TheSamba.com :: View topic - Removing aftermarket paint to get OG paint

Wed Aug 01, 2018 3:10 pm

I’m buying a plastic putty knife today! Great too, thank you!

-Brother Chuck

Wed Sep 05, 2018 6:27 pm

Thu Sep 13, 2018 10:59 am

Hello!

I´m very glad I found this interesting board and I would like to ask you for your advice on my project.
I´m owning an VW Bus from 1982, a T3.
Two years ago I found out, that under the blue painting, which is very poorly done, there are two more layer and under this, there is original paint.
So I tried to remove the paint with the help of acetone. For the first blue layer I used a small sanding machine and nitro dilution.
But most of the work has to be done by hand, which is very time consuming.
Unfortunately there are many spots, where the original paint is destroyed, because one of the former owner has sanded the bus, before repainting it.
Do you think, it´s possible, to repair this spots? In some cases there is even the bare Metal visible.
Do you have an idea how i could accelerate my work? What you see on the pictures has taken me ca 30 hours, I guess.

Thank you for reading and for advice.

I´m from Germany, so sorry for my poor English.
Herrmann.

Thu Sep 13, 2018 12:48 pm

Wipe phosphoric acid Rust-Killer liquid etc on all the bare metal.
It will turn rust black, but keeps the rust from getting worse.
Don't spray any primer on it or you'll have to repaint it all?
Sand it with 320 grit and repaint it all! :wink:

https://www.google.com/search?q=rust+killer&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-ab

Mon Sep 17, 2018 4:40 am

Thank you!

Why can´t I just put primer onto the bare Metall parts and later repaint only this parts (and the ones which are sanded of course)?

Do you think I should sand the bus completlly and repaint it?

Herrmann.

Sun Oct 07, 2018 10:28 am

I follow this thread. Planning on doing the same thing with my bus!

Mon Oct 08, 2018 6:36 am

Show us what you got peet15!

Mon Oct 08, 2018 10:10 am

harmhansen wrote: Thank you!

Why can´t I just put primer onto the bare Metall parts and later repaint only this parts (and the ones which are sanded of course)?

Do you think I should sand the bus completlly and repaint it?

Herrmann.

The new paint will never match the old paint & it takes twice the time/paint & will look ugly in the end. :evil:
Use rust killer liquid on bare metal & then rattle can primer as needed.

Fix the dents & then epoxy primer sealer & paint/clear it All the original color that closely matches the interior paint. 8)

Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:05 pm

O.K. thank you. I hoped I could restore the original paint.

Thu Dec 27, 2018 9:46 pm

I recently was in a motorcycle accident so I’ve got some time on my hands till I can return to work so I went ahead and jumped on the wagon. I haven’t gotten my technique down just yet but I’m getting there. Looks like someone painted it white then another layer of primer then the light blue. Looks like there wasnt any prep between the OG paint and white at all so I’m finding a lot of rust/patina I guess. I’m using different strippers and a heat gun and scraper. The heat gun and scraper is working great but sometimes I gouge it unfortunately. What’s my color? Gulf blue?

Wed Jan 02, 2019 12:22 pm

Just started removing primer off my 1960 Vert. Saw OG paint under there and went for it. It’s a only year only conv color, Paprika Red.

It’s a slow process, but feel I’ve made a lot of progress on it...two wks of work so far.

This car is ridiculously solid, and the more primer I remove the better I feel about how solid the car is. Support rails are mint, quarters are mint, heater channels etc all great. The pictures below show various stages of my progress.

I started with pass quarter and it turned out perfect which led me to unrealistic expectations that the entire car would be perfect OG paint...wah wah.

However; almost the entire cars OG paint is there with a few bare metal areas where a PO got happy with a sander 🙄

Any feedback on how to blend in those areas would be appreciated. Also, any advice on this project would be valued.

Wed Jan 02, 2019 12:24 pm

Sun Jan 06, 2019 6:49 am

Tue Jan 15, 2019 2:34 pm

Sweet 60 vert aam76! What method(s) did you use to uncover the OG paint?

I am (very slowly...) removing 6 layers of paint and primer from my 68 912 to reveal the original Coffee Brown and hit some spots where they went to bare metal and my plan is to use a cheap air brush set I bought for this porpose and blend some new paint with the old paint. If you do some clever searching there is a couple of great sites and clips on youtube with advise on how to blend paint on cars. Good luck with your vert!

Sat Jan 19, 2019 10:00 pm

Thanks MDKG! Your Porsche looks sweet!

Looks like you have less bare spots to blend then I do. I used acetone to remove primer from OG paint. It worked great and didn’t eat through any areas. The only spots I have bare metal on are from a PO getting into paint with a sander.

Hoping to blend it good and have a mostly OG paint Vert.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Sun Jan 20, 2019 2:26 am

I am afraid I am "winning" regarding bare spots... :D

The roof and the trunk hardly have any bare spots but on the fenders and doors it looks like someone very randomly went wild with a sander to prep the original paint for a new coat :? . All the grey spots are where I hit bare metal while removing paint with the stripper and the acetone. I just brushed some primer on to have a little bit of protection for now and plan is this spring/summer to try and blend with the original Coffee Brown (the most dark color in the pic) using my airbrush kit. The white you see is the original primer under the brown.

Meanwhile I also found out the bumpers and the engine lid have had a bare metal respray so these will have to be painted completely.

Tue Apr 02, 2019 9:29 am

This is a good thread as I just bought this barn find beetle that someone for some strange reason sprayed primmer on-top of that looks like it might be good paint.

Tue Apr 02, 2019 9:30 am

To remove that:
I did a little summary in this thread at the starting of different products

I'd try power washing it (car wash) first to see what comes right off and maybe a really light scrubbing pad along with soap and water.

Or I'd use something really light like 3M Safest Stripper

Tue Apr 02, 2019 9:44 am

Thanks again, I still need to bring the car home but will give your advice about power washing it with maybe a light scrubbing pad with soap and water first as the rest of the car doesnt look that bad which I think, but could be wrong, is the original paint

Thu Apr 25, 2019 11:33 am

Trygve wrote:

Took 12 hours. Used goof off graffiti remover (3 cans), 0000 steel wool, scour pads, a nylon brush, lots of wet shop cloth. Different methods worked better on different paint. I'm happy with the result. Elm green I believe. WHOA looks amazing ive got a can of the same stuff and a scour pad but can only seem to manage little patches of paint at a time with A LOT of elbow grease. how long did you leave it on for before scrubbing? im probably down to half the can and i havnt made nearly a big enough impact if yours took 3 cans