Easiest way to strip a truck

[garyhugo]

I own a 1993 Ford F250 and plan to paint it in the spring. It was originally an orange truck and someone has painted it red. I want it to be light blue so I'm going to need to strip all the paint off first. It sounds like a truly dawnting task and I am hoping that someone will be able to recommend a way to do this with as little amoutn of time/money/pain as possible. Any advice?

[kenseth17]

Are you talking about taking it down to baremetal? I actually use a combination of methods, depending on what I am stripping. For large exterior panels, the way I like best is to use my 8 inch orbital sander, with 36 and when most of the paint is off, switch to 80 grit on a 6 inch da to take off remaining paint as well as smooth out the 36 grit scratches. other times, for some areas I will use paint stripper. Brush it on thick in one direction only and let it sit. May take a few applications and a little sanding to get it all off. Make sure you neutralize it when you are done, cleaning well if there are any cracks or anything it could have seeped in. You do not want it coming back later after its painted and ruining the paint there. I am not a fan of stripper because I think its messy. Then somethings I will carefully sandblast, but be carefull. You can ruin good sheetmetal if you are not carefull with a sandblaster. Stuff like door hinges, and some spots its just easiest to blast. And other times, hand sanding. Maybe try different methods and see what works best for you. And you may want to break up the work, a panel or two at a time. Then you won't get so overwhelmed, and if the metal is clean and rust free, shoot some epoxy primer on the stripped part to keep the metal from possibly flash rusting sitting in the open too long. If you do get any flash rust on the surface at all, apply a metal prep solution or self etching primer before the epoxy primer. Make sure you read the product sheets for the primer you are using, it will tell you correct mixing and use, and give any precautions.

[cbzgt50]

I am in the process of stripping a 92 GMC 2500 of my own. I am planning on putting 2 part bed liner in the sick bed. So I am going to remove the bed, take it to a place that sand blasts LARGE items and have the inside of the bed and the underside sandblasted. Once that is done I will use a DA with 60 grit to strip the two layers of paint on the front side of the bed, the sides and the tailgate.

Next I am removing the doors and stripping them (parts) to just a metal door where I can DA the inside and out.

I will do the roof, and the fenders next.

I already have the hood sanded and painted in my garage. The truck will look funny for a while but will look sweet when painted.

The truck has 167K miles and was Fugly when I bought it for $1500. I just can't drive an ugly car as long as I keep my 93 Cobra in the garage. This is supposed to be my beater

[kaeru666]

Actually what I found that can be found at just about any auto store is "Aircraft Stripper". It is a chemical stripper that if you are stripping to bare metal is the best. Use gloves and a small flux brush to apply it. Put a coat all over the paint that you want to remove. Let it sit until it stops bubbling. The paint will almost start coming off even before you remove it. Then take a paint scraper and start removing the stuff. After you are done use a wax degreaser and you are finished. I did a hood in about 20 minutes. This stuff is a life saver. Hope this helps.