Getting your hands dirty and doing the hard work on your restoration project is one of the greatest parts of having a project car. 

There’s a great sense of accomplishment and pride in seeing a classic car restored to its former glory, and a lot of hard work, time and money can go into achieving this.

When it comes to restoring your car shell and panels, chemical paint and rust removal is going to give you the ultimate results.

However, if not done properly, car paint stripping can cause more harm than good. 

Here are a few important things to remember about paint stripping for your restoration project. 

 

Save yourself money and tears later down the road

Professional car stripping may seem expensive at first, but it’s an investment worth making. It’s going to set your project up for success, and save you issues later down the road, especially with a car that has underlying damage. 

Rather than just covering this up with more coats of paint, you want to address these issues before they progress any further. 

The prep work for your paint job is one of the most important steps – it doesn’t matter how good you paint it, if you are not painting a clean, smooth and properly prepped surface it’s not going to stick.

Paint stripping and rust removal can give you a fresh start, and ensures that your paint is going on a properly prepared surface.

 

The dangers of DIY

With the right research, tools, skills and knowledge, it is entirely possible for you to do your own paint stripping. 

However, stripping and rust removal is a delicate process, and if not done properly, you can risk destroying parts of your project.

When done incorrectly it can cause corrosion to surfaces, and result in discolouration and peeling on your car.

Additionally, depending on the method you use, you can come into contact with harmful chemicals or expose others in your household. It can be safer to allow a professional with the right precautions to handle this and avoid any accidents or injuries. 

You want someone who knows how to get into all the cracks and crevices, and deliver you a clean metal surface ready to start your project. 

Plus, you get to avoid all the mess in your own garage or workshop! 

 

It’s vital to preserve your original body and panels

If possible, you really want to preserve your original body and panelling. Often these original parts will be much higher quality than any replacement you can order, and so it’s ideal to save as much of it as possible. 

Preserving your original steel is essential to completing a high quality restoration project, and if you don’t have the right skills or tools to achieve this, you may end up just damaging your car, costing you more money and time.

A professional can work with you to ensure you have a pristine, clean bare metal surface, without damaging these original parts. 

 

Work with Minus Paint for your car restoration 

Minus Paint are your local paint and rust removal experts. We take your panels, shells and components and return them to you as close to factory finish as possible. 

All you need to do is deliver your parts stripped of all mechanicals and trims, and then we do the rest. All body panels are thoroughly washed and flushed with high-pressure steam cleaner after the stripping and derusting process so you can move on to the next step with no problems. 

Located in Wingfield, South Australia, the team at Minus Paint can help you with any questions or concerns you have regarding your passion project.