- Joined
- Jan 6, 2011
- Messages
- 1,284
- Reaction score
- 2
- Location
- Montevideo, Uruguay
- My Car
- 1972 Mustang sportsroof
1970 Mustang Hardtop
1972 Mercedes Benz 350 SLC European Version
1950 Ford Custom coupé
Hi friends! I just found this tips that may help someone of you guys.. i know there are more than one of you planning to start "cleaning up" parts of the car and this may help...
I´ll paste the article here and then, reffer the webpage i found it in case you want to search more.. this guy has been restoring a Boss 302 and posting his way...
Hope it helps!
..."Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Some simple but effective restoration tips by request
Since starting this blog, I have received numerous private messages inquiring on various techniques I use that I may not have detailed appropriately.
The two that seem to come up most often are:
A. Undercoating removal
I had a rather funny but serious inquiry from a buddy asking why I never seem to complain about undercoating removal like so many other restorers. At that point I realized I never covered that phase of my work because I just don’t struggle with it as a result of some sage advice from a fellow hobbyist and Studebaker restorer friend who was kind enough to recommend the undercoating removal procedure I use. However, before I get to the details, I am going to warn you that what I am about to describe kinda runs against logic when you see the tools involved, but trust me, the process works and works very well (it’s super quick too!).
Quite simply, the way I remove the old crusty undercoating from any area is with a pneumatic air hammer. Now, before you fall off your chair laughing at the thought of using an air hammer on your delicate sheet metal, take a second to follow along.
The two critical things in making this whole idea work is a good, quality air hammer that has an on board air adjustment and LOW air pressure. I use a nice Craftsman adjustable air hammer that came in an air tool set I got several years ago (see photos). With the air pressure dialed to no more than 20psi, and a slightly dull, broad blade chisel, the old undercoating practically jumps off the metal in fine pieces, leaving a very clean surface that can easily be cleaned up with a bit of solvent.
The technique is to lay the chisel edge at a relatively shallow angle to the surface and let the low pressure hammer blows “shock” the undercoating off the surface. You can use your hand to direct the chisel head to help in removing undercoating from quite intricate areas. With just a little practice, you can strip an entire wheel well in about 15 minutes. My front fender aprons were heavily coated in undercoating when I started my resto. Using this little trick, I managed to strip each side in less than a half hour each! What little residue was left was easily removed during the sand blasting process in preparation for panel replacement (see earlier blog installments).
B. Chemical paint/goo stripping
I am a firm believer in using just about any means at your disposal to remove paint and other goo from your car during a restoration. Also, while I like sand blasting for almost all rust and paint removal around the car, I do NOT like sending a car to a media blaster to remove paint/rust from the external body surfaces. I’ll take care of that myself, thank-you. I have seen far too many issues with the media and pressures used by most media blasters on the “beauty” surfaces of cars that I much prefer using my small, low pressure sand blaster to condition these surfaces AFTER using a D.A. sander and chemical paint stripper to do the bulk of the work head of time.
I am a big fan of products and tools that do more than one thing well. I consider such things as nifty little bonuses and love when something works really well. One product I really like for its multi-use features is a chemical paint stripper available at your local Home Depot (and other locations that carry the “Klean-Strip” brand of products, and it’s called Klean-Strip Premium Sprayable Stripper and is effective on paint, epoxy and polyurethane as well as powder coating, undercoating residue and seam sealer. This stripper is better than any of the “aircraft” strippers I have ever used and is cheaper to boot.
A word of caution is in order: This is some of the nastiest poop you can get over the counter and will jack you right up if treated carelessly. It will blister skin almost on contact and it stinks like death in a can, but work it certainly does. Consider yourself appropriately warned and READ THE BLOODY INSTRUCTIONS AND PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES!
Aside from being a fantastic paint stripper, one of my favorite “bonus features” of this product is its ability to strip seam sealer and undercoating residue from just about anywhere. As many of you will attest, old, dried seam sealer can be just as hateful (and often even more so) to remove than old undercoating. This stripper will penetrate even the toughest seam sealer and lift it cleanly off with just a little scraping. The accompanying photos will show how I used this stripper to remove the bulk of the paint, undercoating residue, spray adhesive residue and seam sealer from the cowl boxes on my Boss.
Another very important feature of this product is that it is neutralized and rinsed with odorless mineral spirits and NOT water. Why on earth would you use water as a rinse agent on a restoration project where bare metal surfaces are regularly created? With rust an ever-present enemy, any effort to avoid a moisture infusion is a worthwhile exercise.
