I've searched the forums, talked to retired body guys, talked to DIY'ers and searched the internet. I'm on total information overload now and have no clue which way to go. I'm at the point of needing to get the body work done and then prep for paint. Right now the car has two coats of paint plus a coat of primer over the top of the last paint job. the car is totally stripped down. The body guy who will do the repair work told me to get a grinder and use medium grit paper to take off the paint/primer. He said go down to bare metal. I talked to some other guys and they said have it sand blasted or media blasted. Had another guy tell me to use a DA sander. Lots of info on the web says that you can screw up the lines of the car, put swirls in the metal, etc. At this point I'm really confused and have no clue what to do. I'd like to do as much as I can myself but really don't want to screw up the car in the process. Anyone have any good suggestions??

Thanks everyone!!!!!

 

There is more than one correct way to paint and prep a car, it all depends on the current condition and how far you want to go with it, If you are doing a decent repaint, and you trust the previous bodywork, dont go down to the metal, if you are doing a frame off resto, and or alot of metalwork, go all the way or have it blasted. Don't ever use a grinder, I assume you meant a variable speed rotary polisher, in which case you can get some 3M strip it disks, which work well, just watch how much time you spend on the same spot you dont want too much heat. A DA will work it just takes a while and alot of paper. Lastly, it sounds like someone else may be doing the bodywork and or paint, in which case you should ask them, most good paint guys I know wont touch someone elses work, hope this helps
Rob

 

A body guy I went to who seemed very informative told me he would either have it sand blasted or he would use chemical stripper to take it down to the metal and then use a etching product on the bare metal and then primer. He said it is a lot less time then sanding but it can be messy so I will tape off the lines so nothing gets where I dont want it to and peel then paint up whenever I have it painted.

 

I just finished striping and priming my 68. Used striping pads for a 4 1/2 inch angle grinder and stripper for the hard stuff, did not hurt the steel. came out killer, now the body work......here goes another two years

 

Thanks for the info! If I use an angle grinder and striping pads do I need to worry about heating the metal too much and it warping??

 

I wouldn't recommend using a grinder. I messed up the hood on my exploder trying to strip off the paint and bad rust. I would recommend the sand blaster or chemical strip. A DA works but is a little too slow for my taste. Before I blasted my mustang I used a razor blade on a scraper handle and scraped most of the paint off that I could get. It worked out pretty well. doesn't remove the body filler or most of the base primer but the paint comes off pretty easy.

 

As long ans you take your time you wont have a problem. you wont need excessive pressure so heat is no issue issue. it took me 4 months to strip my car stripping disks, repairs, paint stripper, and painful wire wheels. in all cost was under 200.00 bucks, i get a discount in somethings

 

I have used all of the above methods. They all have their place. You will go through a ton of sandpaper on a DA. If you don't want to spend the money having it media blasted, which can be expensive, I have two words for you.....Aircraft Stripper. I did my last Mustang and a 48 ****** with this stuff. You spread it on the panels, one at a time, and the paint literally falls off in front of you. It will start bubbling as soon as you put it on. I then took a putty knife and just scraped the old paint off. You will have to do some areas more than once if there is alot of paint on it. It will also take off the filler.

Once the paint is off you wash it down, neutralize it, with water. Once I did that, I dried it, blew it off with air and put it out in the sun to make sure it was completely dry. After it cooled down, I shot it with self etching primer shortly thereafter so it wouldn't flash rust.

Oh yea....wear thick rubber gloves. It will burn your skin!

 

how long do you think it would take to strip an entire car that has had 2 paint jobs? I know its hard to say but what it a estimate working 2-3 hours a day on it?

 

On a 2-3 hours a day estimate I would say it would take a week or two. With only 2-3 hours you could probably get in 1 panel a day strip to primer. The roof and hood obviously will take more time since they are bigger.