yep you get melted paint everywhere.I use various size paint scrapers and then the plastic abrasive wire wheels in either the drill or the big angle grinder for the large jobs.This doesnt hurt the metal and has a fantastic finish.I gtta admit the citrus stuff isnt as savage but geez id rather some extra time than cancer...wish the old owner hadnt got their friend to give it a new paint job..would have made my job much easier.Filler is for fine finishing not for filling golf ball size dents thats the hammer an dollys job

just finished stripping my ute back to bare metal a week ago, its been ongoing for months now, ive been using septone strripper from supercheap coz there is one walking distance from my house and scraping it with a spatula/scraper. and wire toothbrush in the corners. once dry ive been finishing it off with plastic wheel which burns through the rest.... not a fun job though and as evry one has said masks are a must.... while its away i get to remove the layers of dust from evry thing in my garage!!!

mcgee your exactly right my msds sheet says the same thing. and yes u must use full ppe when using mek cos it will give you cancer if you dont follow the rules. we use it for stripping aircarft paint so its only 2 steps away to get the ppe.

guys and gals

i have a found a website to help with all paint removal and painting applications...this company is down the road from my work and the stuff looks ligit....
check out www.por15.com.au

i don't know how to link it so cut and paste it i guess.

Quote:

MEK being methyl ethyl ketone If so i would not touch it witha barge poll.

Man that stuff is toxic, i hope you wear butyl gloves, respirator and numorous other PPE with that stuff. I wouldn't recommend people access it just for paint stripping.

Here is an MSDS exert for the stuff

Ingredient Formula CAS No Concentration
METHYL ETHYL KETONE (MEK) C4-H8-O 78-93-3 100%
Exposure Controls / Personal Protection
Ventilation Do not inhale vapours. Use in well ventilated areas. In poorly ventilated areas, mechanical explosion proof extraction ventilation is recommended. Flammable/explosive vapours may accumulate in poorly ventilated areas. Vapours are heavier than air and may travel some distance to an ignition source and flash back. Maintain vapour levels below the recommended exposure standard. Maintain vapour levels below the recommended exposure standard.
Exposure Standards METHYL ETHYL KETONE (MEK) ES-STEL : 300 ppm (890 mg/m3)
WES-TWA: 150 ppm (445 mg/m3)
ES-TWA: 150 ppm (445 mg/m3)
Poison Schedule S5 - Classified as a Schedule 5 (S5) Poison using the criteria in the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Drugs and Poisons (SUSDP).
PPE Wear splash-proof goggles, coveralls and butyl gloves. Where an inhalation risk exists, wear a Type A (Organic vapour) Respirator. At high vapour levels, wear an Air-line respirator.

Toxicological Information
Health Hazard Summary Moderate toxicity - irritant. This product has the potential to cause adverse health effects. Use safe work practices to avoid eye or skin contact and vapour inhalation. May increase the risk of nerve damage (peripheral neuropathy, with weakness in hands and feet) when used in combination with certain other solvents (e.g. n-hexane).
Eye Irritant. Contact may result in irritation, lacrimation, pain, redness, conjunctivitis. May result in burns with prolonged contact.
Inhalation Irritant. Over exposure may result in mucous membrane irritation of the nose and throat, coughing, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting. At high levels; breathing difficulties, dizziness, drowsiness, pulmonary oedema and unconsciousness.
Skin Irritant. Contact may result in drying and defatting of the skin, rash and dermatitis. May be absorbed through skin with toxic effects.
Ingestion Moderate toxicity. Ingestion may result in nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, fatigue, dizziness and unconsciousness. Aspiration may result in chemical pneumonitis and pulmonary oedema.
Toxicity Data METHYL ETHYL KETONE (MEK) LC50 (Inhalation): 23500 mg/kg (rat)
LD50 (Ingestion): 2737 mg/kg (rat)
LD50 (Skin): 6480 mg/kg (rabbit)

paint scraper is the only way to go,
sandpaper will clog up bigtime, aa wire wheel will fling the stuff around over everything and id imagine a wire brush would be like pulling teeth.
i normally use the septone stripper from supercheap. if you put it on nice and thick and cover it with glad wrap, it will bust through layers upon layers of paint in one go.
another good trick is to use a razor blade and score the old paint with it. it allows the stripper to get a good penetration.

what do you guys use to pull the bubbled paint off after, paint scraper? wire wheel? sand paper? wire brush? ... just interested

Heres what I used & a word to the wise. Because this stuff overpowered my 3M mask in no time at all, I called 3M to see what filters to use & guess what...they don't make a filter for methylene chloride. Their recommendation is use only in extremely well ventilated areas or use with a supplied air system.

since I was going to be spraying the car anyways I bought the supplied air system, I'll need it when I paint.

http://www.crashsupply.com/csupply/images/items/klegar343grd.jpg

As some of the other guys said, dont mess around with this stuff w/o proper protection.

Is that like VARN Quikleen your talking about Rallycar? We have that at work, in 44 gallon drums! I don't know about paint stripping but its a darn good degreaser, I havent had it on paint so cant say what it will do to that!

get the nastiest most toxic stuff you can find. Just apply it quick, and do it outside. Using gladwrap (plastic wrap) over the top certainly makes it work better.

I've had stripper in my eyes, while I was doing under the car, I'm sooo tough.

geez I rushed to the tap when it happened though.