I hope you find these two small tips useful in your restoration work. As I come across other useful tidbits, I will try to document them here. If you have any requests for information that I may not have covered appropriately, please feel free to drop me a note and I will do my best to document the information here."
http://1970boss302.blogspot.com/2010/12/some-simple-but-effective-restoration.html
I´ll paste the article here and then, reffer the webpage i found it in case you want to search more.. this guy has been restoring a Boss 302 and posting his way...
Hope it helps!
..."Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Some simple but effective restoration tips by request
Since starting this blog, I have received numerous private messages inquiring on various techniques I use that I may not have detailed appropriately.
The two that seem to come up most often are:
A. Undercoating removal
I had a rather funny but serious inquiry from a buddy asking why I never seem to complain about undercoating removal like so many other restorers. At that point I realized I never covered that phase of my work because I just don’t struggle with it as a result of some sage advice from a fellow hobbyist and Studebaker restorer friend who was kind enough to recommend the undercoating removal procedure I use. However, before I get to the details, I am going to warn you that what I am about to describe kinda runs against logic when you see the tools involved, but trust me, the process works and works very well (it’s super quick too!).
Quite simply, the way I remove the old crusty undercoating from any area is with a pneumatic air hammer. Now, before you fall off your chair laughing at the thought of using an air hammer on your delicate sheet metal, take a second to follow along.
The two critical things in making this whole idea work is a good, quality air hammer that has an on board air adjustment and LOW air pressure. I use a nice Craftsman adjustable air hammer that came in an air tool set I got several years ago (see photos). With the air pressure dialed to no more than 20psi, and a slightly dull, broad blade chisel, the old undercoating practically jumps off the metal in fine pieces, leaving a very clean surface that can easily be cleaned up with a bit of solvent.
The technique is to lay the chisel edge at a relatively shallow angle to the surface and let the low pressure hammer blows “shock” the undercoating off the surface. You can use your hand to direct the chisel head to help in removing undercoating from quite intricate areas. With just a little practice, you can strip an entire wheel well in about 15 minutes. My front fender aprons were heavily coated in undercoating when I started my resto. Using this little trick, I managed to strip each side in less than a half hour each! What little residue was left was easily removed during the sand blasting process in preparation for panel replacement (see earlier blog installments).
B. Chemical paint/goo stripping
I am a firm believer in using just about any means at your disposal to remove paint and other goo from your car during a restoration. Also, while I like sand blasting for almost all rust and paint removal around the car, I do NOT like sending a car to a media blaster to remove paint/rust from the external body surfaces. I’ll take care of that myself, thank-you. I have seen far too many issues with the media and pressures used by most media blasters on the “beauty” surfaces of cars that I much prefer using my small, low pressure sand blaster to condition these surfaces AFTER using a D.A. sander and chemical paint stripper to do the bulk of the work head of time.
I am a big fan of products and tools that do more than one thing well. I consider such things as nifty little bonuses and love when something works really well. One product I really like for its multi-use features is a chemical paint stripper available at your local Home Depot (and other locations that carry the “Klean-Strip” brand of products, and it’s called Klean-Strip Premium Sprayable Stripper and is effective on paint, epoxy and polyurethane as well as powder coating, undercoating residue and seam sealer. This stripper is better than any of the “aircraft” strippers I have ever used and is cheaper to boot.
A word of caution is in order: This is some of the nastiest poop you can get over the counter and will jack you right up if treated carelessly. It will blister skin almost on contact and it stinks like death in a can, but work it certainly does. Consider yourself appropriately warned and READ THE BLOODY INSTRUCTIONS AND PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES!
Aside from being a fantastic paint stripper, one of my favorite “bonus features” of this product is its ability to strip seam sealer and undercoating residue from just about anywhere. As many of you will attest, old, dried seam sealer can be just as hateful (and often even more so) to remove than old undercoating. This stripper will penetrate even the toughest seam sealer and lift it cleanly off with just a little scraping. The accompanying photos will show how I used this stripper to remove the bulk of the paint, undercoating residue, spray adhesive residue and seam sealer from the cowl boxes on my Boss.
Another very important feature of this product is that it is neutralized and rinsed with odorless mineral spirits and NOT water. Why on earth would you use water as a rinse agent on a restoration project where bare metal surfaces are regularly created? With rust an ever-present enemy, any effort to avoid a moisture infusion is a worthwhile exercise.
I hope you find these two small tips useful in your restoration work. As I come across other useful tidbits, I will try to document them here. If you have any requests for information that I may not have covered appropriately, please feel free to drop me a note and I will do my best to document the information here."
http://1970boss302.blogspot.com/2010/12/some-simple-but-effective-restoration.html
