Aircraft paint remover is your friend. The paint on the C&C T-tops I have was coming off the aluminum pieces, the center t-bar and the end pieces on the tops itself. Got some aircraft paint remover stripped the old paint off, used some self etching primer (which my local bodyshop supply store has in rattlecan) primed, then painted with some semi-flat paint. I'll have pics up later when everything dries real nice.

 

Ive been using the stuff while redoing my engine compartment. Works awesome.

 

That stuff is great until you accidentally touch it and you get that wonderful burning sensation. I used it to remove a bunch of the lower ground effects decals, too and it worked great. Just be careful not to get it on any of the polyurethane parts because it makes them soft.

 

how badly does it burn you? Does it leave a big red mark? Im thinking about getting some of this...what is it composed of?

 

It is a Chemical Cocktail of solvents, a company called Klean Strip makes it. Ive been using it on my front bumper surprisingly, and if you leave it on just for 2 mins or so it softens the paint perfectly to take off with some 60 grit paper, did my whole bumper and GFX with it, and its no softer then when it came from the factory. Now be REAL careful not to get on your skin because it burns quite badly, gotta wear rubber gloves (not latex, they wont do a damn thing). I was actually just about to do a review for this stuff. Also if you are going to be using it on your GFX or Bumper(s) then I reccomend getting another Klean-Strip product other then Aircraft, Aircraft is quite strong, and they make other strippers that work well and aren't quite as potent. If you already have Klean-strip Aircraft Stripper, then just dilude it a little bit for use on bumpers, GFX, etc. I'd say 1:1 is a good ratio for dilluting it. Finally, if you are using a razor or any other METAL scraper, be carfeful not to make gouges! It is best if you use a STIFF plastic scraper, so there is less of a chance you gouge something. If you are doing this in a garage or driveway, make sure you put a piece of cardboard under your working area incase it drips, because this stuff will eat right into the black top. After you get everything stripped to how you want it, and most of the globs of paint off onto the cardboard (yes put all paint globs on the piece of cardboard) then take a hose and spray the entire area you were working on down really really really good, then hand dry it to prevent flash rusting of any bare metal. The run off from when you spray wont really hurt anything because it will be very diluted, but if you dont want your driveway to be messy then spray off all the residue into the grass or somewhere you cant see it. Lastly , ONLY BRUSH STRIPPER ON IN ONE DIRECTION, It has a built in fume retardent that gets broken down when you brush back and fourth, and trust me that stuff is potent and it really starts to bother you after a while. And that should be it, follow those rules and you'll be set, use water to clean up , and dont touch your sking with it. Good Luck!

 

That stuff works great, once you paint it on you can hear the surface sizzling and see it bubble.. I got a touch on my hand and man did it burn.. I washed my hands off and it stopped in a couple seconds, no big deal.. The container says it contains Methonal and Methylene Chloride I think it was called which the bottle also says has been known to cause cancer in some lab rats so do yourself a favor and use this in a well ventilated area just to be safe..

 

i wonder if it would eat through your skin if you kept it in the plam of your hand....lol

where can i find this stuff?

 

I would also like to know where to buy it as I will be stripping my wheels soon.

 

I got it from Pepboys its with the fiberglass stuff and respirators etc.. Not sure if Autozone or Advance etc. carry it or not, never looked..

 

Aircraft stripper works awesome. Sometimes you can even use compressed air to blow off the paint after it has bubbled up. Wear long sleeves and gloves when you use it and it is wise to put a tarp or cardboard underneeth your working surface. It will eat through the soles of your shoes and burn your skin on contact. Have soap and water nearby incase you get some on your skin. You will feel an intense burning right away and you will need to rinse it with soap and water immediatly.

 

walmart, autozone, advanced..they all carry it

 

I've seen it at all of those auto parts chains and I believe Home Depot carries it as well. I'd also like to stress not using it on ground effects or bumpers, especially with a metal scraper. It becomes VERY easy to gouge right into the parts just as someone said. Nice post tomsa.

 

If you are going to use compressed air to blow it off do yourself a favor and wear goggles not just safety glasses. You don't want this stuff in your eyes.

 

how much is this stuff per can, and how many cans would you presume it might take to strip an entire car?

 

Well the (slightly) weaker stuff you can get at walmart for about $5 US a can, and that 2 of those should do a whole car. Aircraft you can get from any autosupply store and is usally closer to $13 a can, and you will still need about 2 cans. As for using it on a whole car, I dont reccomend it. Unless you have a big lot you can just get globs of paint all over, then its not reccomended for a whole car. IT MAKES A LARGE MESS. But if you have the space then go for it , other wise you better bust out the 80 grit

 

i got this stuff on my eye glasses and it melted a hole right through the $200 lense

 

Well then you weren't listening very well then were you

 

lol i got the stuff in a spray can and i would tell my friends to hold out thier arm then i would spray them and they would be like wtf.. and then they would walk off and about a minute later then they would scream.

 

you, sir, are disturbed

I love that stuff.. let its sit on mycar for an hour.. half of the paint had FALLEN off onto the ground... and i had REALLY thick paint (had been repainted and didnt even really take the original paint down.. so when i was sanding it was going red paint/primer/darker red paint/primer...)

 

the eye glass incident happened well over two years ago, long before this thread, acidents happen, not like i realized i had it on my glasses

 

Used some aircraft stripper to remove clear coat off my wheels, worked great. Used some this weekend on a j yard intake manifold prior to painting and for removing old gasket material.

Here is a pic after the wheels were stripped.

 

I know this is an older thread...

But, when using aircraft paint remover on wheels, is it necessary to remove/protect the tires.

I guess I have never used it...

Does it dry or turn into liquid like a paint thinner, which would mean it could run onto the tires leaving stains or something like that.

 

a guy at work used aircraft paint remover to clean his face once......... im glad he doesnt work there any more.

 

thanks, that was helpful, entertaining and...uh, helpful

 

I was told to remove the tires when stripping the clear so thats what I did. But I hear some people just tape off the rubber tire and go at it.

It is like a jelly (non spray type) that you are supposed to brush on. Then when it remves the paint, you scrape it off. I used the regular 59 cent paint brushes at your local hardware store to apply it.....after was all said and done, I had no bristles....it burned off from the chemicals apaprently

 

Used Aircraft stripper to strip the underside, wheel wells, and engine compartment of my car. The stuffs amazing.

It didn't work to well in some areas, the paint wouldn't bubble up like i woul dhave liked, but i could just use a wire brush while it was still wet with stripper and easily remove the paint/sealer/primer.

 

Do you know anyone who has tried taping the tires off?

 

you guys know of anything similar to aircraft stripper that will also remove bondo?

i want to get the rear quarter panel perfectly clean and bare metal... currently it has a small area of bondo, under 2 layers of paint jobs.

 

Anyone use POR15's stripper. They make it sound good in their catalog, so i'm curious if it actually is any good.

 

only a few ways of removing bondo that i know of

1. sand it off
2. sand blast it off
3. boil out with caustic material (big tank of really hot liquid that uses a caustic cleaner) has to be sand blasted immeaditly afterwards stuff makes metal rust very fast
4. acid dip ( not sure how well that works)

 

A buddy of mine bought some to use on a project, but got shipped off to Iraq before he got that far. Personally, I dislike using stuff that can burn my skin off or cause some huge environmental catastrophe, so I am going to buy some of the POR15 remover and give it a shot...don't they claim it is non-toxic?