The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Restoring original paint help

I just picked up a 1946 Chevy 1/2 ton pickup (inherited from wife's father) that appears to be very original and no rust at all underneath. But I need help investigating some things that my father-in-law apparently had done to the truck...

#1 - First of all, he must have tried to touch up the paint on the outside and it looks like he painted over the original lacquer paint with a paintbrush. I have a feeling he started in one area, and since it didn't match exactly - just kept on going. In the attached photo, you can see where the hood is original lacquer and the area below (and stripe) were painted over. Any idea how to remove the brushed on paint without hurting the original paint underneath. Even though the lacquer may be scratched and blemished, I'd still like to get it back to the original finish.

#2 - On the fenders, I started to wet sand the brushed-on paint to see what was underneath and I started to expose some white colored areas. See attached photo. Any idea what that could be? I doubt I'm through to the original finish yet...

Any help would be appreciated!!!

Dave

I don't have a suggestion on the paint but I do like the truck.

Body shops and detail shops are magicians at doing those types of paint repairs. I once had extensive striping removed from a truck I bought; I have no idea how they got it off but it looked perfect when they were done, with no damage to the original paint.

Sometimes, you need to try different methods. I had an old Schwinn that was covered in yellow paint. I soaked a rag in carb cleaner and applied it to the frame. The yellow paint wrinkled up and I was able to wipe it away. It wouldn't affect the original black paint, but if I left the rag on too long, it would affect the factory pin stripe.

I had another one that a friend used his thumbnail to flick off all the applied paint to get to the original stuff. Probably not something you want to do to a full size truck.

I've heard of folks using oven cleaner to remove the paint but won't harm the factory paint. yours being lacquer I'm not sure it would not harm the original paint though.

I think the secret is to find a remover just strong enough to remove the top material but not the original lacquer. Problem is that depending on what is on it, the stuff you want to remove might be tougher to cut that the lacquer underneath.
Maybe some paint smiths can get on here and formulate a list of removers from less aggressive to most aggressive. Start with less and move up as needed.