Stripping Body Panels to Bare Metal

[JIvey13]

Hi all,

I am trying to do most of the prep work for my paint job at home. So I have a few questions.

1: what do you guys use to remove paint, filler and primer?

2: I have used the black poly discs on an angle grinder, it does the job pretty quick but seems to leave black marks every now and the. What do I do about this?

3: After getting it all removed how do you prepare it so as no new rust forms and what about the rust in the pitting of the metal?

4: Is it normal to see grind marks in the metal in some areas and shiny spots in others?

Thank you for the help.
--Jeff Ivey

[kingNothing]

I'm a big fan of strippers. They do most of the work while you sit back and watch. I'm talking about chemical strippers that is..Lol. To me by using the stripper 1st. You don't have to use as heavy of a grit to get to bare metal. Of course this means less marks to get out. Often after stripper 80 then 180 cleans up the metal. This avoiding any grinder marks at all. Also less likely to warp a panel as with a heavy grinder. Most critical is to netrulize the stripper after it has done it's thing. When all prep work is done on the metal. A epoxy primer should be next. Prep for this will differ from brands( cleaners, final grit) Be sure to follow directions for the brand you go with.

[Foot Stomper]

First off, you don't need to remove all the old paint unless it's failing to stick. Tightly adhered coatings make for great substrate. Same goes for body filler and primer. If it's a good sound coating, no need to take it off. Taking it all off exposes it to flash rust and you likely don't want (or like) that. Epoxy primer is the ONLY thing to put on bare steel.

Now if it's rusting off, then you need to get to bare clean steel. This can be done several ways including blasting, grinding and chemical strippers.

• Blasting is by far the most effective but is also the most expensive

• Grinding with too coarse of an abrasive will cause deep grinding grooves. Too high speed can cause the metal to warp.
• Chemical strippers are effective but very noxious and some require water to rinse which immediately causes rust

Rust that exists in the pitted metal is not a problem as long as you put an epoxy primer on it.

Post some pictures... we like pictures!

Here's a picture of my driver side door after media blasting... the filler will not be removed... no need to remove it to only have to put it back on.

[MARTINSR]

One BIG question is whether or not it really needs to be stripped. I have seen way way too many people strip stuff that frankly should have been left alone and simply painted over. Is the substrate failing?

Brian

[LS short box]

I just finished stripping the two doors and fenders. Mine were "patina" down to the primer.

Typically I would of used aircraft stripper but I just used 80 grit on DA sander and it went well. Then used a die grinder with the 3M pads for the small contoured areas the DA couldn't reach.

I will sand blast the braces and such to clean them up completely.

I was concerned that with the amount of weathering the new paint would adhere properly to the old paint/primer.

I will most likely use aircraft stripper on the hood and parts of the cab.

[Nh4clo4]

I like my new Eastwood tool, did the hood in about an hour.
Also the stripper discs for 4.5" angle grinder for hard to reach and edges.

[sprint_9]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

One BIG question is whether or not it really needs to be stripped. I have seen way way too many people strip stuff that frankly should have been left alone and simply painted over. Is the substrate failing?

Brian

Ive been wondering about this as I have a question regarding my build. Say you have a good condition original coating from 72, what would be the steps involved here? I originally thought about having all my panels dustless blasted, but does it really need to be, and do I really need to pay for all that. I keep going back and forth, do it all so its the same, or only do the bad areas and paint over the good.

[MARTINSR]

Like Foot Stomper said, if it's solid, it's solid. If it's not failed, peeling, cracked, sanding it and applying a coat of primer over it to start your new paint job is how most paint jobs start.

There is something I don't see mentioned here on this subject and something I usually mention right off the gitgo when this subject of stripping comes up.

That would be that if you do strip it, DO NOT STRIP MORE THAN YOU CAN HANDLE IN A DAY! Strip a panel or two and get those into primer, then move onto the next. DO NOT STRIP THE WHOLE THING AT ONCE!

This is a HUGE mistake and one I have seen many times over the years.

There are few things more overwhelming than a complete bare metal car or truck sitting in a garage, whew, that is hard to take even for a pro.

You could even do the worse panels that you know need to be stripped or close to it, strip them, get them in epoxy primer. You may find out after doing those that the rest of the truck is just fine!


