What kind of chemical stripper to use?

[big stinkie]

Painting a friend's 2000 HD Fat Boy. Original black paint on it. I've always used Zip Strip http://www.starbronze.com/720.html to get to bare metal. Usually the stuff works quite well. Clearcoat and basecoat practically leap of the tin with that stuff. Spread it all over his fenders and tank, and the clearcoat literally slid off onto the floor, but the black factory basecoat thumbed its nose at the Zip Strip and simply sat there. No bubbling, no wrinkling...nothing. It made it a bit softer, but I still had to scrape like a cat covering a yard full of t*rds. Took hours to get it off of one fender.

Anyone have another product that might be better for factory HD paint?

 

[seedeucer]

That factory coat from Harley is called an E coat. It is like a powdercoat. Easiest way to get rid of it is to blast it. Any chemical I've ever seen used on it just pissed off the E coat even more. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/angry.gif

 

[big stinkie]

OK. That makes sense. I eventually took the other fender and the tank to a sand blaster guy. Cost a little bit, but sheesh! It sure was easier!

Thanks for the info.

Andy

 

[rex]

80 grit on a DA rips it right off,then I sandblast the stuff I can't get.I don't trust commercial blasters,seen too many warped panels and they won't care if they get sand in the tank.That base sticks like crazy doesn't it?I use aircraft stripper and it won't touch it either.

 

[Austin]

That factory e-coat is a great product, why try to remove it? I would just strip down to that, then DA with 320 grit for adheasion and prime.
Austin

 

[seedeucer]

That is what I do too. If it sticks like crazy then leave it on.

 

[big stinkie]

That makes even more sense. I'm one for doing things the easiest way...as long as it works OK.

Someone on this forum once said, "Know your substrate," so the following might be an apt question. It seems that the stripper did soften the E-coat up a bit after removing the CC, so is there any/much of a chance that the stripper could contaminate the E-coat and cause the BC/CC to peel off months later?

 

[seedeucer]

After it's already been attacked by the stripper I would think you'd have to go the whole nine yards and sand it or blast it. I just wouldn't trust it to not lift down the road.

 

[big stinkie]

Yeah, I'd at least sand it...but even then I'd be kinda nervous about spraying over something that had been covered with paint stripper. I have enough problems painting without adding that to my list of worries.

I found a local guy that blasts stuff, and he seems to know his what he's doing. Maybe I'll just use him for stock Harley paint from now on.

 

[alienboy]

Elbow grease and a DA Sander with 80 grit works well for me.

 

[rex]

Those guys are right,if the stripper is on that substrate it's reacting with it and no matter how much you neutralize it it has been compromized.If you use stripper be prepared to go to metal.It really doesn't take long to remove a factory single color paintjob with decals and stripes with 80grit,probably less than stripping off the top and still having to 80 off the lower coats.You also get the benefit of a nice etching with 80 grit to avoid the added expense of an etch primer unless you want teh extra corrosion protection.I usually only use stripper on those jobs that have been repainted to get to the lower coats and save time and paper or I can work on something else to save time while the stripper is working on the part.

 

[airartist]

It was my understanding that if you were going to paint over a factory job, all that was needed was to scuff the factory clear....prime and shoot your base. Some even say that priming over the clear is optional before shooting the base. I read here a while back that stripping down to metal was only necessary if the parts had already been painted over and they were being changed again.

 

[big stinkie]

I've heard that, too, but I guess I'm kinda anal about stuff like that. I've done a few over existing paint, but there is always that haunting feeling that one day the guy is going to call me up and say the paint came off in sheets! It may be a baseless concern, but real or imagined...it's still there. (Maybe I just need to see a shrink!) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/freak.gif You're right that it isn't really necessary, but this way I have fewer variables to cause problems. Plus, the minor bodywork and priming is sorta fun for me. It's therapeutic working out the little dings and scratches. It's about as fun as doing the actual painting - for me, anyway. At least that's what the little voices in my head keep telling me.

 

[rex]

I think along the same lines as Andy (aka Big Stinkie) but going over a factory paintjob is cool if you aren't getting into heavy grafix.I'll go over the factory stuff if someone needs to save money but I strongly suggest they do no grafix unless it's airbrushed and there's basically no guarrantee.If i can strip it and start fresh I'll guarantee a factory type refinish for years-5 isn't unreal to me,but once you start playing with grafix cleared in and reds the warrantee starts getting less.I would still fix a problem if I see it being justified but certain colors will bleach out in time and those thick jobs can go south on you.That's why no custom paint line offers a warrantee on their products,you're pushing the envelope and application and care are paramount in keeping it in one piece.

 

[RDHicks]

I stripped a 2001 Fat Boy with some stuff called DADS. You spray it on and let it sit. It took a while and several coats but it did the job. I still prefer blasting though.