best way to strip to bare metal

hey all was wondering if any1 had any recommendations/tips on the best way to strip my car to bare metal myself at home in the shed??
Thanks

Paint strip the larger flat panels and clean up with a strip disc (3M etc) on a 4" grinder. Just be careful not to get the larger panels too hot with the disc - reason to strip the paint first.

I've recently heard that soda blasting is bad news too...the issue apparentlty is if any soda is left in gaps and it gets wet, it will rust aggressivly. The best method of blasting is now considered to be plastic media blasting. Source...Austec Dry Stripping, Moorebank.

Many years ago I was told by a panel shop to mask a 1" stip around the edge of each panel and just paint strip the centre of the panel. Once the paint stripper is all cleaned up the 1" strip can be rubbed back easily to achieve a nice edge to the panel. The other advantage to this method is keeping the stripper out of the gutters and other corner area's which can be hard to clean up

my dad has recently stripped an old truck body. he used paint stripper where possible and then using those scourer pads you can get for the grinder.

that looks like them i think... although he also had some that had the stuff covering the whole disc. either way it works well at removing paint etc without doing anything to the metal underneath like sanding (if you go over the top anyway)

probably a bit too late now, bt i got my escort soda blastered, and have had no problems, its been over a year and the bonnet and 2 doors i still haven't etch primed and have only just started to get surface rust on there. the guy that did mine, said before you paint it, give it a wash, and yo won't have any problems. so far i haven't

Take some advice from an old spraypainter. Buy a good quality automotive paint stripper (Wattyl Auto strip,CAM stripper etc)
Put a good healthy layer over the car (one panel at a time) and cover with a sheet of plastic.
let it sit for an hour or so and remove with a paint scraper. Clean up with thinners and a scourer pad. repeat if necessary.
Finish off with a 3M Clean and strip wheel.
Works a treat and NO heat distortion.
This method has worked for me over the last 35 years.

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Originally posted by Wagin


What about removing body filler? It's easy when it's cracked and falling out on its own, but what about when it's not?

So far I've been using a wire wheel, but I feel (and hope) that there must be a better way!

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Heat it up with either an oxy torch or a heat gun.
Scrape it off when it is hot. Wear some gloves when you do as it BURNS.(words of experience)