Brian

[Rickysnickers]

Did anybody hear what MartinSR just said???? Sorry couldn't help it

[Nh4clo4]

Good point Brian, my mentor taught me to start on one corner, and work your way around. I prep one panel at a time.
Ed

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

Did anybody hear what MartinSR just said???? Sorry couldn't help it

When I think of the mistakes I have seen newbes make (not knowing his level of experience I will assume he is a newbe) horrible mistakes like stripping the whole car that literally end the project. They are so overwhelmed it ends the project and sits until it is sold.

I hate to see that happen when the correct way is so easy.

I want to make it VERY CLEAR so that doesn't happen to them.


Brian

[sprint_9]

I am a newb so I can appreciate the straight forward advice. I had already ran through some of the logistics of having my stuff blasted and realized it would be a massive mistake to do it all at once. Im lucky enough to have someone close by that does the stripping, so I can make several trips with smaller batches.

I am focusing on my cab first, then probably fenders and doors, and then hood and cowl. Thats my goal for sometime this fall, I dont have a box so that will be next spring probably.

Im thinking I might be able to get away with kind of scuff and shoot on my doors, and hood. My fenders have some surface rust on the inside I want to have blasted, but I guess the outsides of them are pretty clean.

[Rickysnickers]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

When I think of the mistakes I have seen newbes make (not knowing his level of experience I will assume he is a newbe) horrible mistakes like stripping the whole car that literally end the project. They are so overwhelmed it ends the project and sits until it is sold.

I hate to see that happen when the correct way is so easy.

I want to make it VERY CLEAR so that doesn't happen to them.


Brian

I was just messin' around. I meant no offense

[pwdcougar]

Make sure you follow the directions if you go the chemical stripper route. I used aircraft stripper when restoring my 69 Cougar. The chemicals in it go right through any glove you buy and into your skin. Once it is on your skin it goes into your blood stream and collects in you liver and can cause liver damage. I had a routine blood test done at work when I was toward the end of my stripping. One of my liver functions was off the charts. The blood test company called the nurse at my job and told her to tell me to get to the doctor right away! Keep the stuff off your hands and gloves. I'm told the vapors are harmful too.

Paul

[ericwudi0830]

Thanks Brian! This is good advice

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

I was just messin' around. I meant no offense

I thought so, just making it CLEAR!

If you didn't notice, I have a little passion on the subject.


Brian

[LS short box]

I've had good luck with paint strippers using the heavy duty rubber forearm length rubber gloves. Not the thin latex type. Long sleeve shirt and pants. All this stuff gets tossed in the garbage after I'm done. Safety glasses and a face shield are a must.

Get the part on a table. Thick plastic sheeting down underneath to make clean up easy. Use the cheap throw away paint brushes to apply. Factory paint and primer will take a couple of applications and scraping. Non-factory paint comes off very easily. Lots of ventilation but not out in the sun.

Stay away the seams where the stripper can seep into and be hard to get out.

As soon as I get a part stripped I take it to a local body shop and they shoot it with etching primer and seam seal it for me. Body work can follow later.

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by LS short box

I've had good luck with paint strippers using the heavy duty rubber forearm length rubber gloves. Not the thin latex type. Long sleeve shirt and pants. All this stuff gets tossed in the garbage after I'm done. Safety glasses and a face shield are a must.

Get the part on a table. Thick plastic sheeting down underneath to make clean up easy. Use the cheap throw away paint brushes to apply. Factory paint and primer will take a couple of applications and scraping. Non-factory paint comes off very easily. Lots of ventilation but not out in the sun.

Stay away the seams where the stripper can seep into and be hard to get out.

As soon as I get a part stripped I take it to a local body shop and they shoot it with etching primer and seam seal it for me. Body work can follow later.

Oh do I have some memories.

I was working at a semi truck painting place around 1980 and we would chemically strip the cabs so we didn't have to sand around the rivets the body panels were held on with. It was a hot summer and I was out side with full gear on with a five gallon bucket of stripper applying it with a 6" wide brush! I had very thick gloves on and I had built up a pretty big sweat and very carefully wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my wrist. Oh yeah, that's all it took baby, there was a tiny amount of stripper on the edge of the glove that got on my forehead!

HOLY CRAP did that burn, HOLY CRAP and I couldn't get water on it very fast because I was covered in stripper all over the gloves and crap, wow.

Another time I had a 68 Camaro (around 1985) and my neighbor at my shop stripped it for me. That guy had no finger prints when he was done! His hands were friggin mush, it took a long time for them to heal up.

