Good day everybody! New member here with a body work question. I am currently in the process of doing the body work on my 1960 T-Bird and have a few questions 1) The car was painted about 7 years ago and I want to level it out and trip it down. I tried 80 Grit D.A, but it only seems to scuff the paint and not remove anything. Is it okay to begin with 36 grit to cut it down and then switch over to 80 grit to remove 36 scratches? Or is the scratches made with the inital 80 grit okay to do body work over and primer? 2) Next, I am confused with polyester primers, 2k Primers and such. After I do my body work and have the whole car sanded, what do I spray down afterwards to begin my block sanding? I hear alot of guys on the net using 2k primer over recent body work and blocking it out 3-4 times and then painting? Is this correct of am I misinformed. What the correct process and some good filler primers to use? 3) After block sanding anything us I need to do before sending it off to the painter?
Without seeing the car its hard to say. If it only has paint on it then i would just use stripper, that way your not thinning the precious metal with a 36 grit disc(especially on edges and style lines, etc). You dont want to grind holes any where. But if you need to remove alot of old bondo then maybe use a flap disc on a 4.5 inch grinder with an 80 grit disc. It will remove old bondo fast. Either way with grinders you dont want to overheat the metal and oilcan it. When in baremetal i usually epoxy prime or dtm prime over 180 grit. 2k primer surfacers are usually urethane and 2k means two component. Go to your paint supply house and tell them what youre doing and your budget and they can set you up with what you need. Some epoxies you can do filler work on top of them, some you cant. For sake of argument, lets say there are no dents in the body, just a couple gouges. i would epoxy, high build, block sand with 400 then wetsand with 800. I swear by wetsanding. Hope this helps
Oh yeah. I usually use evercoat rage filler and a finishing putty for a skim coat. But just keep in mind the corrosion protection of the metal is first and foremost or the elements will wreck your hard work pretty fast
1) The car was painted about 7 years ago and I want to level it out and trip it down. I tried 80 Grit D.A, but it only seems to scuff the paint and not remove anything. Is it okay to begin with 36 grit to cut it down and then switch over to 80 grit to remove 36 scratches? Or is the scratches made with the inital 80 grit okay to do body work over and primer? Take your time with a 9" mud hog and 40 grit paper to strip off the old paint. Then, D/A with 80 grit and then 180 grit. Whether or not it needs bodywork; epoxy prime . 2) Next, I am confused with polyester primers, 2k Primers and such. After I do my body work and have the whole car sanded, what do I spray down afterwards to begin my block sanding? I hear alot of guys on the net using 2k primer over recent body work and blocking it out 3-4 times and then painting? Is this correct of am I misinformed. What the correct process and some good filler primers to use? After all the Bodywork is done, Epoxy and after a day orTwo (depending on who's Epoxy you use), Polyester Primer (3 coats) and let sit (preferably in the Sun) for 2 - 3 days and them block sand the hell out of it. Once the Polyester is blocked out really flat, shoot 3 coats of High Build Urethane Primer and block the Hell out of it again. Seal and paint once it is straight as an Arrow. 3) After block sanding anything us I need to do before sending it off to the painter? If someone else is gong to paint it, leave it in sanded High Build Primer and let the painter check the prep job out and seal it just before he paints it. Hope this helps, VR&C.
