I have a 68 Shelby hood that I need to strip some very old paint off of. I tried a good chemical striper a few years ago and it didn't do much. The hood has the original paint and a coat of lacquer (applied in the early 70s). The lacquer it a little thick. My first thoughts were to sand it off with a da sander, but I am affraid of digging into the fiberglass and I can't sand down in the louverd areas. What about soda or media blasting? Any ideas?
Coat the hood in stripper and then wrap it up in thin plastic sheeting sealing it from the air. Let it set for at least 24hrs. Then take a plastic applicator to remove softened paint. I bet you have better results. chris
Have you done this and does it hurt the fiberglass? A muscle car restoration specialist told me to keep chemical striper away from fiberglass. Said it can break down the resin. But I'm not sure if he knows what he's talking about...he does Mopar stuff and I don't think he's dealt with much fiberglass. I have no problem with gently sanding the hood down thought it will be time consuming...I'm worried about the louvers areas. I still have the decklid and uppers scoops to deal with too. Luckily my frt end and taillight panel is all NOS.
I found this tool to work the best on fiberglass: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91773 using 60 grit paper. A hood is perfect for this tool because it's fairly flat.
I would go with the plastic bead blast or if you must do it yourself. A razor blade from any hardware store and some medium grit sand paper, lots of time needed. You may have a shop that does corvettes in the area, they would work with lots of fiberglass. jmo
I've heard that chemical stripper damages the resin too. A safer approach is to use a razor blade. Haven't done this myself, but believe it's done on Corvettes.
I just had my car painted and the body guy would not use a chemical stripper on the fiberglass pieces. Apparently the chemicals can get into the fiberglass and paint may have "pits" when it is applied where the stripper got into the fiberglass. I would check with a body shop that works on Corvettes to be safe. Jim