What do they look like? I was planning to strip the paint off my gold fiero which has some questionable paint issues that will never be resolved. I was going to take aircraft remover to it and see what happens starting with the front bumper and going to the rest of the car with the intention of keeping it naked assuming it looks ok. Otherwise I will do a really crappy paint job over top, but stripping the paint can't hurt that.
If you use any stripper, you'll destroy the entire car. You have to sand the paint off.
that kind of makes sense. I'm glad I asked a forum before I just went and did it. I tried brake fluid on the front bumper and nothing really happened. The paint and body panels are a complete mess as is so I would like to do what ever to it, but I kind of like the inherited ugliness I got as I bought it.
The panels on my 88 are a black dark plastic. You dont need to take it all the way down to that unless you have repairs to do like cracks or splits. The oem paint/primer makes a great base, just get it roughed up w some sanding then primer/paint.
that kind of makes sense. I'm glad I asked a forum before I just went and did it. I tried brake fluid on the front bumper and nothing really happened. The paint and body panels are a complete mess as is so I would like to do what ever to it, but I kind of like the inherited ugliness I got as I bought it.
So here's the longer answer. The bumpers, fenders, door panels, and quarter panels can be damaged by the stripper. They are made of Reinforced Reaction Injection Molded urethane or RRIM. The hood, roof, and decklid are made of Sheet Molded Compound or SMC and can actually absorb the stripper which will make it impossible to paint.
Thanks everyone. I'm glad I asked. There goes my sunday project. The paint and panels on my car are absolutely terrible. I always figured it'd be way cheaper to just get junkyard panels rather than repaint what I have. The previous owner seemed to sand it in some areas and there are cracks, imperfections and some weird things done to it, but I will think twice about it. If I did paint it, I was just going to roll on bbq grill paint. Maybe I will take the time and sand it down. It isn't a big car.
If you really like your car and want it to look nice, resist half assing it and do it right. I had a whole lot of Fiero's with varying paint. Took me 30 years to do it right, Don't be like me, put the effort and love into it now so you can enjoy it in the years to come.
It's not that hard to do it right. The only concern I would have is your mention of cracks. Paint cracks, no big deal. Cracks in the plastic body will come back unless reinforced and repaired with specific materials.
With a palm sander and 60 or 80 grit you can get down to a stable surface very quickly. You don't need to remove all the paint, just the damaged stuff. Then spray a high build primer surfacer amd block sand it. That will take care of all the imperfections. That's the great thing about plastic bodies. They are either straight or broken, not dented and bent.
You can do a decent paint job with a cheap Harbor Freight paint gun and better guns aren't that much more. If yoiu really want to go cheap, you can spray it with Rustoleum, block sand it, then compound and polish it. You would be surprised how good that will work. Better yet, use real automotive paint. I've had good luck with paintforcars.com. Good paint at decent prices, but you will have to spend $300 to $500 in materials for quality urethane finish.
