NO....DONT USE STRIPPER ON A FIERO...even if it says safe for plastics. All it takes is a crack or pinhole and the stuff wicks into the part. It will keep coming back out thru the paint forever. I wont touch a Fiero or Corvette thats had stripper on it for any amount of money.
Id have to see the can saying that (unless the brand name might be Aircraft Stripper). I worked for a while at an aircraft paint shop in Oklahoma City painting new and used Aero Commanders from the factory. We always sprayed them down with stripper we bought in 55 gal drums. You CANT blast or sand a planes surface because the scratches can cause metal fatigue failure. You cant paint over a paint job because you add considerable weight. You have to paint over a bare surface thats been anodized to make it stick.
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09:20 AM
FTF Engineering Member
Posts: 710 From: Near Philadelphia PA Registered: Sep 2001
It is my humble opinion that soda blasting and or media blasting causes more problems than they are worth. I've tried them both. It's less time consuming to get some sand paper and get started than to either get the car to and from the blaster or to get the equipment together to do the job and the try to fix any issues caused by the blasting.
Charlie
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09:55 AM
rogergarrison Member
Posts: 49601 From: A Western Caribbean Island/ Columbus, Ohio Registered: Apr 99
Kleen Strip is the manufacturer and they just put Aircraft on it as a product name. I see they call it 'remover' rather than stripper so maybe there is something different in it that is bad for aluminum.
Ive got a can commercial aircraft stripper (also called remover) I buy from an aircraft paint shop here at the airport. I still use it to strip planes and semi trucks. I use it to remove paint from parts of both that are damaged. So I really have no idea why that brand says that. Im actually interested enough to call the manufacturer and ask them.
Waiting for tech assistance to return my call. While waiting I read all the data sheets on your stripper. It specificlly says NOT FOR USE on ANY SYNTHETIC MATERIAL such as fiberglass or plastics of any kind. Its for metal and wood and other type surfaces.
[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 07-20-2012).]
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11:19 AM
rogergarrison Member
Posts: 49601 From: A Western Caribbean Island/ Columbus, Ohio Registered: Apr 99
Talked to the tech director at the company thats owns Klean Strip.
His strippers have Methylene Chloride which causes hydrogen imbeddiment in the aluminum. He explained it as forming minute chemical bubbles in the aluminum that weakens it and can cause structural failure. They have no strippers that are usable on aircraft...therefore the warning label. He states as I said, that ' Aircraft ' is only on the can as a product name and not as a product use. So now we know the story.
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12:06 PM
PFF
System Bot
urbex Member
Posts: 248 From: Glendale, AZ, USA Registered: Jul 2012
Originally posted by rogergarrison: Talked to the tech director at the company thats owns Klean Strip.
Haha! Holy over-investigation Batman! Good work!
I was just enjoying the irony.
But while were on the topic... You got any experience with a publicly available stripper/remover that does NOT contain methylene chloride? And actually works worth a crap?
so if I cant use a liquid stripper, whats the best option then? I dont want to have to sand down to a stable surface, it takes too long.
soda blasting?
And lol about the aircraft paint remover warning! not being able to be used on aircraft! XD
You can use chemical stripper, in spite of what the naysayers are saying. I've done it a lot on Fieros that have too much paint to sand off in any reasonable amount of time. Never had any problems. ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver"
Those bubbles Rodger is talking about are hydrogen embrittlement, Back when I worked at Gulfstream aerospace we had to take precautions with the aircraft strippers we used, we had to seal off all the stainless steel areas and titanium like the fillet panels on the wings and other areas like the thrust reversers and windshield frames. the stripper for the jets was bens alcohol based or citric acid but the bens alcohol worked best. Nasty stuff I still have chemical burn holes scaring my skin from using it. we had a chicken hawk get into the hanger while we were stripping one night and it made a whopping two laps around the jet before falling dead from the fumes. stripper works great on aluminum but after its cleaned off aluminum needs to be treated with etch and alodine afterwards.
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10:15 AM
rogergarrison Member
Posts: 49601 From: A Western Caribbean Island/ Columbus, Ohio Registered: Apr 99
"but after its cleaned off aluminum needs to be treated with etch and alodine afterwards."
Yes, this is what we did too, then a final water wash and dry, ready for zinc chromate primer.
