Take it off.......

After using a Scotch-Brite wheel to strip the damaged area of the roof and sail panel, I knew that's not how I wanted to strip the body. Created WAY TOO MUCH dust plus there was a question of how much heat the sheetmetal could withstand before it started to deform.

I have used POR-15 products in the past and was going to use their paint to coat the floor and chassis, so I looked through their catalog to see what they had to offer. I discovered their POR-STRIP paint remover so I called my local rep and ordered a gallon along with a spray bottle. The stuff has the consistency of water and the catalog said it wouldn't harm aluminum, fiberglass, window glass, chrome or weatherstripping.

The product arrived and I donned my heavy rubber gloves, respirator and safety glasses, grabbed my funnel and after shaking the POR-Strip vigorously for several minutes, I filled the spray bottle and got to it. Since I was working a vertical surface, it took me a few minutes to get the sprayer adjusted so it sprayed a fine mist onto the panel helping the stripper stay in place while it got busy releasing the paint.

Watching the stripper work reminded me of watching a horror flick when someone splashes holy water onto a vampire or acid onto someone's skin (well, minus the smoke of course!). At first it doesn't appear to be doing anything then gradually a blister will start to appear and begin to spread across the panel. The paint begins to wrinkle up and fall off the panel practically by itself!

After letting the stripper work for several minutes, I used a plastic spreader as a squeegee to scrape away the paint. A second application was applied to insure I got everything off. I worked one panel at a time starting at the sail panel and doing the rear quarter first before moving on to the driver's door and finally the front fender.

Once the paint was gone, I wiped down the area with water to neutralize any remaining stripper, then went over the panels lightly with a Scotch-Brite wheel to remove any remaining paint. Once I had the panels clean, I applied a coat of POR-15 Metal-Ready to prep the surface for future paint as well as protecting it in the interim from developing any surface rust because of the zinc phosphate coating left behind when the Metal Ready dries.

With the driver's side stripped, it was time to work across the roof and down the passenger side. I'll cover that next time.

Stay tuned......

ZEBRA 3 OUT