Hey guys, simple question, probably with a simple answer.

My paint on my Fiero is... eyebleedingly bad. I need to repaint it, but first, I need to strip the old paint off. How can you pull the paint off of the SMC body panels without damaging the SMC? or should I just sand it a little to create a surface for the new paint to adhere to? I plan on just making it look better for now, with rattlecans and one weekend. I also have to make wingstands, since mine exploded.

So, anyone have any ideas?

Soda blasting is a safe alternative to sanding.. But I'd just put some elbow grease into it and sand.

I've found the 5" orbital disc sander to do a pretty good job

Is it chipping? Sand the bad spots and grey scotch bright the rest, dont paint with metallic. I dont know what color you are thinking but white will hide imperfections very well. It should give you a slightly better surface to adhere to. Dont put to much work into If you actually sand everything off decent you could just prime and shoot good paint.

If you 'must' get it all off, get it soda blasted. It dont even hurt rubber or glass. If only places are bad, like hood and trunk lid, DA sand them to raw material and like said scuff sand the rest till its completely dull if its in decent shape. If you use a DA sander, make sure you keep it FLAT so you dont dig notches (cat eyes) into the surface. You will still have to hand sand what DA cant reach. Whatever you do, dont let anyone talk you into using stripper....even if it says you can. Ive seen many a corvette ruined by home stripping them. I refuse to even work on one thats been chemical stripped. I dont want the liability when the paint bubbles or peels.

thanks for all your replies! The problem with the paint is, the paint is actually bubbled and dulled, feels like the hood is sandpaper. Other places are chipped and the front bumper is cracked in one area (that I plan on just kitty hair filling for now). Needs quarter windows and side windows cause the felt guides are gone. I JUST got laid off from work (ugh) so painting will have to wait. I may just see how cheap I can fiberglass new wingstands with my time off. its only a 2 week lay off, with unemployment pay, so its almost like a forced vacation.

quote Originally posted by Racing_Master: Hey guys, simple question, probably with a simple answer. My paint on my Fiero is... eyebleedingly bad. I need to repaint it, but first, I need to strip the old paint off. How can you pull the paint off of the SMC body panels without damaging the SMC? or should I just sand it a little to create a surface for the new paint to adhere to? I plan on just making it look better for now, with rattlecans and one weekend. I also have to make wingstands, since mine exploded. So, anyone have any ideas?

I wouldn't bother with making it adhere better. Just be a waste of time & more work to get it back off when you decide to do it right.
But if you're interested, more info here: http://gafieroclub.org/bbs/index.php?topic=469.0
HTH,
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

I anything can't do right since, because, pickles.

I sanded my 85 SE (paint felt like sand paper) with 220 grit to remove the clear coat and ruff up the color layer to accept the primer. Use Evercoat to repair your problem areas. Evercoat is designed to work with SMC and Fiberglass.

Joe Sokol

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85 SE Daily driver with a 3.4 DOHC OBD II
88 Formula/GT 4.9 Allante Intake (My Baby)

If you just want it to look better and are not changing color, I.E. not a "show car finish", just block sand the whole car with wet or dry 180 or 220, spot putty and blend the stone chips, prime with a decent filler/primer, wet sand with 320 to a smooth finish, wash the whole car off and take it to a body shop. The quality of a paint job is mostly in the prep. If you prep it decent, the paint job will come out decent as long as the guy squirting paint knows what he's doing. Dupont or PPG enamel is not too expensive and is 500% better than anything you'll get in a rattle can from WalMart. Base coat/clear coat paint is way more expensive but renders a great, durable finish and is what's on the new cars from the factory. Also, once you've hosed up the car with a rattle can paint job it's way more work to fix it.....may as well spend the extra time and money and do it right or at least closer to right so it will last a while.
If you're looking for a premium "show car" paint job follow the instructions from Tha Driver. He seems to have it down.