Body work question (newbie warning)

[rderr]

I am very new to paint/body. Actually have never done any but plan to do my own work on my 66 long bed restoration that is currently underway (see pictures in the projects/builds section). Anyway, my main question is how do I know when it is appropriate or safe to sand blast, sand with a DA sander or use aircraft stripper or other chemicals to remove the old paint? Additionally, is it absolutely necessary to take everything to bare metal? If not, when is it ok to just scuff and paint sections? I have heard that sand blasting large body panels can result in warpage but have read and heard of folks who do use a blaster for those parts.

Thanks in advance,
Rick

[bruceandersson]

Welcome!! It's great that you are going to undertake this yourself. Lots of good people here willing to help.

A couple of lessons I learned over time:

Paint stripper - only use on large areas where there are no seams. This can creep into a seam only to come back out after you paint is done.

Sand blast - great for heavier material, higher profile areas, and hard to get areas. This cleans things well, and paint really sticks. Can leave a coarse surface and can warp metal when used on flat panels.

DA - single most important tool you can own.

What I do now is use paint stripper and then hit the softened paint with a cup style wire brush one my 4.5" grinder (second most important tool). Staying away from any seems. This is the fastest way I've found to get rid of old paint. Its messy but fairly fast.
I then hit any rusted areas and areas I've missed with my pressure blaster with play sand. at 90 PSI. I use the play sand since it is less aggressive, cheap and easy to get. Finally I use a 80 grit DA pad to provide the pre-primer finish on the metal before hitting with an epoxy primer.

As far as paint, don't even think about a metallic for your first effort. Stick with a single stage urethane and solid colors. This can be very forgiving and provide excellent results.

[rderr]

Thanks Bruce,
Sounds like sage advice. When you use stripper and then a wire wheel doesn't it make a terrible mess? You sort of echoed what I was thinking. I plan to use my sand blaster for areas that would be difficult to sand (door jambs etc...) and then the DA sander for the body panels. The bady panels are in decent shape. Do you think I shoud try to get it down to bare metal or skuff it and epoxy primer over that? The PO used some type of spray on undercoating for the underside of the hood. Would you suggest trying the stripper on that? It is fairly thick. I was tempted to try my propane torch and a putty knife but don't want to either ruin a good hood by warpage, burn down my barn, or kill myself with the fumes. My plan is to paint the original rangoon red and whimbleton white two tone.

Thanks,
Rick

[rickairmedic]

Rick with regards to going to bare metal or not . I will say this if it is the original paint on the truck a scuff and primer sealer is fine . Anywhere body work has been done you will want to strip to bare metal to make sure there are no issues below the body work that may come back to bite you later if left alone .


Rick

[DV65CustomCab]

My eventual replacement hood was also sprayed with undercoating material. It depends if it's 'dry' or 'sticky'. Mine is 'dry', apparently having been on there forever. I've been able to use a gasket scraper tool to chisel it off. Time consuming but effective and doesn't cause any other issues. If the stuff is sticky...ugh. Paint stripper generally doesn't work on it. Heat is one option; dry ice and my chisel method may be another.

[shaff64]

Sandblasting if done right is the way to go...... Epoxy prime after you sand it down with 180 Grit, and you can work the areas after this is done.

Make sure you sand it right after the day it's sandblasted, and apply the epoxy prime right away so you don't have any moister on the newly sanded steel. The areas that need work after that are easy to identify and fix,

[Harper]

welcome...
apparently my sandblaster guy did NOT epoxy prime my truck after blasting immediately....and now I have some minor rust creeping thru my epoxy primer...
here is my question..
what is the easiest way to remove epoxy primer other than re sand blasting it?