CARC Removal

[LongBox85]

Has anyone taken CARC off of any CUCV's? If you have, have any tips? It is some tough stuff. Media blasting? Aircraft stripper? Needle scaler?
M1008 body for 1985 k20 (350/700r4/np208/14blt)

[zieg85]

in 1985, CARC is a 2 component urethane, nothing special as far as sanding.  It can be very rough if it was repainted which is a common thing.  Tan turned to green or green turned camo.  80 grit to start would be my suggestion

[LongBox85]

Okay thanks. Guys on the miltary deuce and a half type forums say that the stripper or media blasting was the most efficient. Just seeing if that was the case with these trucks.

[zieg85]

Because of the nature of CARC back then it faded back then fairly rapidly.  If it needed its ability to not be detected they were typically repainted several times throughout their service life.  It was not uncommon to be repainted every 3 years because the paint faded so that under radar it was detected.  The newest technology has a service life of 13 years, smooth as a babies but and waterbased.  It is awesome stuff and sprays like spreading warm butter on toast.

[Henry]

Hi Longbox85:
Back in the early 1990s I decided to repaint my truck from original Saratoga Silver to camoflage. I used the epoxy type paint that I believe was the same as the military CARC paint. The texture was a little rough and had a flat finish. 20 years later I decided to go back to a typical automotive finish and color...the shop that did the job called me and said they were losing all their profit on the job trying to sand it off and requested permission to media blast it off. I did, and that was how the job was done. If you do media blast it off, you need to be very careful to protect your ID plate in the door jamb and pay special attention to masking off the interior...it is very easy for the media to get into the steering column mechanisms and then you have to tear it all apart to clean out the crud.
Regards,
Henry

[LongBox85]

Thanks for the tips Henry, I am removing the paint of the body while its off, so the interior is completely gutted, no steering column.

[fitz]

I think Engineer used the bed off a CUCV on his monster truck. 
Hopefully he will check in and let you know how he
did the bodywork on it.