You can do what you want with the stripper, I use it a lot on steel cars and parts. If you read the stripper data specs, it TELLS you NOT to use on any plastics. Someone may get away with it on 20 cars, but that one that has some stress cracks or pinholes will kill you. I did a Corvette just a few years ago that the guy stripped, had body work done and primered with 2K. He just wanted me to paint it. Within less than a week, it had bubbles blistering up from under the primer. The stripper was pushing the filler and primer up off the surface of the fiberglass. I had to sand strip the whole car down, redo all the body work, reprime and repaint it all again. Since I dont like to increase a price quote like some shops do, I did that next 60 hours of labor and rebuying the paint again for my repeat customer for free . After I lost my azz on the job, I will never paint another plastic car thats had stripper, at least not without customer signing a waiver. You might get away with it if you only strip it down TO the OEM paint and sanding from there.
I suggest you just sand it off with a DA and by hand. I can easily sand all of at least 2 paint jobs off like that to bare OEM primer or surface in a few days and your guaranteed not to have any problems. I sand stripped my 66 Dodge Coronet to bare metal with #80, bumper to bumper in 2 days and its nearly twice the size of a fiero. Ive had good luck with walnut shell and soda blasting Corvettes. It dont hurt the plastic, rubber or chrome.
The quickest, cheapest way to do it fast is just scuff sand the whole car, use spot putty to fill scratches and chips instead of feathering them out, skip primer and use non sanding sealer instead, and paint it. I can do a job like that from start to finish in less than 8 hours.
[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 07-21-2012).]
Roger, we're talking about THICK paint that for whatever reason - it's too hard, or gums up the sandpaper, or whatever - is very hard to strip by sanding. If you read the article I wrote, you'll see that I say to keep it off of the fiberglass & only use on the paint. If you do that you won't have any problems. Some cars just have too much paint on them to strip by just sanding, & I don't recommend anyone waste money on paint as much as it costs these days on an 8 hour "scuff & douche" job. As a side note, you might be interested that I actually used lacquer primer for the first time in 15 or 20 years. I used it on half of a 55 gal drum after I ran out of epoxy primer - a drum I made into a "FUEL" can like the ones in the video game of the same name. I also used it on the frame of a "mini" car I'm building, 'cause I don't have any epoxy primer right now & no money to buy any, & I'm building the car with very little money using 4 wheeler parts & built the frame from 1", 3/4", & 1/2" square steel tubing. The lacquer primer I used was some I've had on the shelf for 15 or 20 years; I was surprised to find it was still liquid. But hey lacquer primer is better than no primer at all. ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver"
That lacquer primer would have still been good even if it had turned rock hard. You just pour in some thinner and let it set a few days.
I didnt see that we were talking THICK paint. I seen no mention of that here. Cracked and craized paint is usually the factory paint. I seldom see cars with more than 2 paint jobs on them. My Coronet had 2 in 50 years. Didnt take any time at all to remove it all. One was straight enamel. I chose to sand it rather than strip because the clean up of the stripper in jams and seams would have been harder and more time consuming. Sanding also pointed out every little ding that needed attention that would have slipped by with stripper. Sanding, I can walk away and come back whenever I want thru the process. Stripping sort of makes you committed to the job from start to finish.
To me its just insurance. Why take any risk when there is a sure way to do it. For the most part, from what Ive seen, were close on most things. We just have a couple of things we lock horns on because some things work for each of us differently.
[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 07-22-2012).]
That lacquer primer would have still been good even if it had turned rock hard. You just pour in some thinner and let it set a few days.
I didnt see that we were talking THICK paint. I seen no mention of that here. Cracked and craized paint is usually the factory paint. I seldom see cars with more than 2 paint jobs on them. My Coronet had 2 in 50 years. Didnt take any time at all to remove it all. One was straight enamel. I chose to sand it rather than strip because the clean up of the stripper in jams and seams would have been harder and more time consuming. Sanding also pointed out every little ding that needed attention that would have slipped by with stripper. Sanding, I can walk away and come back whenever I want thru the process. Stripping sort of makes you committed to the job from start to finish.
To me its just insurance. Why take any risk when there is a sure way to do it. For the most part, from what Ive seen, were close on most things. We just have a couple of things we lock horns on because some things work for each of us differently.
I guess you didn't read my article. ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver"
