Paint removal

CEVANS

MEMBER
1965 CHEVROLET IMPALA
V8
AUTOMATIC

The guy I got my 65 impala from sprayed primer over the original paint to save the car from rusting even more. So my question is can I use a chemical paint stripper to peel away the layers of primer and paint down to the metal? Is there a reason why I shouldnt use chemicals? Also after getting it down to the metal is there something I can put on it to protect it from rust until ready for paint? I just want to know and see whats under this paint and what the body looks like.

2 Replies

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,937 POSTS

No matter what you use to remove the paint, chemical or abrasive blast medium (bead blasting and the such) you do need to protect the clean metal, this will depend on the weather conditions a lot as well, dry and low humidity will be kinder but it will all start to rust sooner or later, bead blasting will help remove any minor rust but even touching with your hand will start the corrosion up so fast that your head will spin, you can spray with a WD40 type water repellent, but this is only a short term solution and a bit expensive, you are better to coat with a paint, (primer with no top coat will also draw in moisture) or wait until you are ready to do the job and hit it and fix it all in one go.