Paint Stripping by Sanding

how good is this method i want to strip my car myself cause i dont want to spend the money to get it blasted and would like the experience i have a few tools what tools would u sujust besides an orbital sander and my hands

Thanks

Welcome to CHR, '72!!! A good compressor, DA, some 80 grit (to start with), a little spare time, and a good dose of patience should do it! Done many of them that way myself...Also, as much time as you'll be spending on the sanding you'll find all the little imperfections that need to be fixed!!!!

Stripped a few with a Makita 5000 rpm sander with a velcrow pad with 3M cheeseburgers

what they said plus a few friends and beer for said friends.

I use an 8 inch featheredge pad on a variable speed air sander, and 36 or 40 grit discs. It is flat, and will kind of block sand at the same time. I then go back over it with 80 grit and a pad, and circle sand by hand to get rid of the leftovers. I can strip a car in a day, and it is ready for metal prep, and a heavy priming with 2K primer.

Don't forget your resprirator/dust mask probably the most important tool!!!

your compressor will make this a very easy job or a very hard job. If need be rent one large enough if you dont want to spend the cash to buy

8 inch soft pad on my vary speed electric buffer / sander works good done many cars trucks this way then a da with 80 to 120

All of the above, and don't get fixated on one spot for too long, keep moving. You can always come back. Don't want to overheat one area and cause warping.

Dont forget , bare metal rust so be ready to cover it quick. maybe do a panel at a time.

Be careful with the body lines....keep the sander flat...dont use the edge after the paper stops cutting.....change paper often.

yep better not do it if you never sanded any thing with a sander .you can sand glass chrome body lines off take the door skins off .alot of neat things if you have not did this stuff .i seen it all ...:)

Thanks for all your advice

Sounds like your in the same boat as many... Here is your solution!
Buy a regular grinder (uses electricity not air powered) and go to Home Depot. They sell Norton brand and Norton makes a course type sander/stripper. It will strip paint, bondo, rust, etc. Here is a link to them: http://www.nortonautomotive.com/bear...pid-strip.aspx
They will not heat up and warp the metal and will strip quicker than 80 grit sandpaper. They also flex and will get in door jambs and trunk lids.
They make them in 4 inch, 8 inch and smaller for drills and grinders. Home Depot sells them for about $9 and some change. As far as how many you need I am not sure, they will last quite a while. I would start off with 2 or 3 and see how you like them first. They will not strip the entire car in a day but will cut down your time compared to 80 grit sanding tremendously!
Good luck!

1972Chevy - You didn't say how thick the paint is that you are wanting to remove, but if it's already been painted multiple times, here's another idea. Years ago i bought a Camaro that had been painted 3 times and it was cracked all over. I found a hot razor blade holder - it looked like a soldering iron but had a blade holder on the end to accept single-edge razor blades. I used that (and about a dozen blades) to take the top 3 layers of paint off down to the original factory finish. Then finished it off with a D/A.

FMX - I gotta try those things!

J. Robinson, you will not regret it. You will wish you found them a long time ago and never use the DA on 80 grit to strip again. Now it is good once it's back to bare metal to hit it with 80 grit on a DA to smooth the metal out and finish it off with epoxy primer.
Also, I do not recommend aircraft stripper. If used properly it is fine but if you leave the slightest bit on the car then your paint job will go to hell quickly. The stuff is very hard to get out of cracks, joints and corners and will ruin your paint job quickly. Plus the stuff is messy and takes forever to clean up. I do not like cleaning bare metal with soap and water either even if you completely dry it but that is just me.