Stripping/painting engine compartment and under hood

[udlooz]

Going to pull engine and accessories to allow repainting of engine compartment and under hood with FC7 single stage. For those who have done it, what did you use to strip paint? Sandblast.....chemical? Exterior paint to remain in place. This is not a concourse restoration....just a freshen up. Exterior was repainted years ago and is still presentable.

Thanks

 

[DesertRat]

You probably won't want to do it with your car but I sandblasted the engine compartment of my car.
Epoxy primer and color followed that step.

 

[j par]

If it's not a concourse and if you're not after any major rust what I did was just clean clean clean clean. Of course sand down any rough spots and use mineral spirits to clean it one last time before you use a good primer and paint it.
Since I had no major rust to fight this is the way I did it. I figured it looks very good now not Concourse by any stretch but prepared for that day....

 

[GeorgeH]

The existing paint looks to be largely intact so I don't think I would necessarily jump straight to stripping. A thorough cleaning/degreasing, a thorough sanding and maybe some spot priming/sanding, some epoxy sealer and paint. Chemical strippers can be messy and have a habit of getting where you don't want it, and the stuff on the market now is not nearly as effective. Stripper also can get down in nooks, crannies, pinchwelds, etc. and be hard to neutralize and breed rust.

 

[Cuda Al]

I would avoid removing the factory paint, just block it down like primer and fix the bad spots. I did a localized sandblasting on the battery area. Anywhere you hit metal primer those areas first.


Alan

 

[udlooz]

I dont have a pic of it, but the paint on the under side of the hood is very cracked and peeling

 

[j par]

GOLD BABY!!!

 

[Cuda Al]

I dont have a pic of it, but the paint on the under side of the hood is very cracked and peeling

Deal with the hood separately, a chemical stripper might be your best bet.


Alan

 

[YY1]

I used a sandbalster.

LOTS of time removing everything.

Literally took 2 years of Saturdays and Sundays start to finish.

VERY slow going even with 32 CFM compressor.

I still have sand in the insides of the doors and other places.

If I was doing it again, I'd scuff what I could get away with, disk sand or wirebrush what I could for that and only spot blast what I couldn't do the other way.

 

[GeorgeH]

I dont have a pic of it, but the paint on the under side of the hood is very cracked and peeling

Get it media blasted. Seriously, trying to use chemical stripper on the inside is a disaster that includes separating the adhesives that bond the inner and outer panels together. It's money well spent vs the hours of prep.

 

[JAG_mopar]

Cuda Al has it right,

Do not overall blast the hood with Sand. it will distort, (spoken from experience with water blasting). unless you can protect the under skin while doing the frame, do not blast

I would avoid removing the factory paint, just block it down like primer and fix the bad spots. I did a localized sandblasting on the battery area. Anywhere you hit metal primer those areas first.


Alan

View attachment 1715173190

 

[ir3333]

Can you work it with 1200 / 1500 and buff it?
Or sand it with 320 grit, prime and paint.You don't need epoxy primer,regular will do fine

 

[1994redram]

The guy that did my engine bay sanded it down to bare metal. I didn't get a pic of it after it was sanded completely. Said he couldn't trust how good some 45+ year old paint was. I'm sure it took him awhile since some places can't be done with a DA.

 

[1969VADart]

A media blaster of some sort will work best to get in all the tight spots. If that is not available, I used aircraft stripper and a scraper and an orbital sander.