I was wondering what everyone's opinions were on the best way to strip paint. Would it be quicker and easier to get a random orbital grinder and got hat method, or use paint thinner? I was also curious if anyone here has tried the "paint job on abudget" method of painting their car. (http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/...0&fpart=1&vc=1) Or should I just go rent an HVLP gun and have at it?

why strip the paint?

show us some pic of the worst spots on the car and go from there

hvlp gun are getting so cheap that I would doubt the ability to rent one

do you have a compessor

we always do it the dirty way..using an 8 inch grinder/buffer with 36....and go to town....

agreed, you dont have to take it down to bare metal to paint a car. just make it straight.

But doing it yourself and getting dirty....that's the only way to paint a car LOL!!

Here are some of the pics of the paint issues. It looks like it was poorly painted and masked before, so now I'm getting flakes and such.



Has some dents on the rear passenger side, they're kinda small. Are these fixable with bondo you think?



Has a small rust spot under the spoiler, passenger side. How would this be fixed?



Where the roof meets the windshield, some rust and flaking.



So basically what I'm asking is can I fix these all by grinding off the paint and doing a paint job myself after applying some bondo? I've never done anything like this before, so it would be a first.

I have a compressor but no paint gun. I was considering going with the roll-on method of painting with rustoloeum, because it seems the easiest and cheapest. Looks like it produces some pretty good results.

What are your opinions and suggestions?

bump

Your car definitely shows signs of poor workamnship in the past. The best way for a novice to approach this would probably be to leave most of the paint on and concentrate on the bad spots even though the previous prep work was probably poor all over the car. For the area around the windshield I would just get some wetordry sandpaper and sand the area with a sponge block and some water. Feather out the edge of the broken paint and sand it back until all the ppeling areas are gone and the edge is smooth. You may want to lift the edge of the moulding and sand under it a little too. The front bumper has been flexed more than the paint could stand and needs to be sanded smooth much like the roof. The dents and rust on the 1/4 panel can be straightened. Rough it out with a hammer and dolly make it as close to original as you can then grind all the paint off, apply your body filler, sand it smooth, feather out the paint, primer it and block sand it a couple times until it's ready to paint.

Sound like a lot of work? It is!

And if you are expecting it too look good when you're done I hate to be the one to tell you it probably won't. But if you spend some time doing some of this work and then take it to Maaco to get it sprayed it will probably look acceptable. I can't imagine you would ever be happy with a rustoleum roller job.

I was expecting the prep work to take a couple months at least, so I know its a lot of time.

Wouldn't it be easier to just grind all the paint off, that way the new paint goes on even? I just want to do this right.

What type of body filler would I use on the rear quarter panel? Bondo, fiberglass, something else?

As for the roller job, I've seen some done that look much better than Maaco work. Just take a look at this thread: http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/...&fpart=35&vc=1 there's plenty. But if you really strongly advise against it, I won't. I could always buy a paint gun. Oh and I have a test car I would be painting before I paint my bird. I also wouldn't be using Rustoleum, but a paint called Interlux.

Thanks for you help btw!

if you want to strip the paint then buy a line sander and some 80g and use the exsisting paint to make the car flat

make sure you get a good line sander with 6 screws on the side that attach the body of the sander to the pad instead of 4

I know it sounds wierd buy take it from a guy who has thrown plenty of these sanders in the garbage

Would a random orbital sander work just as well? Would it just take longer? Also, will I have to worry about flash rust if I grind all the paint off to the metal?

My opinion is a 6" random orbit sander would be better. They make some pretty good electric ones and it's cheaper to run than an air compressor. Quieter too. But it won't be nearly as fast as an 8" sponge pad and some 80 grit on a electric grinder. With that 80 grit will take the paint off fast enough and doesn't tear up the metal like 36 or 40 grit, so you'll use less primer. And yes, surface rust is a concern when you strip off the paint.

What's an 8" sponge pad?

What would I do for the rust, just primer it right away? Are there any other precautions I should take?

An 8" sponge pad is an 8" round pad that threads onto an electric grinder. It's about an inch thick and it provides some flexability to the sanding disc you put on it. Instead of just using a grinding disc that can cut into the metal. A sponge pad leaves a nice smooth finish.

As far as rust and priming, you can use a self etching primer if there isn't any actual rust that you can really see yet. Being old school I still like to use a metal etch and then a regular primer. Metal etch is an acid wash that removes rust and chemically cleans the metal. Cleanliness is key to a good paintjob.

it looks like the paint isn't bonding well, with that being said your safest route is to take it all off. if you dont you risk your new paint peeling up. do not take all of the paint off the whole car at the same time. you will be pissed off if you do. do the car one panel at a time. this means take all of the paint off of one panel. then spray with primer. next work the metal (hammer dolly, work the low and high spots.) either cut out or grind the **** out of the rusty spots. the rust has to be all gone or it will come back.

Body filler, use something better than bondo. bondo is more for spot glazing. so when using filler use some thing like EVERCOAT RAGE PREMIUM BODY FILLER first, the long board block it out. if you have any tiny little spots that need to be touched up over the body filler like little pock marks than you can use bondo over that. look into guide coat, when long board blocking the car it will show you if the pannel is straight or if there are waves. keep sanding and working the panel until it is straight, reprime the panel and more on. do not move on until that panel is done. since this is your first time, if you try to do to much at once, one you will be over whelmed, and two you will over look things and it will look like ****.

lastly if you want your car to look like a$$ than by all means paint it with a roller. from experience i will tell you that painting a car for the first time seems overwhelming, however spraying the paint is probably the easiest part of the body work process that you are going to do. it really isn't rocket science. i would suggest using a one stage paint for your car. it is very user friendly, and gives you some **** up room, it is a forgiving kind of paint. BC/CC system is expensive and if you burn through the clear while wet sanding you will be up shits creek so to speak.

If you go the grinder method, don't use it on the bumper! A d.a. with 80 grit will give you much better results.You can also try a scraper that uses razor blades on the metal surfaces, the way it's flaking, it may just scale off and leave the factory paint. Be care not to gouged it out and if the blade gets a chip in it, replace it.Be careful,have fun with it and wear appropriate protective gear!