sandblast, or aircraft remover?

[63d100sixer]

So, im stripping my 63 down to bare metal. I started off sandblasting, but very little progress. I went through a 100 lb bag on one door. This truck has 6 coats of enamal, 2 coats of latex, and 4 coats of primer. So, i bought a gallon of aircraft remover. I spread it on, waited the appx 45 minutes till it bubbled fully, and scraped it all away.....only to reveal ANOTHER coat of paint untouched below it. What do i do to make the stripper penetrate farther down, preferrably to the metal?? at 30 bux a gallon, i dont want to waste it. On a couple of panels, i was able to get down to the metal, i dont know how, but there are still little bits of paint left. How do i "wash" the metal to remove the remaining bits, and the residue from the stripper?

also anyone with fiberglass experience, please chime in. I'm removing the moulded in tool box and need to fab a mold of the line, and make a new wheel well, and bedside. This is my first major fiberglass project, and i really want it to turn out decent. I will be driving my truck to school during the week, so any quick tricks of the trade are appreciated.

Any tips and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Only a month and a half left to get her road worthy. I can do it..................i hope......

[ufo]

That's a lot of paint to come off.
Sometimes it helps the stripper if you used course sandpaper before brushing it on.
Are you near a dipping location? Redistrip name comes to mind.

[63d100sixer]

I had fully disassembled the truck, but threw it back together so i could halfassedly drive it. so right now im trying to strip it assembled. I am taking the bed off to work on it, but circumstance forces me to leave the truck together, incase i have to drive it.

I have tried the rough sandpaper but the stripper just turns that part to goop, and still leaves "layers" untouched, even if i sand to bare metal, it doesnt seem to penetrate to the surrounding areas......

[dodged200]

Get an electric buffer, turn the pad into an 8" hook it, take a piece of 8 inch 80 grit hook it or 36 grit since there is so much paint and it will knock it out pretty quick.

[slick]

Blasting sucks when it comes to latex paints. We are stripping my dads 46 dodge and it's the same way. Did you try to blast after you stripped the outer layer off? Also, I would steer away from "sand" it will give you silicosis which is a lung disease I was using glass on my dads, but we are trying "starblast" this weekend to see if that cuts a little better.

[hemihydro135]

i was watching trucks a while back and thoes guys were blasting a 60's chevy with baking soda. looks like it did the job, but that was the original paint .don't know about layers on layers.

[nfury8]

In your case I would try multiple treatments of a cheaper stripper.
Or maybe Black Beauty, coal slag. It is really jagged but breaks down fast.
It can only be reused a couple times. It seems to really go after paint, but
doesn't hit rust nearly as hard. I like to use Quickcretes Fine Brown Sand.
Silicia works great, but generates heat, don't use it on panels. Silicosis is
real, but according to OSHA, only documented in workers that blast 8 hours
a day, in closed environments, for years at a time. A good respirator should
be worn no matter what media is used.

Even glass can warp panels if you go too slow, and it will take a lot of time to blast
through that much paint. 50 or 36 grit can work well but will probably clog up in
your case. I had that problem with the factory blue paint on my crew cab. The outer
"crust" was real hard, but it got real soft under that and gave a lot of fits. Soda
blasting is really cool, but delicate. It will not harm glass or chrome. I was talking
to a guy with a unit at a show last year. He said it would even remove Bondo,
but it took a long, long time. It also leaves rust in place. Dry Ice brasting is even
"cooler", no residue and only the junk you removed is left to clean up, the media evaporates.

[62dodgedog]

There is an item nobody else has mentioned that I have seen work on a jeep. It is a 6" disc cup on a polisher and it strips down to the metal in seconds. I got mine from an auto paint store. Have not used it yet but did witness it being used and it was down to the metal real fast. Payed $40 for the disc.

[MountainMoparRobin]

Yes that works, but will take man hours for large area's, I used the disc made for stripping you can buy at Walmart for just under $5.00 they'll strip the area down to metal fast, just like the disc 62dodgedog mentioned and it will take about 4 to strip the truck, they are black and you can buy them with 2 disc or 1, as they wear down I would buy a new one and save the smaller worn one for the tight area's, however, large area's take time, when your doing the striping down the metal don't forget to treat the metal so it won't rust http://www.por15.com/prodinfo.asp?grp=MR&dept=2
best stuff ever made, and they guarantee that if you follow directions you'll never have rust for the life of the vehicle, I've used it and saw what it can do by putting it to the test, also use it to kill, notice I said KILL rust, doesn't convert, it KILLS rust, eats it up. Most bodyshops use it also

[tom-adc]

I don't like sand as it seems to get into area's and pop out when least expected, I'd use the stripper & sander.

[63d100sixer]

well, ive been working on it, and i ended up getting 80 grit sandpaper. I took the hood off, placed it on a couple of old oil drums, and sanded it with the 80 grit. Then i coated it with the aircraft remover, then went over it again with a thinner coat of stripper and steel wool to get the finer bits left over. It turned out very well. I just hate to to it to the whole truck but it is a labor of love....pics coming soon

[chargerandpowerwagon]

Sometimes it helps to put the stripper on and while it is still wet putheavy plastic over the top of the stripper! This helps the stripper penerate thru the severallayers of paint and primer! I have done this befor and it really helps. Aircraft stripper has worked well for me in the past.