The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Paint Removal in Tight Spaces?

I'm working on stripping the paint off the cab on my 58 and have most of it done. The areas that I'm having the most problems with are the tight spaces under the cowl vent. I've tried paint remover which made most of the paint soft enough to scrape out but there are still some large areas of paint I cant reach. Tried hand sanding too, all I managed to do then was mash my knuckles into the vent ribs. :mad: Are there any tricks to getting in small spaces like this?

A small media blaster would work good. I used a $10 siphon blaster and some fine sand for areas such as that.

I've not tried a small blaster as recommended by Houston54. It might work but since you're working around your vent be prepared to clean the inside of your truck when you're done. I'm not aware of any "easy" way to get into tight places. For me what works best is to remove whatever is getting in the way. In this case the cowl vent is removable without too much trouble.

I too used a small siphon blaster (speed blaster) when I did my cowl vent a few years back, FI. Here's the write-up

Southern Cab Comfort

How about a Dremel with a sanding bit?

I will try it and let you know.

I am stripping the cab on my 46 and having the same issues. My problem is getting the paint out of the cowl vent and all of the seams around the cab. I used a 3M hook and loop drill attachment and that has worked pretty well, but it won't get down in the very tight spaces without tearing up the drill attachment.

I use a 'spot blaster' from harbor frieght (or others) which looks like a squirt gun, only it holds sand not water and takes pressurized air. Item 45998 on the harborfreightusa.com website is an example.

http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa...8&CategoryName=&SubCategoryName=

I clean everything up with a wire cup on a grinder and then the corners I couldn't get to I blast with the spot blaster and fine sand- works great!

Thanks all. Looks like the spot blaster is the popular choice. I'll pick one up this weekend and give it a whirl. Now is sand recommended for this because I have blasting slag (Black Magnum), very abrasive stuff,leftover from when I blasted the frame.

Sand is the best choice because you won't be able to recover it and altho' it's a hazard to your respiratory system (hint - wear all the safety stuff) it's benign to the environment.

I've got that black stuff but use a finer media in the spot blaster cause the black stuff is super aggresive. HF sells stuff you can use.

I'd suggest white silica instead, regular sand is to coarse to do a good job. The local custom parts store does a lot of Mopar restorations and he uses crushed walnut shells. They don't seem to warp the metal as much as the more aggresive
stuff.

Any tips for cleaning up the front edge of a door along the A pillar? I'd rather not remove the doors, and I want to repaint and change the weatherstripping.

I do not see how you can change the weatherstripping without taking the door off. The area needs to be cleaned and prepped for the new adhesive. Doing otherwise would be half-assed. Just take the door off. It really is not that much of a pain. Just 6 bolts. Once the door is off I would suggest a knotted wire wheel on an angle grinder to clean the door area up prior to repaint. Good luck.

Houston, my concern is not so much removing the doors, but replacing them. Whenever I read the descriptions here it sound like alignment is a real PITA. Have you done this?

Several times. As long as you do not remove the hinges you should have little problem re-setting the doors. The trick I use is to get all the bolts started in the door/hinge side, remove the door latch from the B pillar, close the door, align the gaps, and then while I hold the door in place, have a help snug up the bolts on the inside. You should not really have a problem unless you do not have a helper available. Now for a real PITA take your hood off and then try to realign it. #%$*&@##@**&!

Use a lead pencil to mark the locations of the mounting bolts before removing them. Reinstall to the marks. Normally no problem. Did it a million times.

Okay, now take all the parts down to metal, repaint them, leave them unassembled for a number of months and then try it. Not impossible but not extremely fun either.

one thing you can do is burn the paint of with a small propane torch but be careful of fire i just use my sand blaster

You can re-assemble hinged parts in perfect alignment if you make some creative holes with a small drill bit through the hinge. Make sure it is aligned, then drill all the way through the hinge and mount point on the jamb and door side and then take it a part. When you go to put it back together use the back of the drill bit as an alignment pin through the hole and it will be aligned just like it was when you took it off. It even works on painted parts, although you will have to clean out the hole first, or use a smaller pin.