1954 Body Paint Stripping Question

[John L.]

I am in the process of stripping the paint from my early (#66) 1954 Corvette. The body, doors, and trunk were of the hand laid fiberglass-you can see the cloth-and the decklid and hood were pressed I believe. White color and smooth. I used Captain Lees stripper on the hood and decklid and it worked great, but on the doors and the trunk which was the old hand laid there were problems. The stripper softened the fiberglass enough that some of the surface came up with the paint. A real disaster that ruined the trunk but the doors I believe are salvageable. So now I am working on the body and have decided to sand the paint off instead which is working out ok. Trying to be VERY careful of course of the edges and not to sand too deep as to remove the resin finish and get to the fiberglas cloth. Well my question is for you paint guros out there...as you can see from the photo there are still some areas of grey filler/primer that I cannot get to without sanding down too far. When I tried to dab a bit of stipper on a few of these spots it really softened the fiberglas surface so not going down that road again. The tried lacquer thinner and steel wool with no succss and that even started to soften the glass. Should I be concerned about not having ALL of the grey primer off and can I leave it and prime/seal over it. Don't want to try and be too perfect at the expense of damage to the body if I do not need to. ANY FEEDBACK ON HOW IT LOOKS SO FAR? WP_000722.jpg

[Cathy S.]

Re: 1954 Body Paint Stripping Question

Ive worked in, with and for body shops for the last 35 years. The pic looks great but I cant tell the soft spots. Dont worry about removing all the primer/sealer. That fender is "clean". Ive had the same issues with captain lees over the years. It made a real mess of my 56. Rinse Rinse and Rinse with lacquer thinner then soap and water. The soft spots are really tough to deal with. Sorry

[John L.]

Re: 1954 Body Paint Stripping Question

Well that makes me feel more comfortable that what I have done for this fender will be how I will approach the remainder of the body. I expect I will need to use some stripper still on the door jambs and the insets around the hood, deck and trunk openings. Once I have the body stripped this fall/winter I will not get to the paintwork for another year so hopefully there will enough time in the sun for any residual stripper that may still remain in the glass to vapor off. Will post more photos as I go along. Thanks Cathy

[Chris S.]

Re: 1954 Body Paint Stripping Question

reason I do soda blasting or some other light media or razor blade (round the edges)
good that you realized what the stripper is doing and the two different glass....
Cathy is right - leave it.......
Set that body in the sun and bake it......

[John L.]

Re: 1954 Body Paint Stripping Question

Thanks Chris for the comment. I tried to get as much of the paint off of the body with a razer blade that I could before sanding just to cut down on the time but many areas the paint and primer were just too difficult to get off even with sharp blades.
OK about setting the car in the sun....my plan is to strip the car and then sit the body on the completed frame and partially assemble the car, wiring, lights etc. so I can drive it. Drive it enough to start up the engine and run it for breaking in, adjust the transmission and front end alignment etc. and then pull it apart to paint. Differnt approach than what I have done before. Just got tired of the extra protection needed for a freshly painted body when I would be working on the final drivetrain tweeking. Ha this time I want everything adjusted and a good running car and then pull the body and paint...and it give me several months next year for the body "dry out". Sounds like extra work but these things are pretty simple...I think my 1931 chevrolet has about as many parts as this 54!!
John

[Chris S.]

Re: 1954 Body Paint Stripping Question

You can break in the engine and dial in the carbs and timing with the body off........little easierYou will have to take the carbs off to get the body on and off..... PITA - - - the steering box and column wont clear.

[John L.]

Re: 1954 Body Paint Stripping Question

Good point. I have my engine start up box ready on the frame now so it may be better as you suggested to do the initial start up, carb adjustment, timing and break in with the body off. Ha I knew about the difficulty with the steering column but forgot about the carbs bring removed.
I have the winter to think through this plan I suppose. Will post updates on the body stripping as I progress.
Appreciate the suggestions.
John

[Guy M.]

Re: 1954 Body Paint Stripping Question

Hi John, I had my chasis running for months before body drop, had the carbs dialed in pretty good. It smoked for about 4 hours of running time and gradually stopped. No smoke now. I found that once the the carbs are dialed in, remove the intake and carbs as an asembly insted of taking them all apart. Seems much eaier. It took 3 of us to set the steering column as it was a finished product and we had to stretch the fender well hoping nothing would crack as it was all done too. Its alot easier to fix leaks without the body. My tranny leaked but didnt show itself for a couple of months. The front bushing was flawed so guess what, out it comes again. Converter slowly wanted to empty. Much easier with no body. I would suggest make it run as much as possible before body time. Anyway, thats my 2 cents.