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ctbecker

Well Known Member
While I'm building my 8A, I belong to a 172 club to keep current. I've taken on rebuilding the wheel pants (some minor fiberglass work). Question for the group. I need to strip the paint off the pants. What kind of stripper should I use so as not to damage the fiberglas/plastic wheelpants?
 
You might want to consult someone in the media blasting business. Using good technique and the right blast media I've seen guys take paint off one layer at a time.
 
Many of us Corvette restoration types chem strip with Capt. Lee's Spra' Strip - available from any good Corvette supply outfit, or many boat building/repair supply shops. Follow the instructions for good results.
 
K?hler said:
Many of us Corvette restoration types chem strip with Capt. Lee's Spra' Strip - available from any good Corvette supply outfit, or many boat building/repair supply shops. Follow the instructions for good results.
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I've taken paint off of fiber glass but did it the old fashioned way - with water and sand paper. With good 100 grit wet paper, wet sanding works quite well but if you're doing an entire airplane it will take some time.

From a web site selling Capt. Lee's stuff -
Spra' Strip will remove: Epoxies,Imron,Lacquers,Marine Finishes.

What that means is it will soften a fiber glass lay up if not break it down completely. If the part is gel coated, it works great but I don't think any of our plastic parts are gel coated, just primed. Maybe Cessna parts are gel coated.
 
David-aviator said:
..wet sanding works quite well but if you're doing an entire airplane it will take some time.
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I can attest to that. Took me two years to build my Long-EZ and an entire year just to paint it! :eek:
 
mek hasn't affected slosh

Glen,I have a friend who at this time is trying to remove slosh from his tanks with MEK. So far no go. I know that's not the same as paint stripper but he even built a rotiserrie and put marbles in the tank to possibly stimulate some abrasive action on the slosh. The last time I spoke with him he said the technique appearred to be working a little. I inquired about this on the forum about 3 weeks ago and received some good answers maybe search on removing slosh.
 
I usually grind down the plastic where the crack is to a feathered edge (on the crack side) then do a three-ply BID layup starting small, and ending big, say a quarter inch overlap on each layer progressing upward. Then to finish up, I sand and fill it smooth, then just touch-up whatever paint is needed, no reason strip and paint the whole pant...
 
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