Removing aftermarket paint to get OG paint

[intro]

Hi All, thread revival time. I tried the Motsenbocker's graffiti removal spray and it might as well have been water.

I'm working in the engine bay and have managed to remove a good amount of Rustoleum enamel I had applied like 10 years ago with a heat gun and a putty knife. I've also sanded some areas with 80-120 grit (especially on contours). The firewall had me considering the use of one of these strippers. I used aircraft stripper years ago when it had the methylene chloride back in around 2009 on some wheels and it worked fine, maybe I should try the new ULTRA version and see how that goes? I'd rather not go down to metal though.

This leads to another question: I'm working outside and it's getting colder up here in the northeast U.S. Areas that I have sanded down to metal (whether due to targeting rust or accidental sanding through), what's the best way to avoid flash rusting? Wipe with acetone and spray with self etching primer for the time being? My hope is to get the bay sprayed before it gets REALLY cold, but I feel like I'm setting myself up for more work by sanding with 80-120 grit. Won't I have to go through all the stages of sandpaper for it to look right before priming?

[lojoma]

Just in case it helps anyone. I ended up sanding with 400 grit to get as much of the brown paint off as I could without getting to the black paint, then went to 1200 grit and wet sanded the rest down to the black paint, then went finer up to 5000, then used random orbit polisher and it came out great (not perfect, but good for me and the condition of the rest of my paint).

[lojoma]

Thanks for the advice. There really isn't a hidden area.

But, I decided to remove the speaker grill and test it starting there (since I figure I can spray paint that without it being too obvious). I used acetone very cautiously and it removed it pretty well, but I am not sure how much original black was under it...I think some had been worn off before they painted it. There were some spots where I'm not certain if I took off black or it was just missing.

I did try the spray paint and graffiti remover but it was maddeningly slow...maybe this paint is just too old for it.

I also removed the glove box cover and did it, and it was more clear there that it had been scuffed up to accept the tan paint, so will have to spray that, too.

So this leaves me unsure about doing the door and upper dash areas...if they scuffed those up, or if I am not so good at controlling the removal, it could look pretty ugly and not so easy to correct.

[Pau]

Hello lojoma,
Do you have this decorative job in a hidden area? Try it there.

Scarf it a little bit to give product a better entrance. I don't know your product, but try a little zone. I think you will be happier to repeat 2 or 3 times at the same spot to get to the black because you acted to fast, than going to deep because you waited too long.

Good luck.
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[lojoma]

Any advice on which product might work best in my situation? I'm thinking the Motsenbocker spray paint remover might be safest?

You can see above my door panel and at top of my dash, over the speaker grill and glove box, the previous owner did a decorative paint job. I'd like to remove without damaging the black paint. I think it looks nicely done, but I want redo the interior to the original red and the paint needs to go.

[Alan Brase]

[Pau]

Good morning.
I attacked the front nose again. Last time:

[Pau]

Thank you, but my technical English is as poor as the old repair… what does « lead » means in this case?

Thank you.
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[vw356]

Looks like lead is spread over this entire area and it looks like the metal below and the lead cracked. My guess is there is a bad repair under this area.
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[Pau]

Hello!

Just keep on removing aftermarket paint. The top part is much easier, but there are much more obstacles ( windows, rubber door stoppers, belt line,...).
The low green paint was uncredibly THICK!!!

And yesterday I got this surprise. On the top of B-pillar, round corner of the passenger’s door window, I found this crack. It had been already stripped to bare metal in the past. No rust seems to be around. How was that possible?

Today's music track: Don’t give up. By Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush...

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Freedom for the Catalan Countries
Si ens destrossen les contrades alçarem les barricades !!*!!

[Pau]

Haha! You do have culture! ( or is it g00gle? ).

That was unfortunately our son's illness time slogan. Unluckyly, we lost. That Westy is meant to be the accomplishment of our passion. I hope I will achieve it. But when I am with the brush and the steelwool, I have the feeling I am a little bit closer from him... "Irabazi arte!"
Thank you.
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Freedom for the Catalan Countries
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[70bus]

Did you paint "until you win" yourself or was that under the paint? :)
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Craig K
70 Neunsitzer
65 Pritschenwagen
"If Von Dutch was alive, he'd walk in there with a pistol and shoot these people." - Robert Williams

Raoul the 65 singlecab

Karl the 70 nine-seater

[Pau]

hey, hey, hey!

It's been a while. here you have some more pictures about removing my aftermarket painting.

Surprises here and there, but I start loving its red/beige gray/ raw metal pattern...

3hours later

in one hour I did only the right corner of the nose.

I keep on going.
Cheers.
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Freedom for the Catalan Countries
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[Pau]

Hello, thank you for your comments.
Due to an annoying lack of work, I was able to spend 3 hours with the rear panel. Not disappointed with the result.

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Freedom for the Catalan Countries
Si ens destrossen les contrades alçarem les barricades !!*!!

[70bus]

In the 'Idiot Book,' John Muir quotes an I Ching proverb: 'Perseverance Furthers.' Removing paint should be used to illustrate this proverb! IImpressive you have kept at it, and you are getting impressive results.

White seems to be the easiest to remove on my bus as well, and you will find the factory paint underneath worth the effort to expose.

Now, when all the old paint is gone, you may decide the end result isn't for you - for every 3 people who tell me my bus looks cool, one asks when I am going to paint it - and that's OK; all this work will have gotten you down to a decent paint layer to start from. All those layers on top of the factory paint would have made good results from a respray difficult.

I like buses that look worn, but not rattty. I also admire a full resto. It's your bus, so you get to decide what's right for the two of you...
_________________
Craig K
70 Neunsitzer
65 Pritschenwagen
"If Von Dutch was alive, he'd walk in there with a pistol and shoot these people." - Robert Williams

Raoul the 65 singlecab

Karl the 70 nine-seater

[EverettB]

The "Grey" looks like Beige Grey, which is the original upper body color for your Bus.

It looks like the White is easier to remove and might come out pretty nice.
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[Pau]

Several months after the las post, some updates:

Green is almost gone. I have to finish details like under belt, around front lights, decklid details… (the longest part!). I realise that I have no pictures. I will post them to show how much bare metal I found ! There are some little parts that I will sandblast.

And I did what I should not: I tried the white painting because it was too white to be true and was also cracking as the green one…

I found this nice white pointing out. That look interesting to me.

Is that the original white? It is ‘grayish’.
Thank you.

White paint was easier to remove than green one. So I kept on:

In ‘only’ 2 hours I did this (you might thing that I spent 35’ only for 1 air vent)

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Freedom for the Catalan Countries
Si ens destrossen les contrades alçarem les barricades !!*!!

[_Kodiak]

[_Kodiak]

[martyrg]

I have been looking at a way to strip the paint from my bus. The previous owner did an inexpensive (cheap) respray of the bus. I came across this: https://shopus.coopersstripclub.com/shop/stripping-packs/

Their videos look promising. "My Friend Pete" over at D.Y.I Auto School / SW Rod & Custom did a side by side compairison against Aircraft Stripper and Coopers. The Cooper's did much better. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=145qkNioH6U Pete liked it, and he doesn't like anything!

What do you think?