Next time you are flying, he may be your pilot, he is a commercial airline pilot now.

Without a doubt the best tip to using stripper is to spread it on with a brush moving in one direction, DO NOT back stroke. Spread it out and LEAVE IT work. It's "gases" are what does the job from what I understand. If you back stroke it, the gases are able to escape.

You can even cover it with plastic sheets to keep the gases in. I have never done that because dealing with that stripper covered plastic does NOT sound like a good time.

Put plastic on the ground, strip the paint off the part and then bunch up that plastic trapping the stripper and throw it in the garbage can.

Brian

[nail pounder]

Originally Posted by Foot Stomper

First off, you don't need to remove all the old paint unless it's failing to stick. Tightly adhered coatings make for great substrate. Same goes for body filler and primer. If it's a good sound coating, no need to take it off. Taking it all off exposes it to flash rust and you likely don't want (or like) that. Epoxy primer is the ONLY thing to put on bare steel.

Now if it's rusting off, then you need to get to bare clean steel. This can be done several ways including blasting, grinding and chemical strippers.

• Blasting is by far the most effective but is also the most expensive

• Grinding with too coarse of an abrasive will cause deep grinding grooves. Too high speed can cause the metal to warp.
• Chemical strippers are effective but very noxious and some require water to rinse which immediately causes rust

Rust that exists in the pitted metal is not a problem as long as you put an epoxy primer on it.

Post some pictures... we like pictures!

Here's a picture of my driver side door after media blasting... the filler will not be removed... no need to remove it to only have to put it back on.

Ok, I'm curious to know what you and martinsr would do. My 58 has had two paint jobs over the original blue. I've got blue (OG) then white, grey primer and top coat is yellow. The door jambs only had the yellow over original silver, and it wasn't sanded properly so I peeled it with a razor. The question is, it all seems pretty solid with the exception of a few spots, so should I just scuff everything that is good and on the bad areas use a 60? Or 80? Then 180 or 220? And clean it all up and prime, then hit any body work? Inside the bed is bad, mostly because they just painted over all the chips. The paint isn't failing, it's just ugly. I just spent 45min with some 80 to see how easy, or not that easy its going to be. The end goal for this truck is a nice daily driver, so I'm sure it will end up with door dings and chips eventually.

[Johns 66]

How far down do you go? You say if its adhering then use it as a base...but like what was posted earlier...what id the truck has been painted a couple of times? Everyone wants a slick paint job that will last and I am taking it that the prep work is the most important.

[Foot Stomper]

Originally Posted by nail pounder

Ok, I'm curious to know what you and martinsr would do. My 58 has had two paint jobs over the original blue. I've got blue (OG) then white, grey primer and top coat is yellow. The door jambs only had the yellow over original silver, and it wasn't sanded properly so I peeled it with a razor. The question is, it all seems pretty solid with the exception of a few spots, so should I just scuff everything that is good and on the bad areas use a 60? Or 80? Then 180 or 220? And clean it all up and prime, then hit any body work? Inside the bed is bad, mostly because they just painted over all the chips. The paint isn't failing, it's just ugly. I just spent 45min with some 80 to see how easy, or not that easy its going to be. The end goal for this truck is a nice daily driver, so I'm sure it will end up with door dings and chips eventually.

Paint that comes off with a razor blade must be removed for sure. Anywhere the paint is dis bonding, you need to get it off because your new paint will fall off with it.

Where you have multiple layers of "tightly adhered" coatings, you are safe to prime and paint. Where you have repairs to body, grind to bare metal and start there if and where possible.

Tightly adhered body filler from an earlier repair is ok to leave it alone unless you think the repairman did a crappy job of it in the first place and you think you can get better metal work done.

A good high build urethane primer will help for sure. I won't recommend any brand (as some are on here it seems selling "their" brand) but will leave that to you to decide. There are many good brands and products to choose from. I recommend finding a good body shop paint supply store and getting to know the guys there. They will be far more help to you as you go through your project.

The ugly bed onced smoothed out of any paint ridges from painting over damaged areas will turn out nicely if the proper care and products are used.

When it comes to grit selection (and other product technical application questions) always refer to the manufacturer's technical data sheet (TDS) as it will tell you exactly what to do.

Don't mess with success... follow the TDS!

Good luck with your truck... please post pictures.