Tried something yesterday

[REDROCKER652002]

My son's 69 has a lot of surface rust on the top, nothing really bad, but it has been bugging me for a while. So, with a beer in hand, I took my little Ryobi orbital sander and a fairly aggressive grit paper and went to sanding out the rust. I got to bare metal on the spots and to the undercoating around the rust. Then, I took a spray can of primer and hit it with that. Then a can of flat black and hit it with that. I know, it is not a paint job, but I am hoping it will at least stop the rust and protect the top a little bit so that we don't have to replace the whole top. I will post some pics, but just thought I would put it out there and have you guys nail me to the cross. LOL.

[AU Doc]

I’m wondering how that orbital sander did? I don’t have space for a compressor large enough to run a DA.

[REDROCKER652002]

For what I needed it to do it worked great. But it is not anywhere near a paint ready job. You would have to get in there with a block and body filler and really work it. If I was going to strip the whole thing down to metal, I would look into a chemical stripper and then go from there. But for now, it will hopefully keep the rust at bay. My ultimate plan is to take a body panel, maybe a bed side as they are flat and easy to deal with, and get my son to try and work it and do a paint job ourselves. I have an old hood that might be a good start to practice with, but I am still trying to work finances to get a compressor and the needed tools. It is something I have wanted to try since I was my kids age, so might as well give it a go. LOL

[hugger6933]

hit me up if you need help. I would look into some rust type primer . Regular primer absorbs moisture leading to rust under the surface. I would also be careful on strippers they can cause all kinds of trouble you know but those are bad about leeching into crevices that you dont notice and leech back into you fresh primer or paint. AND if not properly neutralized they will and can make the primer release. The best way to go is with an epoxy primer or a zinc phosphate primer. Jim

[hugger6933]

Also in the archives there should be some of my posts on a paintjob cause I have done it helping many people in the past

[rockyrivermark]

Originally Posted by AU Doc

I’m wondering how that orbital sander did? I don’t have space for a compressor large enough to run a DA.

They sell electric DA sanders. Porter cable makes a good one. We use them a ton in solid surface fabrication.
RRM

[truckster]

I have a DeWalt 20V Max random orbital sander. I love it, because I can move around without dragging an air hose. I haven't had any problem with battery life, either.

[LS short box]

Any DA will work. Air, battery or electric doesn't matter. The down side to a DA is that if there is more than one layer of paint it will take a bunch of sand paper. Also if you are doing it indoors the dust will be every where.
I've used aircraft stripper a number of times with very good results. You must keep it away from seams. Don't know that I would use it on the roof. Aircraft stripper is nasty stuff. Heavy duty rubber gloves, safety glasses, face shield and great ventilation is needed.
If your truck is parked indoors the spray bomb should be OK. Outside not so much.
Good luck with your project.

[3767]

Well red, not 1 bad thing from anyone to say about what u did. I see nothing wrong with it. Your boy is the next generation we need to keep this going. At the least, your idea buys him time and may b inspires him to try and paint his own ride. Just never know. Good to hear from u as always.

[Dr Jekyll]

@RedRocker I did a frame off restoration on my 70 in my garage. Cut out cab rust on the floor pan, rocker boxes, door skin/shell, door posts, tailgate. Damn that was a lot of rust now that I’m listing it. Taught myself how to weld, bodywork, and paint. It was a lot of work, but as long as your hobby is drinking beer aaaannnnndddd working on cars it’s worth it. Definitely do a test hood all the way to spraying clear and wet sanding. There are plenty of resources on the web for instructions.

Edit: I don’t see anything wrong with what you have done. You might try an etching primer or epoxy when applying primer to bare metal for better adhesion. I like this one and you can find it pretty much anywhere https://www.rustoleum.com/product-ca...etching-primer

[72c20customcamper]

My go to for stripping paint . Eastwood contour sander they have all kinds of drums from stripping to polishing . I also use the gator/3m paint remover pads both on the angle grinder and drill. Very rarely use the air da anymore to strip paint more just to feather and finish

[REDROCKER652002]

Awesome info guys, thank you so much. i will check out the primer and the stripping wheel. i am going to try and work the spare hood first. I am hoping it will be a good winter project to do in the garage or my little shop.

[Peanut74]

What I have done in the past is sand off the paint/rust. Once down to bare metal use rust neutralizer on the areas that had rust. Then paint the bare steel area with epoxy primer to seal the steel.

As for learning how to paint the only way to learn how to do it is do it. The big thing is to have patience and don't expect to be an expert in a week. I am also on the learning curve on how to paint. I can't remember how many times I had to repaint an area because of a run to sag.

[72c20customcamper]

Originally Posted by Peanut74

What I have done in the past is sand off the paint/rust. Once down to bare metal use rust neutralizer on the areas that had rust. Then paint the bare steel area with epoxy primer to seal the steel.

As for learning how to paint the only way to learn how to do it is do it. The big thing is to have patience and don't expect to be an expert in a week. I am also on the learning curve on how to paint. I can't remember how many times I had to repaint an area because of a run to sag.

Be careful with any type of acid to neutralize rust. A lot of epoxy primers don’t work well with them . I use SPI and they recommend neutralizing the acid before priming .