Got a couple fenders from an 88 Chevy. I applied paint stripper and then pressure washed them. It took off the base/clear but left a nice smooth grey factory primer. The stripper didn’t affect the primer at all (as far as the eye can see)

Is there a good reason for this? I guess now I still need to sand to metal because I’m scared to scuff and shoot over primer that’s had chemical stripper applied.

good call i'm thinking the same thing. bare metal then epoxy
Jay D.

Yeah, even if it "looked" okay it probably has been somewhat softened/weakened by the stripper, it's off to metal you go...... It was probably just a tougher electrolytic/dip style primer. When you run into stuff like that in the future it is best to coat with your stripper heavily on top of the paint and then put saran wrap or wax paper over the entire area. This makes the stripper penetrate "down" rather than just starting to evaporate "off." With the stripper covered like that you can let it dwell for 12 to 24 hours before starting to remove it. You'll usually see the entire paint system go to bare metal and just drop off on the ground (I put black plastic down). You can then just lay the black plastic out in the sun for the solvent to burn off in the air and be left with just dry paint film to get rid of......

It will probably sand off real easy and you are better safe than sorry.

Yeah I’m definitely stripping the primer off. I just thought it was odd that the chemical didn’t remove it as easy as the rest.

I’ll see what sanding does then try the stripper wrapped in plastic if it’s not sanding down too easy.

SOMETIMES, you can put the striper on the primer and let it set for 15-20min. but don't let it dry. then use a cores scratch pad with rubber gloves and rub it off. most of the time it will come off easy, NOTE I said most of the time.
Jay D.