Guys, School is over so I went out and bought one of those random orbital air sanders. My question is, what grit sandpaper should i use to strip the car down to bare metal. I live in socal, so moisture is definately not much of an issue. Plus, this firebird is my first real project car, and i want to make it real nice. I have a lot of time and patiences and im willing to learn. Any suggestions guys. -3rd P.S. heres a pic of her, so you can see the condition shes in.

i was told never go down to bare metal unless you plan on dipping the entire shell into an acid bath, cleaned then IMMEDIATELY prime it.

jsut take care of the bad spots,dents and rust.

Heres a tip My dad gave me:
any bare metal take a cloth and wipe white vinegar on the baremetal areas

when it dries up it leaves a very thin layer for no mositure to attach itself. I did it on my car a few hours before i primered it myself.

2yrs later car is still perfect.

i wouldnt use an orbital sander for the entire job. i found using hand sand blocks and fien sand paper for the fianl body prep to work best

then primer let it sit and shrink and cure

you dont want to paint right away soemtiems because if the primer isnt done shrinkin/drying it may pull and crack the paint with it.

tehn wet sand with 400grit and then clean the car, let it dry compeltely

then paint and clear coat

70 degrees or more is prefered or you will get orange peel texture like me in the clear coat

but once its hardened you can wet sand and buff it out like i did



This is what i did and it worked for me. you dont have to do anythin i just said


goodluck with yourcar and post pictures

Okay Good job on the random orbit. You want a good 80-grit scratch to get the panels down to bare metal. On the plastics, I usually wetsand them with 600 grit and plenty of water; just take the shine off.

You want to pick your epoxy primer (I recommend SPI, Kirker or Napa's Finish-1-Cross/fire). After you pick what you want, see what they recommend for a finish on the metal. You may have to go over the car with some 200 and 400 to get an even finish. 2 coats of primer, then blocksand with 320, 2 coats of primer, blocksand till you get the finish right.

They also make a 'filling' or 'high build' primer. This is kind of like spray-on bondo. Good stuff to level out wavy panels. Buy some 3M DRY blocking coat. Its a powder you rub on the car, then you take some 320 on a sanding board and go over the panel in overlapping X's. Any high spots you'll sand through the blocking coat first, any low spots will have the black stuff left behind because the sand paper passed right over it. More bondo in the low spots, more epoxy primer and blocksand again till shes flat.

Let the epoxy sit for a day before you sand it, its kinda gummy if its not cured all the way, work it down to 400 wet, wipe it with mineral spirits and let that flash, wipe with a tackrag (a sticky cloth to pick up lint and dust) and then your paint of choice.

Dont worry about a little surface rust. My car sat in bare metal under a tarp for 2 weeks before I got around to epoxy primer, some 400 on a randopm orbit sander and about 2hrs and she was shiny again.

Heres the thing to remember; our factory finishes are 20yrs old; hell, my car had some previous bodywork with LACQUER on it, and some guys are still using uncatalyzed enamel spray cans...get all that old BS off the metal, SEAL it in epoxy, do all your bondo ontop of the epoxy...you'll never see rust again on your ride. My car sat outside in epoxy for almost a month. I scuffed it with 400 and shot the paint the next day...no problems

Check Autobody101.com for more info

Be careful with that white vinegar trick...if you put it on too heavy, that film is like ball bearings under the primer...not good. I just sand the car, wipe it with alochol and spray on the epoxy as a sealer coat.

When you buy your clearcoat; they give you a choice of hardeners based on temp...get the SLOWEST acting hardener (coldest temp). this gives the clearcoat time to level out. And dont paint if it cant be kept above 50degrees for at least 3hrs after you paint it

Wow thanks Nate, this sounds really good and like a fun project to start doing.

I wouldn't take it to bare metal, if that's the original paint it will be just fine for a fresh paintjob. Just level it out with 220, then spray your high build primer and go from there.

I know from experience...its not good to take it to bare metal...I did half my car down to bare metal and the other half just sanded the original paint down...and I got rust coming up through the primer on the bare metal half...Of course i didnt wipe anything with vinegar or alcohol but...defiantly shouldnt take it down to bare

If you use lacquer based primer or primer/surfacer or just a high build primer; it PROBABLY has talc in it. old style primers are lacquer based and some have talc (like bondo) which absorbs water which promotes RUST. EPOXY is essentially waterproof. Assuming your surface prep is correctly done and you follow your application instructions for your paint (available in PDF format online) you will have NO problems.

I dont trust anyone elses finish but my own. If I dont know whats under my paint, and it starts to peel off; well...by skipping the manual labor part of the task...its my fault for trusting a 20yr old paint job thats starting to fail already.

If you dont feel up to stripping a car to bare metal, by all means, work within your limitations. If youre going to strip to bare metal, use a URETHANE sealer. If you plan on using an epoxy primer and are willing to take the time to remove all the rust...there shouldnt be a problem

Make SURE if you put a sealer over the old paint; that it is, IN FACT, compatible with whatever you are spraying it on top of.

http://www.autobody101.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12466

Heres a thread about a guys first paint job

*strip w. 80grit/level old paint
*spray epoxy
*add filler
*more epoxy
*(high build primer) if necessary
*Paint/clearcoat

Well, the car as actually black underneath. I think someone just sanded the black down, and shot that metallic red you see on the IROCs over it. The only down side is that the black is starting to come through and I HATE IT!!!. I wont take it to bare metal. Ill just start stripping the **** off with 80, then block sanding and regular sanding it out with a higher grit and start filling and building.

Take it to bare metal, like posted before as long as you use an epoxy primer, you will be fine. The only thing I have to add is to be clean, clean, clean. You can't be clean enough with painting. There are people that will tell you "Hell, I shot mine in the back yard and it looks good". That's all fine and dandy, but this is your car and you want it to look its best right?
Be clean. Wash it well, wipe it down lots of times, use tack cloths, Don't get in a hurry, and make sure you clean the area you are going to paint it in thoroughly.

36 to 60 to strip, epoxy>2k then block it> wetsand

You can spend a lot of time going to bare metal but its really not necessary. As you can see there are differing opinions. I have seen some great paint jobs where it wasn't down to the metal. As long as there is no rust under it... it will be fine.

That looks like the power buldge hood. Take the insert out of the hood before you sand it and make sure to get into the area where it sits this is a bad spot for rust and grime. My factory paint started pealing from there and then down the curve of the buldge. Also in the body line on the hood that runs from the blinker to the outer corner of the hood. I had it painted and well 10 years latter it is doing the same. I spot painted it a few weekends ago to prevent any rust onset. I will be taking the hood down to metal since I think its a problem with the factory primer as the primer is smooth as glass under paint in this area. It is annoying though for it to peal every 10 years in the same spot.

Also the block out piece in the insert I suggest painting it flat black or the sun will blind you when its behind you.

Since the paint has pealed twice in this spot I suspect the primer so my thought is since it was built in van nuys cal under very restrictive EPA paint standards that were relatively new the paints/primers on the market today are far surperior than the first generation of environmentally safer paints. However if its still stuck to the car after 20+ years then its probably not going anywhere, so if you have any pealing issues I would be more agressive on those spots than the panels with no pealing.