alexandermwick Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 I'm getting ready to prep the Z for a paint job. I've been doing as much research as possible and found out it's not necessary to go down to bare metal. But my car has many spots of surface rust where the paint has chipped away (one of the POs of the car did not do a very good job of painting). So my question is, do I sand down the whole car and start over? Or is there a way for me to work around these spots? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280zjoel Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Your best bet is to sand the whole thing down since you dont know how good of a job the PO did on it. BUT if you really dont want do that, you might want to consider sand the area down with the rust to bare metal and sanding further out than the rust. For example If you have a rusty spot that is 3inchs in diameter, you could sand that area with a diameter of 6inchs to ensure you got rid of the rust. Also needs to be feather edged out so that it does not show up then you primer and paint it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandermwick Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 Your best bet is to sand the whole thing down since you dont know how good of a job the PO did on it. BUT if you really dont want do that, you might want to consider sand the area down with the rust to bare metal and sanding further out than the rust. For example If you have a rusty spot that is 3inchs in diameter, you could sand that area with a diameter of 6inchs to ensure you got rid of the rust. Also needs to be feather edged out so that it does not show up then you primer and paint it. Ok thanks. I think I will probably just end up sanding the whole thing down. Better to take more time and do the whole process right, then have more problems down the roads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Yes, take that paint off, and treat the steel and use a high quality primer. It looks like moisture got under that paint. Painting over that would be a waste of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PR280z Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 (edited) I suggest sanding the whole car to the metal to get rid of the rust worm. There`s a company out in Florida you can check out www.sunbeltchemicals.com. I`ve used their DE-RUSTER product to prevent/prolong the flash rust on the metal until the paint on the car is all off with good results.The product is compared to OSPHO. KEEP THE Z ALIVE! Edited May 23, 2011 by PR280z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandermwick Posted June 6, 2011 Author Share Posted June 6, 2011 Question about sanding down to bare metal...I've got a 5" DA sander i was planning on using for the job. What grit sandpaper would be best to take down all the paint? Also should I use a paint stripper or anything else before hand? Or just straight sand down until i see steel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PR280z Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 (edited) 40g or wire cup on grinder/drill gun for the bondo removal and 60-100g on DA sander for the paint. GO FOR IT! Edited June 8, 2011 by PR280z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandermwick Posted June 12, 2011 Author Share Posted June 12, 2011 40g or wire cup on grinder/drill gun for the bondo removal and 60-100g on DA sander for the paint. GO FOR IT! Thanks for the info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandermwick Posted June 16, 2011 Author Share Posted June 16, 2011 A few pics of the sanding i started. Again first time sanding and it is a LOT of work. I'm thinking about sanding out the rusty areas completely and just taking the rest of the paint down a few notches instead of going bare metal on the whole car. In the first picture I started sanding the front fender, finding no rusts, just a few layers of paint, but as you can see from the last pic, there are little blemishes in some places on the Z from where its starting to peel. Is it okay to just sand certain spot down to metal and not others. And when I go to do the primer, do I only need to paint those spots? I'd like to take a few shortcuts, but none that I will regret later on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zman0690 Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Almost all shortcuts will be regretted later. There is some paint build up on that car along with, what looks like, a bad paint job and since you already know it was done incorrectly before why would you want to repeat the same mistake? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan5138 Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Sanding down to metal is a lot of work and takes way too much time. Its a lot easier and probably cheaper in the long run to just use aircraft paint stripper. Most hardware stores carry it, you just goop it on come back in 15- 30 mins and scrapes right off with a nice wide putty knife. If you have access to a pressure washer, that would make things even easier. Just make sure you use really good gloves and use horsehair paint brush or metal scraper to spread it around. You will also need to wash / sand the steel to make sure you get rid of any residue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgsheen Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 This is totally a matter of personal preference... Both of my son's have used aircraft stripper on fenders, hood and cowl. We've also sanded multiple paint layers. I can sand the fender in the same amount of time it takes my son to use aircraft stripper. It's just that I sand, and sand, and sand - he brushes, scrapes, washes, scrapes, brushes again, washes, scrapes again. And the fender still needs some sanding or wire brushing. Both methods make a mess. One is a dry powdery mess all over everything, the other a wet, gooey paint flake mess (but you can contain it to a smaller area usually...) Your paint looks to be pretty thick... You should try both ways and see what you like best. Both have their "positives" and "negatives"... Well, no - paint removal is mostly negatives to begin with, so it's actually a "lesser of two evils" kind of thing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PR280z Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 If the the paint shows hairlike cracks,it`s better to sand to the metal. Applying bondo and then paint over it will not fix it. The crack will reappear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOTHALOSISM Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 You can call around to local media blasters and see if they can soda blast or dry ice blast it all off. Its easier and some times a tad cheaper if you have any contacts. While your at it pull the engine and clean the bay at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandermwick Posted August 16, 2011 Author Share Posted August 16, 2011 I will def be going down to bare metal all over now. I will also try the aircraft stripper to see if I like that option better. And gothalosism, i would love to have someone media blast it but unfortunately the only place that does it over in my neck of the woods charges a little more than i'm willing to pay. thanks for all the responses guys, this has helped me a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandermwick Posted August 17, 2011 Author Share Posted August 17, 2011 So i've been using aircraft stripper and i really like how well it works although it does create a big mess everywhere. but its shaving off a lot of sanding time which is awesome. after i finish everything i'm gonna be left with really smooth spots where i used the stripper, and a lot of rough swirly patches from the DA sander. Is this gonna be a problem when it comes time to prime/paint the car? i figure i could use a finer grit to kinda polish those spots, buy i dont know if it will make a different after primer and a few layers of paint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Purple240zt Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 For what it's worth, follow this advice; "paint hides nothing" I assume you are going to prime and block your car to make sure it's straight. If you aren't planning on it, I would recommend it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgsheen Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Not only "paint hides nothing", I'd have to add: "paint exposes every flaw"... I think you'll find that, from start to finish, the more attention you pay to every step - the easier each following step will be. The converse is also true - a sloppy step will make each succeeding step that much more difficult - especially with paint... Take your time with the body work / primer stage(s) - probably do primer more than once. Guide coat your primer, Block it smooth, look at it from every angle. On the trouble spots, do it again (and again)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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