Stripping paint yourself

Learned Lessons:(1) Take the time to make sure that every part that needs to be prepped for paint is put aside for medium blasting or dipping or what ever your choice, (2) avoid your run of the mill paint strippers, such as Bix, they don't work. Get "Aircraft Stripper"! (3) It's not always easy to find INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH paint stripper that is labeled "aircraft stipper." I contacted and visited over six stores before I found an aircraft stripper. Finally, by dumb luck and after a phone call which resulted in "no we don't carry it", I found the stripper at Advance Auto for $30.00.

Make sure you prep everything carefully to protect this extremely harsh chemical stripper (it burns you skin painfully or eats through plastic cups and send fumes of melting plastic towards your nose) and for paint prep. Here I covered the reflector inside my tail lens.

Follow the aircraft stripper's instructions very carefully. You must apply it in one direction - only! You MUST apply on a thick coat. My first coat was not thick and did not produce results and I ended up wasteing the expensive stripper. If you paint is a nightmare, you can paint it on thick with a "stripper paint brush" (this is what I used) and tightly wrap it in a garbage bag and let it sit over night. After my first application I decided to skip the garbage bag and not let it sit over night. Within 20 minutes this is what I got (see picture to the left).

Using a plastic puddy knife and a paper towel the paint falls off without effort. To prevent rust I used PPG Metal Cleaner PPG Metal Conditioner. This way I can store my metal for up to one year before needing to either paint or reapply. Rust sets in very quickly. You can buy PPG products at an auto paint supply store.

Thanks to Christopher Markley, of Moto-Rapido, for schooling me so well.