Did some clean-up on the coupe today

[Brendan D25]

Bob, you mentioned the carpet. If you are in a hardware or flooring store, take a look at carpeted hallway runner. You can get it in black, brown or gray, it is 3 ft. wide and is rubber backed and is not really expensive and fits the P15. On the transmission hump you can cut a slit to keep it from bunching. Also good to use in the trunk.

[BobT-47P15]

Steveplym mentioned using a DA sander on the roof.

Do those come in an electric model?

All I've seen so far are pneumatic....I don't own a compressor.

[theDyls3]

BobT, I could be wrong (more familiar with woodworking tools than metal working ones) but I'm pretty sure a DA Sander is the same thing as a random orbital sander that we woodworkers use, so short answer is yes there are electric versions.

I used my random orbital sander to sand my truck, worked great with a nice coarse grit sand paper (say 60 or 80) for the paint. I did find that finer grits tended to take out rust spots better than the coarser grits (150 grit). I'd recommend one with variable speeds and expect to go through a lot of sand paper .

[BobT-47P15]

Ok, thanks, "3".

And, from an earlier thought......here are links to some yellow coupes.

http://www.carnut.com/show/01/cuse/nat133.jpg

http://www.carnut.com/show/99/ark/ark181.jpg

http://www.carnut.com/show/06/lou/nat110.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/BobT3/Car%20shows/Shell%20Knob%209-27-08/101_0570.jpg

[Norm's Coupe]

Bob,

You can get several sizes of electric orbital sanders. I have a 7" electric sander that can be used as an random orbital or straight orbital sanding by just changing the setting. Didn't cost much either. Mine is a WEN brand and was only about $30 back in the 90's when I bought it. I have an air one too that works the same, but I like the electric one the best. You should be able to find a decent one for light duty at just about any place like Home Depot, Menards, or even places like Walmart. Not sure about Walmart since I don't shop there, but my guess is, they have them too. By the way. They can also be used for buffing a car if you buy the buffing bonnets for them.

[Brendan D25]

Bob, the last coupe pic you posted looks good but you should have told that Old Fart to get out of the way! :D

[BobT-47P15]

Yeah, Brendan. When I got home and looked at the pictures, I found that

some old geezer was in front of the car in every one.

[Norm's Coupe]

Getting back to BobT's question about sanders.

Has anyone ever tried to use a belt sander on their cars to clean rust like on his roof? I have a belt sander myself but never used it for something like that. But, don't see why you couldn't with the right type of belt (grit) on it. I love my belt sander for cleaning up wood items. Even with a course grit on it, it's like an automatic planner, and it leaves the wood nice and smooth when finished. I've used it to sand just fractions of an inch off wood, when it was cut slightly too big, to make a good snug fit. So, a belt sander should take all that rust off the top of Bob's coupe in just a few minutes.

[Plymouthy Adams]

belt sander would not be good at all for this...I am a firm believer in not using any sander disc or belt that will remove the metal...further..both those style will generate an ample amount of heat...

[BobT-47P15]

I think my friend at whose house the car is parked actually has a DA

pneumatic sander. He also has a compressor with fair size tank. Seems

he did mention a sander the other day. Hmmm..... Problem may be

solved.

[theDyls3]

Tim, I have to disagree with you. I used both a disc and a belt sander when removing the paint and rust from my truck, and removed very little metal. It all depends on what type of abrasive is on your sandpaper and how aggressive you are with it. While it does create heat, it doesn't get hot enough to warp the sheet metal or anything.

I also tried using a grinder with a brass wire brush and found it to be far less effective than sandpaper.

It seems to me that sand blasting has much more potential to cause damage than sandpaper. But then again, I have been known to be wrong before .

[Norm's Coupe]

I don't think anyone is right or wrong, sand blasting or sanding. You see guys in body shops using grinders and sanders all the time on cars. While I will agree with Tim that sand blasting (when done correctly) is probably the least harmful, I personally don't like sand blasting due to the dust and mess it creates. That said, I've only completely striped one car. That was my 70 Impala back in the early 90's. That one I did with both the electric and air operated orbital sander on the whole car. I first hit it with an aggressive sanding disc, then a smooth one to smooth out the scratches made by the aggressive sanding disc. It turned out nice and smooth and didn't hurt the metal. The only problem I had was when I got close to the windshield and the sander hopped on me all of a sudden and hit the windshield, cracking it.

[55 Fargo]

Getting back to BobT's question about sanders.

Has anyone ever tried to use a belt sander on their cars to clean rust like on his roof? I have a belt sander myself but never used it for something like that. But' date=' don't see why you couldn't with the right type of belt (grit) on it. I love my belt sander for cleaning up wood items. Even with a course grit on it, it's like an automatic planner, and it leaves the wood nice and smooth when finished. I've used it to sand just fractions of an inch off wood, when it was cut slightly too big, to make a good snug fit. So, a belt sander should take all that rust off the top of Bob's coupe in just a few minutes.[/quote']

I have a an Autobody text book from the 1960s, it has a picture of a guy sanding a 1/4 panel with a belt sander.

