Stripping thick house paint...

[nickkystardust]

Hey guys,

I am looking for some help with a suggestion for how to handle a paint situation on my 73 boler I just purchased. The trailer was completely caked in this outdoor house paint and it is an absolute pain to remove. I am looking to remove as much paint as possible without causing serious damage to the original fiberglass.

I have read a lot on the corvette forums about using fiberglass safe aircraft stripper but thought I would get some fellow fiberglass trailer owners opinions. I have attached some photos for reference.

Thanks!

[Borrego Dave]

Welcome to FGRV Nick. Looks like you've started the paint removal from the pics. Just guessing but as you say it's house paint, I wonder if using a heat gun would soften it up any. What kind of finish are you seeing under where you've scraped, any gelcoat damage ? Others will chime in with better info from first hand experience soon. Be sure to take pics as you go...we like pics .

[John in Michigan]

Others on this forum have posted the following methods:

1. scrub it off using a purple pad with lots of water
2. paint stripper specifically designed for fiberglass

Hopefully those folks will chime in.

[Civilguy]

There's an old story about the painter who was telling the homeowner "Well, I finished the back of the house today and I gave the porch two heavy coats with a brush just like you asked me to."

Then almost as as an afterthought he added "By the way, that's not a porch, it's a Ferrari."

You might connect with a Sherwin Williams dealer or such as some of the paint stores have a good deal of expertise.

[nickkystardust]

I so appreciate all the feedback and I will certainly be posting more pics once we get a little further along. So far the pressure washer has worked the best but it is just extremely time consuming and it gets the paint everywhere. I think I am going to try using the stripper over the weekend. I will keep you all posted.
I will be starting a reno thread pretty soon since with will be such a "challenge" if you will : )

[MAP 56]

In the body shop i would get stuck with those jobs best tip is sand it with 80 grit paper then hit it with the paint striper .the 80 grit helps the paint striper to get under and buble it off .at this point use a scraper and or a hand wier brush to losen it .we used this procdure.to to remove hard stuff like plastic paint off air planes.I was the corvete repair guy in are shop.Hope that helps Happy Trails

[02camp]

Since the pressure washer is working, I would try a citrus based stripper to help the process along. Read the label first then if it says it's safe, try some on an inconspicuous area to be certain there is no damage.