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What is the quickest easiest way to strip the pain off of my truck? I have heard of using "Aircraft Stripper" or Gasket remover spray. What would you recommend

Aircraft stripper or any kind of stripper is messy, and expensive if you must strip the entire vehicle. Sanding is also expensive, and a lot of hard work.

If you have your truck taken apart, it's a lot easier to have the parts sand blasted. Some people will disagree because they claim it damages the metal. I've been sandblasting parts for years and when done correctly it leaves the metal textured for primer.

Soda blasting is something to stay away from. Use it once and you will understand why.

You don't have to remove all the paint, you can sand it down to get it rough, and apply an epoxy sealer over it and then lay down some good 2K high build primer within the recoat window and block sand the 2k or work you parts to remove dents and imperfctions in the metal. The body filler will stick to the 2K and Epoxy primer.

Frank
Cox Custom Cars & Restorations

Frank is right, stripper [not 'gasket remover'] can be messy, but it can be quick on individual pieces - easy is different, that's when ya take it to a shop and pay them to do it

V6 Jake has a stripper tool that's as close to quick and easy as you'll find, maybe he'll chime in here with his pics and details - abrasion in some form is really the only right way

Bill

If you're gonna do some body work yourself I recommend that get some good books on body work and do lots of reading before you start. There's also lots how-to of information online now too. When you don't feel like being in the garage and fooling with your truck (imagine that?) you can always pull up an article and gain some more knowledge. Having said that, if you truck has original paint and no resprays as mentioned above, you don't have to go to bare metal. Generally it is recommended that if the vehicle has had more than one repaint, it's best to strip it all off and start with bare metal. Joe

Yeah my truck has a few extra coats 4 to be exact :)) I think I am just gonna do a little sanding, a little stripping, and for the cab I think I'm gonna get it blasted

I stripped the hood, took quite a while, the aircraft stripper took awhile the paint was tough but got-r done

I used paint stripper on the front apron and it was done to bare metal in about 20 minutes

I've done both, chemical stripping and sandbalsting. Both work well, and sometimes, one is better than the other in some situations. I've even done both to the same part, stipprd it with stripper first to see what I have, then blasted it to prep the surface and get rid of any rust.

Well, if you're planning to strip it all at once, unless you send it off to be blasted you're in for a mind-numbingly boring undertaking. I did mine in sections, repairing as I went. I tried the stripper and it was messy and took more time than I thought. I wound up buying a WAGNER PAINT EATER and with less than three disks I've stripped the front fenders, hood, gas tank and entire cab inside and out. The tool is light and can be held several different ways which reduces fatigue.

The disks hog through paint quickly and do not remove any metal. The also sell the same disks that can be chucked in a drill or for your conventional angle grinder.

To get into tight places I use NYALOX disks, the 80-grit variety.

I'm lucky because working outside the mess is easy to clean up but inside unless you don't mind the dust could be a problem.

That's my take.

Woody,

Thanks for the information. I'll be ordering the Paint Eater from Amazon. Is there only one choice for the replacement disc (simplifies keeping replacements)?

Which style and color of the NYALOX brushes did you use? What type of power tool (and rpm) did you use with the NYALOX brushes?

Thanks,
Tim

I sandblasted all the parts on my truck and have been very happy with the process. I just did my hood, no warping at all. It uncovered some weak rusty metal, but better to know about it before the expensive paint job! One problem I had is that I cleaned the metal with a grease and silicone remover which is good, but the lint-free rags I used left tiny lint on the metal. This must have been due to the "tooth" on the metal. It was a friggin nightmare. I sanded the entire thing with 80 grit and it seemed free of lint. Once I started spraying the epoxy, I could see that there was still a lot left. Oh, well, I will be block sanding the truck back down to metal anyway, just needed to keep the metal from rusting. Any ideas on remedies for this?