Firewall Paint Removal

[The Rebel]

Hey guys. Looking for some ideas how to remove the Black paint someone did way back in the day, to get it back to body color. I tried a wire wheel on a dremel, but the stuff is pretty thick and or baked on. Was thinking of using a rag soaked in zip strip to hopefully wipe away or loosen up the topcoat to get to the body color underneath. I'm not planning on removing anything to keep the job as simple as possible. I know perhaps using a rattle can of paint may be an option but as some angles would be hard to get with a can looking to get some ideas.

 

[donbmopar]

for good result it's way more complicated if you don't remove everything in the way. just my 2 cent opinion that can be rebutted with other ideas.

 

[gkent]

Have at it with lacquer thinner and tackle a small area at a time. When you get down to the red, stop. It'll probably dull the original surface but you may be able to buff that back up with compound on a rag. Whatever you do, its going to be labor intensive with less than perfect results. Good luck.

 

[zyzzyx]

I would first try some enamel reducer in hopes that the guy that painted the Black on
used rattle can paint. put it in a squirt bottle over some rocky driveway, (not blacktop)
and have at it. If that doesn't work, graduate to lacquer thinner.

 

[gkent]

I’ve had no luck with enamel reducer on dried paint.

Agreed. "reducer" is not "thinner". Not sure about brake "cleaner" ... how about brake "fluid" !!

 

[6PKRTSE]

For the life of me, I don't understand why so many previous owners of our Mopars always thought black engine bay would look better. Unless it is a factory TX9 black car. Best to leave body color. To me it doesn't even look good.

 

[ckessel]

Do you want it perfect or less offensive than current condition? Perfect means get everything out of the way and then you have chemical stripping or abrasive means. Less than perfect try reducers/thinners on a rag and hit what you can. Pick your poison.

 

[4speed68rt]

Why not just remove the easy stuff, scuff it up real good with some 300 sandpaper, tape off the hard stuff and the motor, cover the windshield and paint over it? Use the black paint as a primer.

 

[gkent]

Why not just remove the easy stuff, scuff it up real good with some 300 sandpaper, tape off the hard stuff and the motor, cover the windshield and paint over it? Use the black paint as a primer.

The OP says its a "rough" finish. There are many degrees of rough but if its just a "rough" paint job then I tend to agree with the above. It certainly wouldn't be any worse than trying to get all the black off but not being able to get in the tight spots. Paint can get where your fingers can't !! Even if you sand down to bare metal in spots, you can always spot prime it.

 

[QuickBpBp]

If you are not going to remove anything then personally it looks just as bad as it's going to look. Wait till you can do it right...

 

[1KoolBee]

When I was a dumb-sh*t kid I rattle canned my Bee’s engine compartment black. I thought it looked good at the time. Several years later, my cousin and I spent a good 40 man-hours pulling everything out , scrubbing that crap off, sanding & repainting original white, and reassembling. Looks great now. Well worth the effort.

 

[1KoolBee]

Too bad the 45 year old WW1 looks yellow tho

 

[The Rebel]

Thanks guys! Definitely not looking for perfection but looking to have it look better than it does. in some spots it will flake off, but other spots seem a bit thicker.

Gonna stop off by an automotive paint store I've bought supplies from in the past to show them what I'm looking to do. This will be a springtime job once the weather warms up a bit more.

Also, thanks for the reminder about the driveway!

 

[gkent]

I have a confession to make ...

 

[The Rebel]

Was a nice day today, so tried a few different options I found online. There was a video from Eastwood about how there were doing the same as I to get rid of top layers of paint to get to the orig. layer. They used pre-painting prep, so gave that a try felt meh about it, then found that someone had tried goof off, so tried that with not much results. I did hit it with some rattle can and noticed that the new paint was attacking the old black paint and making it bubble up. So, I wiped away the new paint and low and behold the black paint had come off to some degree. So, the question is what is in a can of paint that was attacking it, acetone?

Still looking for a real good solution but it does seem it can be done.

 

[gkent]

I'm guessing you sprayed a lacquer over enamel. You can cover lacquer with enamel but laccquer over enamel does just as you described.

That said, I'd hit it with lacquer thinner. It may be too strong full strength so maybe dilute it with some plain paint thinner ... 50/50 and see how it works.

 

[The Rebel]

That has to be the case as the original paint underneath was not affected at all.

 

[The Rebel]

Well tried the goof off spray as well as rust-oleum Professional Grade Multi-Purpose Solvent, no dice. Still searching for a good striper that will get rid of the topcoat but preserve the original paint underneath.

 

[gkent]

I think you have to try lacquer thinner

 

[The Rebel]

Yep trying that out now. Finger's crossed.