Hey guys, I need your expertise regarding painting and body work. I want to re-paint my 65 and get the body in tip-top shape as well but don't know where to start with removing the current paint. I plan on having a body shop paint the car but I want to do as much work as possible to keep my costs down. I know I need a good cleaner/degreaser before I start sanding but thats it for my knowledge. With what grit of sandpaper to use and when or removing the paint with chemicals, thats where I need the help. Also how to protect the bare metal before it goes to the body shop? I've pulled the motor and tranny and would like to celan the engine compartment up too (remove all the oil, grase, etc).

 

get a bottle of oil and grease remover to clean off all the junk. use a d/a sander w/ 80 grit sand paper to start tearing down the paint. if you run along some thick bondo places, you can switch over to a grinder w/ some 16-30 grit paper, but take it easy here and try to stay off the actual metal. be sure to go over these areas again w/ the 80 grit d/a sander. that's really all there is to it. can also sandblast areas that you can't get into very well, like door jambs, or just use the 80 grit by hand, on a line file or an air hand sander. when you're done w/ removing the paint you should prime the car w/ epoxy, which will show dents better than normal primer. you'll need an actual spray gun for this. if you don't have that, you could just cover the car and get it to the shop asap i suppose. a little surface rust wont hurt things if it's removed quickly. good luck. ask anything else if you like.

 

There are several ways to strip paint from a car. Sandpaper, media blasting, sand blasting, chemical and soda blasting. It all depends on your ability and the expense of buying the equipment. You will most likely have some rust issues once the paint is off, so that is where you will need a welder and some other special tools. You will also need some place to blast the car if that is the route you want to take. Obviously, if you are going to do it in your garage, the sand paper method would be more practical for you, but a lot more elbow grease is needed. Take it a little at a time, and cover the metal with primer each time you finish a section.

 

Mayh3m hit it. I used chemical aircraft stripper to speed the process. It took two gallons to do my 73. You have to lay it on thick, ford used some mighty tough paint back in the day! I used my son and his friends to man the da sanders. When using the sanders, have penty of sand paper discs. At first I was trying to save money by using as few discs as possible, time is money , so I found that a fresh dics replaced about every two square feet worked the quickest. Any chrome trim you are not going to remove ensure you tape it before you start or the errant da stroke might scratch it.

I am currently stripping a fender from my parts stang to mount on my car. I have learned from past experience and my new craftsman sandbaster arrived yesterday. $45 plus $3 for a 50lb bag of play sand, the fender will be done in an hour (if it ever stops raining). Sand blasting is the way to go.

 

becareful sand blasting easily warp sheet metal and u will go through alot of sand!! even for one fender u can recycle it if u can sweep it up and sift it!

 

Hey, rmodel 65, will you still be in that body class in the summer? Or will any body be in the class? I am thinking that i am gonna find a community college or shop class to do my prep and maybe even the paint.

 

Gotta chime in and agree with Rmodel, if you get the metal hot with the sandblaster you will have fenders the surfers lust after, huge waves! It takes some practice to get it right and hot hurt the metal. Consider walnut shells if you try that, they are biodegradeable and wont heat the metals as much, but they do leave a slight oily film so you have to degrease it before you start painting.

you need ALOT of room to sandblast and you dont want to do it next to another vehicle with good paint or glass in it. Sandpaper or chemstrip is the choice for driveway work, especially if you live in town. Some of us are lucky enough to live in the sticks, I need more sand in the driveway anyway..

 

I mentioned soda blasting. I think the next car I strip will be with soda. A lot more advantages over sand. Take a read.....
http://www.sodablast.ca/app/soda.php

 

would a regular old square orbital sander work???

im sure it would save money if i could do at least part of the car in my spare time before bringing it to a shop....right?

 

that's a very interesting read, soaring. i may look into that.