Hello Dan, Since I've painted many cars before, a painter with actual knowledge needs to actually see what you're working with. (When I was painting cars I would personally not take a paint job on if I hadn't prepped it myself.) Also, I would never grind off any paint with 36 or 40 grit. In reality, why would you want to take off all the paint / primer / or factory lead. Tons of work went into a factory paint job on a '60 T-bird to get the finish as smooth as they could using '60's paint and technology. If your paint is cracked (crazing) or peeling off then why not just sand down to the primer or use paint stripper to get it down to the primer. Now, you can sand the primer to get it smoother before further primer. If you happen to get down to bare metal in spots, you can spot spray epoxy primer (fights corrosion) and then use fill primer all over the body so you can block sand. If you are to water sand the primer, then what ever you do, DO NOT USE polyester primer. (retains moisture), Use acrylic urethane primer, you can sand the next day, fills real good (3 coats for 1st application if you plan to do further block sanding, then 3 more coats after to really get it smooth.) When it's as good as you want, do yourself a big favor and go the the extra 10 yards and spray on 2 coats of sealer, before color and clear coats. One more thing, if you want a solid color (no metallic) then save yourself some major money and paint with solid urethane paint. No base coats with clear coats. If and when you buy any primers and or paint, make sure and get factory tech sheets on the product. They tell you directions for mixing, spraying and drying before sanding. One more thing, go to amazon.com and order this book – "How to paint your car on a budget" by Pat Ganahl. Well worth the price if you've never prepped and painted a car before. A new book goes for $18.00 and a used book goes for $9.96. Pat has very useful instructions on prepping for paint and spraying basically any type of paint. He's been there – done that. Highly recommended. Hope I steered you in the right direction, if you are inexperienced with paint jobs you can actually make things worse than what you have right now. Good luck and happy sanding. Manuel Reyes
I never remove paint with anything more coarse than 80-grit. Below that, you are removing precious metal. Move around a lot. Do not stay in one place for long, or you will create hot spots and warp the metal.
post some pics - did you talk to the whoever is going to paint the car? do you know what kind of paint was used and how it was prepped the last time it was painted? as stated above there are certain methods/steps that must be followed to prep for paint. using 36 grit is usually not one of them.
I NEVER USE CHEMICAL STRIPPER!I use 80 grit on an 8 inch mudhog,then when I get to bare metal I use epoxy primer followed by 2K PRIMER.
If the paint is clogging your sanding disk try this wheel, it will remove all of the paint and not hurt the metal.
Get a bunch of the 3M roloc clean and strips...you can use the face of them that way...I also like 80 grit on a soft pad and a grinder..
Paint and bodywork threads always get confusing, with differing opinions. You CAN strip off paint with 36 grit without removing metal! There is a HUGE difference between a 36 grit sanding disc for a DA or mud hog, and a 36 grit grinding disc for a 4 1/2 or 6 in grinder! One will remove metal, the other, not likely. I only resort to using 36 on a DA if there is a lot of paint build-up on a car. Mostly I use the paint removal discs from 3M or similar, you can even get them at Lowe's or Home Depot. If using modern paints (urethane or poly) you really need to strip off all the old original enamel/lacquer for best results. Primers can be confusing, I agree, That is why I stick to an easier process than buying, using, figuring out cure times, etc., for different products. I use House of Kolor KP-2 epoxy from start to finish. It is a primer with great adhesion, and water resistance, it is a good filling primer, with easy sanding, and it also seals. You can put it under or over body filler and/or glaze. Once cured and sanded you can put any paint brand topcoat over it, as you can with most primers.
If the paint is clogging up the 60 grit and "smearing" the surface, it may have been repainted with lacquer. If so just change the paper often, like 1 sq foot or less per sanding disk. The test for lacquer is to wipe it with lacquer thinner with a clean paper towel. It the paint colors the wiper, it is lacquer, To test for uncatalyzed enamel, saturate the paper towel and apply to the surface. If it attacks the surface without dissolving it, it is enamel. (It will cause the paint to lift and come off in pieces) If it kinda just softens the paint, it may be catalyzed paint. Acrylic enamel, polyurethane or epoxy. ,
When I still had the body shop with my no gone buddy we used 60 grit to remove paint and 80-100 grit to scuff. If you want to remove the paint you have to lean a little on the DA and if all you are doing is scuffing you don't lean as hard. As for primers and finishing before going to the painter choose a painter and ask him what he prefers that you use before he gets it to paint. he is no doubt going to use a sealer and if it has too many paint jobs already if he is worth his weight he'll probably suggest that you strip it down before he ever gets it.
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