I have an old fiberglass hack with a very heavy but peeling application of paint? Anyone have any suggestions for stripping this off. The chair has some compound curves so it's a tricky job?
Thanks all,
Lee
You might try Rip-Off or another stripper to get the brunt of the old finish off then finish with a DA or orbital sander. Don't try to remove all the paint with stripper as it can also remove the gel coat and weaken the body. Try to get most of the old finish off then neutralize the surface with lots of water, then wet sand to a smooth surface.
Prime and paint the same as you would a steel body.
On some older fiberglass bodies the color coats are well bonded and only the clear coat is peeling off. In this case unless the finish is checked you needn't completely strip off the color coats.
Lonnie
As fiberglass ages it also drys out and becomes brittle. Depending on the condition and age of your car it might be a good idea (although time consuming) to sand down the glass and apply new gel coats to strengthen the fiberglass. Old fiberglass can soak up new gel coat like a sponge.
If your sidecar body has a handlaid fiberglass cloth surface that is bare of finish and has been exposed to sunlight or a lot of heat it can benefit from a new gelcoat application.
If your body is of fiberglass that was choppergun applied to the mold it has many voids when new and will be greatly reinforced with added gelcoat.
In both cases total stripping will be needed in order for the gelcoat to penetrate fully.
If you are looking for structural stability this may be worth your extra labor and cost.
If not, the least amount of surface finish removed to achieve a smooth finished paint job would seem more prudent.
Lonnie
