Removing Gel Coat from Car

[Mongoose]

I had a car that I did treated for rust cancer and repainted it with Rustoleum spray paint after all the Bondo work was done. It turned out great and slowed/stopped the cancer.

My current car has a bit on rust cancer and I'd like to do the same. Current car had a gel coat. It's intact in places but sloughing off in places. I assume I need to remove it completely before repainting. I sanded the previous car before painting but was wondering if that was likely sufficient to remove it or if I needed to do something additional. It seems to glop up the sandpaper.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[sokoloff]

Gel coat is typically the outer smooth layer on fiberglass (which obviously doesn't rust). There's no need, nor advantage to removing gel coat prior to any refinishing operation.

Do you perhaps mean "clear coat" (a thin layer of shiny, clear paint), or something else?

Clear coat can be removed by sanding. If you have a lot to do, look into a dual action sander and start with about 120 grit paper. IMO, if your goal is just to extend the life of the car (and you aren't trying for a concours finish), you can stop sanding as soon as you get to intact substrate material (of any sort, metal, primer, base coat, or clear coat). You then prep and finish according to what you have and the manufacturer's instructions.

If you want to remove it entirely, soda blasting is probably faster than sanding the whole car, but I wouldn't go that route if your only goal is to get back to something that you can spray and drive for a while. There are DIY soda blasting setups, but to strip paint, you want to farm that out, IMO.

[Mongoose]

Thanks. I'll just get this done then.

Sorry, I didn't have the correct terminology. I meant clear coat, I think. The car came with a coating over the paint that is flaking off but leaving the underlying paint. I was under the impression that paint wouldn't stick to it and it would have to come off. It's on the whole car except where it is peeling off. It seems to gum up the sand paper but if I just need to get the loose stuff off, that's going to be much easier!

I'm just planning on spray painting it with Rustoleum to extend the life of the car. I did a previous car this way years ago...sand, treat rust, Bondo, prime and Rustoleum. It worked fantastic for my goal of stopping the deterioration. But the flaking top coat on this car was throwing me.

[sokoloff]

You will need to "scuff" the clear coat everywhere to give a little "tooth" for the top coats, but you don't need to remove it all, just knock off the sheen.