me probably 40 hours to strip my car. So, yeah, it's possible to do it in 3 days. Gonna be tough though. Also, I would suggest doing a panel at a time. It's ALOT less stressful. Looking at a full bare metal car or half done bare metal car and trying to beat the rain is not fun.

Good luck with your.project and keep us posted. I've always like those old volvos

Oh yeah, one last thing. Where do you live? High humidity areas like Florida for instance, your car can flash rust over night. So in the morning, I'm not saying you'll have to start all the way over, but it will be more work. Take that into consideration as well.

[jspbtown]

Why not do some chemical stripping? Easy enough to do in a driveway.

[Bobnotch]

[buguy]

20.5 hours???!!!! Thats nuts! If you would have had a rotary polisher with a backing pad and some 36 grit paper you would have been done in an hour! I dont understand how someone could do that and make any money?! Figuring $60 an hour for labor, and cost of materials, you would have to charge $1500..... to strip a hood! That would get me punched in the balls for sure!

[Bobnotch]

[buguy]

Ive gotten lucky a few times and been able to strip most of a car with a razor blade scraper. I recently stripped a 56 Chevy in just a few hours this way. When you have it held at just the right angle it can strip a path as wide as the blade and as long as your stroke in a half a second. But if you have it at the wrong angle it will chatter and dig in.