Hot Air Gun Paint Removal

[Hec]

RE;- 1991 Lotus Excel.

 

Good Evening All,

 

The roof of my car is covered in small cracks due to excessive heat (it is Dark Metallic Green). Is it safe to use a hot air gun to remove the paint, preferably, back to gelcoat?

 

[andydclements]

Use wet & dry abrasive. The paint is made of the same material as the body (in essence) so not a great way to try and remove paint.

[Hec]

The cracks are deep. Is there a gelcoat beneath the paint or is just fibreglass matting and or tissue?

[esprit s2]

I too have deep cracks in my body (oo err!)

Be interested in how far I have to sand back.

[Dunc]

An acquaintance was advising me on repairing the cracks in my bonnet using a dremel to cut across them and to open the crack up, then filling the cross cuts and the original crack with a gel, leaving it to harden, and then sanding it back to match the original level.

 

I've not bothered as I have an excel bonnet that I intend to fit to give me more clearance, but it would seem to inflict a lot of damage sanding the flat area down to the bottom of the crack, when the crack is deep??

 

Also, an ex gf nudist took great care to avoid sand going anywhere near her crack.

[andydclements]

If it's a crack in the body then grind it back and repair, if it's just a paint crack then you can merely sand it and paint over.

[Sparky]

Yeah Dunc, it'd be hell trying to fill a crack in that state.

[Hec]

 

Evening All,

 

Here is the damage to the drivers side rear corner, it does however span the entire roof.

Is 'not removing with a hot air gun' the final answer?

Edited January 5, 2014 by Hec

[andydclements]

In that last image, I'd go with removing the paint using abrasive paper, clean with a suitable solvent and as that solvent is drying, check to see that it doesn't take longer to dry along the line where the crack was. If it does take longer to dry there, and it's a fine line of solvent, then the crack is deeper and possibly goes into the structure of the material.

[910Esprit]

Following a minor 'incident' earlier this year, I could track the stress cracks right down to the fibreglass resin (i.e. below the paint/gelcoat), therefore I followed Miles Wilkins instructions for grinding back to the matting and reinforcing with glass tissue (he is very scathing about the suggestion of opening cracks and just filling them).

 

However, your problem looks more like some kind of paint reaction?  Would agree with Andy that paint gun would be a very risky approach as the temperature required to remove paint is likely ro be similar to that which will damage the gel coat.   Would agree with the 'sanding' approach, although I would not be afraid of starting with a very course dry paper - e.g. 80 grit - to get the bulk of the failed paint off your car.   However you will need to be careful not to ruin the profile of the panel by uneven sanding.  Probably worth using a speed file - although I have never tried one myself...       

[Hec]

All of the paintwork on this car is original. Most of the lacquer, except for the boot, above the centre trim has peeled. The cracks on the roof are a result of the basecoat being exposed. I have already bought one of these and some 240 grit to do the quarter panels.

Edited January 5, 2014 by Hec

[Hec]

I too have deep cracks in my body (oo err!)

Be interested in how far ? 

Did you do any good?

This is the n/s/r corner of the roof looking forward, using Mirka Abranet 80 grit.

Edited September 11, 2014 by Hec