11-17-2007 Started stripping the doors. I've decided to reassemble the car as I strip it. As I work my way around the car I'll reassemble the sheet metal assemblies so that it ends up like the completed body came down the paint line. A light medial blast and it'll be ready for etching primer. That will protect the rest of the car while I'm making rust repairs.
I used a paint stripper on the rear quarter and it worked well. There was very little body filler so it was smooth and clean.
The rear passenger door had a layer of maroon paint. I sprayed a paint remover over its surface.
10 minutes later the surface bubbled up and was easily removed by a putty knife.
The second layer was a thick red primer That was pretty tough. It took two applications.
Another application of remover and the primer came off, revealing the white paint job. That paint was tough to cut, too.
Underneath almost the whole door was a thick layer of body filler. Paint remover doesn't work but heat does. I used a commercial heat gun and softened the filler and scraped it off. Some of it was 1/4" thick.
One last application of paint remover and the original green paint came right off.
Whoever made these repairs never massaged the metal, just slathered filler over relatively minor damage. About an hour with my body hammer should return the shape close enough to original that it will need very little filler.
November 18th, 2007
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