Media blasting a car

[FMG CAMARO]

I am going to attempt to paint my 1968 camaro my self because I do not have $4000 for a paint job. The car has a 20 year old lacquer paint job that is cracking. I need to remove the old paint. What is the best method of removing paint. I know chemical strippers work but I hear they are a pain. Has anyone used media blasting themselves? I see kits for not too much money. Is it difficult to do yourself? Will I warp the sheet metal on my car with this method. I am just tossing around a few ideas. Any info will be appreciated. Thanks!

[ProdigyCustoms]

Chemical stripping is fine and if you are on a budget, $100 instead of $1000. Just be sure to put plastic under the area where you are doing the stripping to catch the waste

[BA.]

I had the same dilemma this past summer and had the same thinking you have. I also asked those same questions. :)

In the end though, the stripper was what I went with, followed up with some DA sanding with 80 grit.
I agree with Frank, ya just gotta put some plastic or old newspaper down to catch that stripper crap. In places, I needed a second application to get all coats of paint off.

[novanutcase]

I stripped the main shell of my car with stripper. What I did was take a small cardboard box and tape the fold down tops up so that you have an open box. Get some flexible metal scrapers, some coarse steel wool, and some fine steel wool and a dozen bar towels. Apply the Aircraft stripper with a cheapy brush and let it sit until you see the paint start to bubble up. DON'T LET IT START TO DRY! Scrape that area with the flexi-scraper and scrape the edge of the box with the edge of the scraper that is now full of paint/stripper sludge like you would to get off the extra paint in a paint brush after you've dipped it into the can. It will come off the scraper and into the box nice and clean. Depending on how many coats of paint you have keep doing this until you get down to the base primer. Lay on another coat of stripper, let it set until bubble or for at least a few minutes, again, DON'T LET IT DRY!, and take the coarse steel wool and start scrubbing. You should now have nice raw metal. Finish with the fine and/or the shop towel.
You want to do it in sections. The steel wool is particularly useful in those areas that have little nooks and crannys. Another good thing to have around is a wire brush for crevices. Don't forget the plastic gloves and safety glasses! I was a dumba$$ and thought I could do it without safety glasses and was wirebrushing a crevice when a little piece of stripper soaked paint flew into my eye. Painful to say the least! Also, do it in a well ventilated area like an open garage. Total cost for all this will be around $100.00.

[FMG CAMARO]

Thanks for the info. I am going to go with the aircraft stripper!!!

[toxicz28]

Make sure you use chemical resistant gloves, not just rubber.

[C5DENNY69]

One of my employees lays plastic (like from a car masking bag) over the wet paint stripper, it helps hold in all the fumes and works better. Hope it helps. Denny