My new 1960 Safari
You'll likely find, as many others have, that stripping paint is one of the messiest and least fun tasks you'll have with your Airstream. Like many others, I used Citristrip gel and it does do the job but still takes a lot of scrubbing. Here are my suggestions if you decide to keep using it:
You want the surface to be warm, or the stripping agent won't activate properly. If it's a hot dry day though, the stuff will dry out too quickly and be tough to remove. To help with this, run pieces of Saran Wrap over the surface after brushing stripper onto a section. Easy to apply with two people.
Some use of the heat gun will help speed up the process if the surface is cold.
For removal, as you pull off sections of Saran Wrap use plastic razor blades. There's a company that sells them online, or you can find them at Ace Hardware. There will still be plenty of scrubbing required.
I went through a lot of $ in Citristrip and many hours of labor. My interior was out and was in the process of a shell off...so if I could go back I'd look at some of the aviation grade strippers, and an appropriate respirator for the job as well. I'm just getting geared up to start polishing, but my understanding is that if you do polish to a perfect shine it will become less than perfect in no time. Use the search function on this site and you'll find an answer for just about anything. Nice looking rig! Congrats and welcome!
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