Topic: Painting questions...

[kitemare]

I'm ready to start painting my 77 & want to do some of the prep work myself which may end up not being such a good idea but I'm going to try it. Here are a few questions that I have.

What is the best way to get the decal off the hood?

The car has never been re-painted & the surface is starting to show signs that it is cracking or checking. Does this paint have to be completely removed?

If so, how is the best way to remove it? Paint stripper? Wet sanding? Media blasting?

I'm not trying to get a show quality paint just something that looks good enough to drive around town without embarrasing my wife!

KM

[RJH20dog]

I just took all the decals off my car last week.  I used a heat gun (be very careful, DO NOT overheat as you will blister the paint) but a hair blow dryer will work also.  If you're lucky, most of the decal will come off clean.  If not, you can buy some adhesive remover at your local auto body store. THAT part is REALLY time consuming.  Good luck.

[Jonnyscotti]

Hello Kitemare,
   Yes if it is checking then you need to get the body down to bare metal. Since you have original paint on your car it is not very thick at all and getting it to metal will be fairly easy to do. All you need to do is sand it off with a DA sander and 80 grit sandpaper. Be careful with the fiberglass pieces though because you don't want any of the fibers getting messed up, your paint job won't be pretty if that happens. In fact don't use the DA on the fiberglass pieces, only hand sanders.
   I would suggest getting a couple of books on how to prep and paint and decide if you want to go forward from there.
   Getting the decal off depends on how far degraded it is. DO NOT sandblast the hood! You will warp it, I know because I've done it.
   Goodluck!