Panel Stripping/Prepping Ideas

[55 Fargo]

Hi all, I have officially commenced bodywork on my 47 Chrashler Coupe, for better or worse , we shall see.

The first panel I am working on is the spare trunk lid, as it is in better shape than the one on the car, but still needs a lot of work:D .

I have tried a little sandblasting on it, but with an elcheapo siphon feed sandblaster:rolleyes: , and my 30 gallon 2 hp Craftsman compressor, it becomes a little hard on the compressor as it will run non stop, in order to run the siphonfeed blaster.

I have also used my palm sander with 80 grit paper , that works not bad, I have not tried a DA sander, as my compressor will no doubt have a hard time keeping up with it.

The goal is to strip the panel of paint and surface rust, then weld in some small patches, on the inner bottom lip, then acid etch the pitted areas, to be followed up with Tremclad Primer, this will be allowed to cure, then the body filler can then be applied to perfect the panel.

I have sanded on some test spots that I shot on the panel using 2 different colors of Tremclad paint, it sands off no problem, does not cake up on the sandpaper either.

Just fishing for ideas on this job , my goal is to work panel by panel and shoot on the high build primer on each panel, till the whole car is completed.

Thanx Fred

[Don Coatney]

Fred;

Read your own posting. Sounds like you know what to do already.

Randy, if you thin the Rustoleum with 20 to 35 % mineral spirits to the consistency of about 1% milk, you should be able to lay on nice self-levelling coats, the first 3 to 4 coats will go on so thin that it will look semi-transparent.

After every 2nd coat, wetsand , starting with 600 to 800 grit, and doing your final wetsand with 1500. Total paint coats 6 to 8, you will be able to color sand after 12 hours if the paint has been thinned as prescribed, how do I know this, because I have personally done it, with no issues with the wetsanding of the paint.

After your final paint coat, roll the car into the sun for a day, this helps to harden things up, and to bake out any solvents.

This method has been done by many others, and has been succcessful too.

Rusto Pait will need a lot more cure time, when not thiined out with solvents, and the curing can be quite lenghty, I know the thinned paint can be colorsanded the next day, I ahve done many test pieces with great results, I have not done a whole car, but may do my 47 Coupe like this.

Whats tthe worse that can happen, you will need to sand down the car and have it painted at Maaco or Earl Scheibs............................Good Luck, please post your results, I am interested

[55 Fargo]

Fred;

Read your own posting. Sounds like you know what to do already.

Don, I am always looking for ways to make improvements on the job,( easier ideas:D ).

Or maybe I just like to make conversation, to see what other folks have to say;) ......................Fred

[Allan Faust]

Fred,

ONe of the easiest methods available, and at least you've got this option is this..... use the trunk panel on the car.... ie the one you WON"T use..... practice, practice, practice..... try different things on it, stripper, sander, sandblast, soda, whatever (if you try soda, get a good compressor and an eastwood soda blaster ($250) it won't warp your panels. But practice on your bad panels..... by the time you'll get it right, it'll be when you are doing the good panels....

Allan

[wilmot andy]

I am doing bodywork now on my International pickup. Did the DA sander and small compressor/siphon sandblaster route. I used aerosol aircraft paint remover first, that worked great. It took forever, and my wife complained about the time and mess. I took my hood, front fenders and inner fenders to be acid dipped, came out like new. They charged me $200, I thought that was a deal. Now I'm playing with some patch welding, then some body filler. I used heat on a dent on the hood, popped it out and now no 'oil can'. There is also a great site called autobody101.com.

[Allan Faust]

Thanx for the link Andy, I'll be keeping that one in my favs...

Allan

[anthonyb]

Fred,

Scotch-Brite sells what they call a Bristle-Disc. Looks like a round hair brush with rubber bristles. The bristles contain abrasive so you get the same grit throughout the use of the disc. They come in 50, 80 and 120 grit that I know of and fit on a 4 1/2" angle grinder.

I usually use the 50 grit and it really knocks out paint and surface rust on most surfaces I can get to with it. They leave a really nice finish for primer/filler to bite into.

The biggest drawback is that they cost $21.99 from the manufacturer and $24.99 from Eastwood's. I haven't found them anywhere else.

Use one of these on the big areas and save the sandblaster for the tight corners. A lot less mess than trying to clean up sand that seems to get into everywhere and no chemicals to worry about! Just remember to wear a face shield as the bristles do tend to go flying every once in a while.

[55 Fargo]

Thanx Anthony, your right about the sand, best left for the tight spots, it is sometimes a pain to clean up................Fred

[Normspeed]

Anthony, how does it work on large panels like roofs or hoods? Any tendency to overheat the metal and warp it? And how many bristle disks do you think it might take to do an entire car? I'm not ready to tackle the paint and body work yet but threads like these turn up the neatest stuff.

[anthonyb]

It doesn't heat things up any more than a D/A sander would. Especially if you keep it moving along. I haven't had any issues with warping from these.

For your wagon, I would say at least four to get it all. I never really paid much attention to how many square feet I was able to do with one disc. I just ran them till there wasn't any more bristle and went to a new one.

[Normspeed]

Sounds like a fair price to get all that paint off. I have my trusty harbor Freight variable speed angle buffer/grinder, I think I'll consider using these when the time comes to get going.

[Young Ed]

I've used the tiny like 3in version of this on a 3/8 drill to remove old gaskets etc. They do work great.

[knighthawk]

I agree, the finger thing by 3 M works, BUT there is a better tool, scotchguard , round thing about 4'', paint stripper, has all differennt size holes in it , looks like a sponge , wears kinda fast, but takes the paint off almost as fast you can move it. It's made for an electric drill, but I modified the center hub to fit my air powered metal cutting grinder (?) , it's like the high speed die grinder, but runs slower and with more power. You can treat the rust with "OSPHO'' (encapsulates the rust ), then epoxy primer.......

[Normspeed]

Yeah I've used those scotchguard pads to strip my firewall and they work great but to do the entire body I'm thinking something like the magic fingers might last longer. Here's my firewall ready for primer after about 3 or 4 of the dark brown scotchguard disks.

Those disks are also great to remove surface rust and put a fresh finish on a rusted pressure plate disk, or transmission input shaft end.

[Merle Coggins]

I can't help myself here. Scothgaurd protects your upholstery from stains.

Scoth-Bright pads are used with a drill or die grinder to remove paint, stuck on gaskets, or anything else you want to grind off without removing any metal. They are great.