I am not so sure how good it might work, belt sander tend to make grooves, and can be real aggresive, there really meant for very flat surfaces....

[Plymouthy Adams]

Tim, I have to disagree with you. I used both a disc and a belt sander when removing the paint and rust from my truck, and removed very little metal..... .

I am not an advocate of metal removal by way of stripping a car merely of paint.....but you are not the only one that does work that way...I saw a car on diplay at the swap meet that was done in this fashion..he got so ridiculed that he left about 5 hours after getting there...car and all in tow behind him..

technique is everything, grit does the work..if there is ever a spark..that is metal removed..metal that does not have to be removed...deep scratch that will need filled by primer etc etc..sure primer needs a bite..but it does not need to be that excesive...

if all you have are electrical tools, then I can see how you are limited and thus do it that way...

agian..this is reflective of my opinion

[Norm's Coupe]

I am not an advocate of metal removal by way of stripping a car merely of paint.....but you are not the only one that does work that way...I saw a car on diplay at the swap meet that was done in this fashion..he got so ridiculed that he left about 5 hours after getting there...car and all in tow behind him..

technique is everything, grit does the work..if there is ever a spark..that is metal removed..metal that does not have to be removed...deep scratch that will need filled by primer etc etc..sure primer needs a bite..but it does not need to be that excesive...

if all you have are electrical tools, then I can see how you are limited and thus do it that way...

agian..this is reflective of my opinion

Tim,

That guy who got the flak about doing his car that way just didn't know the right answers for those who did not like his work. He should have done what I would do when someone does that to me. I simply tell them. "If you can do it so much better than me, come on over to my house and you can strip the car and do it your way, then repaint it. While you are doing that, I'll pull up my lawn chair, relax, maybe have a bite to eat and watch to learn how." "Or, better yet, you buy the car for what I'm asking. Take it home and do it right."

I've done that with my own son. My brother in law has also done that with my son. Several years ago my brother in law and I put a new garage door opener in his garage and hard wired it. My son, the perfectionist came over one day and said we didn't do it right. We both looked at one another, told him it works, then told him then he should do it right if he felt it wasn't done right, and we'll watch. So, he redid it and sat in a lawn chair and watched. He no longer gives us his opinion on our work.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Norm..you need to have seen the car..it looked like a plucked chicken amoung Peacocks..

[Norm's Coupe]

Tim,

I have no doubt that the car looked as you said it did. If I had seen the car, I may have thought the same about it. But........I would not have ridiculed the guy about the way it looked like evidently a lot of people did. I would have just looked and walked away without saying anything. I may have said something to someone who might have been walking with me, but it would have been just between me and the person with me. At least the guy tried, whether he did it right, half right, or completely wrong.

That said, if the owner of that car had come out and ask me what I thought, I would have told him what I really thought about the finish job on the car. I still would not have done it in a ridiculing way though. I would have attempted to give constructive criticism in an encouraging way. That way the guy learns from his mistakes better. Who knows, maybe the owner of the car just isn't capable of doing body work well, and he did the job the best he knew how. Lets face it, none of us have the skills to do everything. A doctor for example may be the best doctor in the world. But........when it came to driving a 1 inch nail in drywall, that same doctor may not be capable of doing it without putting a hole in the wall or bending it over to save his life, no matter how much people tried to teach him to do it. But.....it's no reason to ridicule the doctor because he can't do it. You still have to give him credit for trying to drive the nail.

In other words. It's better to try and teach than it is to ridicule.

[Don Coatney]

In other words. It's better to try and teach than it is to ridicule.

Norm;

I have been trying to teach you the correct way to do things for several years all to no avail. I finally gave up on you and went the redicule route. Actually the redicule route is much more fun:D

[BobT-47P15]

Hmmmm......I see the question received an assortment of answers.

It appears different methods have been used by different people.

All with some amount of success.

So, I will eventually proceed - probably borrow the DA sander from

the guy who is babysitting the car, then use rust primer and see how

smooth it turns out. Depending upon the result, will see what else

is needed for actual painting at a later date. But will get something

on the rusted area soon. Just need for the weather to get better as

the car is outside all the time. Been cold and windy lately here.

Thanks to everyone for their input.

Also have a couple small spots on the fender missing paint.

[Norm's Coupe]

Bob,

Just remember, when doing the work yourself it doesn't cost you anything for your time. Just a little for the materials. If it doesn't turn out the way you like when finished, it doesn't cost that much to redo it. So.........in essence you can't do any harm, no matter how you do it.

[BobT-47P15]

That's about the way I see it, Norm.

I'm no expert on body work, but figure I can't hurt this car too much.

I'm planning on trying to do some things.

If I want a good paint job later, I will probably pay someone to do it.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I've always said I could screw something up a whole cheaper than paying someone to do the same...

[Norm's Coupe]

I've always said I could screw something up a whole cheaper than paying someone to do the same...

My feelings exactly!