Hey All,

I've cleared all the paint off the panels of my clubbie using paint stripper... now I'm trying to strip the seams and around the doors / windows where I couldn't really get in with the paint striper.

I got a wire wheel for my drill from Repco (brozen/gold colored wires) and just gave it a try..... doesn't seem to be working as well as I expected.

I expected it to just tear through the paint within a few seconds, but after about a minute working on the one little spot (different directions and what ever) I can barely start to see metal

Please tell me this isn't normal....

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1975 Hairy Lime/White Clubby
Build Thread: http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=80657

Why can't you use paint stripper?

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1969 Cooper "S"
1967 Mini Deluxe
1973 Clubman Van (the fleet spare)
1978 ex 1275 LS ("Wizard" Eaton Supercharged)
2015 HSV GenF GTS(occasional drive & tow car)
2019 MINI F55 Cooper S

Others may have different outcomes than mine, but to me, using wire wheels only smears the paint. Occasionaly I get paint that comes right of, but not often.
I prefer to use sea weed discs. They will just smash it of like you were hoping! Other names for them are rapid strip discs, or clean and strip discs, amongst others. Three brands that I know of are norton, wurth, and 3M.
There are small ones with a 1/4" shaft for putting in the drill, or you can get a 4" or 7" wheel for putting on a grinder.
Two problems I have found are most need to be drilled to suit you grinder as the hole that they have is just too small, and they dont like edges.
Edges will chew the shite out of them.
Dont go heavy handed, as this will shorten its life, and they produce a fair bit of heat, so watch that you dont warp any panels.
3M do a black (course disc), and a purple (fine disc).
Hope this helps.
I highly recommend them!

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Chuck Norris is the only person alive who can kick you in the back of the face!!
mooo, I'm a pig!

I agree with Micowen, Those seaweed disk things on a grinder eat paint up like a fat kid on a smartie.

D

The strip and clean discs are very good for taking off paint but I found that a twisted wire cup brush in an angle grinder works best for the difficult areas such as the body seams, especially when there is any rust that needs to be taken care of.
Try a Josco BTC50 Cup Brush but wear safety goggles as they tend to fire off wire strands from time to time and hit hard enough to stick in arms and draw blood.

supercrap sell them.
http://www.getprice.com.au/Norton-Rapid-Strip-Disc-100mm-x-12mm-Gpnc_261--44062738.htm

heres more info.
http://www.nortonconsumer.com/Discs-RapidStrip.aspx

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Chuck Norris is the only person alive who can kick you in the back of the face!!
mooo, I'm a pig!

+1 only i tried using a drill on paint stripper...plan was to soften the paint then rip it off with the wire wheel coz the paint was so hard, had no glasses on & got a blob in my eye....sooo i don't recommend that. Paint stripping also smears it everywhere. A wire wheel on a grinder = loss of feeling in hands & pretty dangerous, So i bought a sandblaster & I'm going to try that

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one van, one mini s, one knitted cardigan

Theres your problem

You need to use it with a grinder.

Drills don't spin fast enough and stall to easily under load.

I use wire wheels most of the time.... just because they last longer, and they're a little more nimble.... not that there is anything wrong with seaweed disks, to each their own.

And wear a full face visor. Nothing like picking crinkled bits of wire out of ya face.

_________________
Chuck Norris is the only person alive who can kick you in the back of the face!!
mooo, I'm a pig!

you'll also destroy your drill pretty quickly - it's OK to use a wire wheel on a drill for gentle jobs, but stripping paint is a bit hard for them

This also causes major health issues if you use the wrong type of "sand" and no protection.
It could kill you.

_________________
1969 Cooper "S"
1967 Mini Deluxe
1973 Clubman Van (the fleet spare)
1978 ex 1275 LS ("Wizard" Eaton Supercharged)
2015 HSV GenF GTS(occasional drive & tow car)
2019 MINI F55 Cooper S

an idea for sandblasting, is to use a product called "black beauty". From memory, it comes in different grades, and can be re-used at least four times. More value for money that way.
At my old work we used to use crushed glass, then upgraded to black beauty. Never looked back!

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Chuck Norris is the only person alive who can kick you in the back of the face!!
mooo, I'm a pig!

You will need a very beefy drill to use those wire wheels, also as you are often pushing side to side with the wire-wheel you will ruin the chuck so your drill will never drill straight up and down again.

The best bet is to use a grinder mounted wire-wheel your standard four inch will spin those at about 6000rpm and the paint will come off in no time, A little bit tricky to get into tight spots.

The drill mounted wire-wheels only spin at 1500 maybe 3000 for the really good ones, It will strip the paint slowly and the tar-like seam sealer will be even slower. A good strong hammer drill should get you going but remember keep one drill for stripping and another for drilling and give the drill frequent breaks.

Also wear goggles AND a full face mask and a decent dust filter/breather.
Dust and wire goes everywhere.

get the twisted knot wire wheels (wide type not the cup ones) and you will only go through one for the whole car. strip discs were good and quick but i went through a few

Thanks guys, I'll go invest in some stripping disks for the grinder

paint will fear me again...

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1975 Hairy Lime/White Clubby
Build Thread: http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=80657