[67cat]

Hi,

Ok, I am just about ready for the body work and paint. I am a little concern if I have the skills time and do I want to try and blast off the paint off my car or should I just have a professionel do it. They want 1500 to blast the car, seems a little high. But I am concern about all the talk about respirators and the dangers of blasting. I do have a new blast unit that I never use cost me around 450.00 bucks and my compressor is a commercial grade 5hp that can keep the psi at blasting range. I don't have a way to get the car up so the underneath can be done. And of course the neighbor's. I need a little help with making the decision.

[poncho62]

Another thing you have to worry about when blasting, is warping the body panels. How bad is the paint that is on it now? Does it all need to be taken off?

[67cat]

Yes, a few coats on flaking.

[kenseth17]

What I usually do is sand the exterior panels with a 8" orbital sander (such as a national detroit 900" and then go over with a 6" dual action and 80 grit. I actually use a combination of stripper, sanding and blasting, as they all have areas where they are easiest and work the best. I limited sandblasting to rusted areas with pits and areas in which sanding and stripper couldn't be done as easily. Like inside areas, frame suspension parts, hinges,ect. Most rusted metal should be replaced unless the pits are minor. A small home sandblaster should work fine and not damage panels if you limit what you do and are careful. I used a cheap siphon feed for a long time which is really slow but doesn't really hammer the panels and silica sand, but you need to be sure to wear a respirator if using silica as a media, well any media, but silica is really bad for the lungs. Most sandblasting units for home will require more time to use and still need some compressor power and dry moisture air to prevent plugging. A big commercial sandblaster can do it much faster and you don't have the mess. If they use the right media and are experienced they shouldn't damage panels. It takes more time typically to strip at home, but you don't have to worry about dragging it anywhere and may come out a little cheaper depending on how much sandpaper, stripper, media(usually not too bad) ect you use and electricity ect to do it. You can break up the work and epoxy prime as you go, and its not too bad. If you don't want the mess or hassle I would call around. Many would just rather take somewhere to have done and avoid the work and mess. Think you will be able to find a place to do it at a better price. Just have plans in store for away to protect it all with epoxy primer asap. Make sure they are not using soda though, based on what others on here have found out about its use. People have used injenious ways to do undersides without use of a rotessirie. Maybe do a search. Think I even remember someone rolling the body on its side on a bunch of huge intertubes, lol.

[67cat]

Thanks, that's good information. After reading another thread here about the bare metal. And now with the information you gave me I plan on having it prime right away. Also will check on what media is being use.

[Ultra Al]

The Eastwood Co. sells a magnetic mill thickness guage for about $50 of course it wont work on fiberglass, or maybe you can borrow a mill thickness guage or get your local body shop to do a mill thickness test on your existing paint. A factory job is usually about 5 to 10 mils. Then you can determine what you have on there. If its just factory paint then you can just sand and prime. No sense in going down to bare metal unless you have to, its a lot of work time and money. AL

[67cat]

I appreciate all the advice and plan on looking into the mill gage. I think I will also do some trailering around with the car to different body and paint shops that I am considering and see what they recommend. Wish I had more experience in that area and then again I did all the frame suspension, cage and much more and really ready for this project to come to a finish.

[adtkart]

If you have any paint that is flaking, you need to completely strip the thing. The new paint will only be as good as the foundation.

Aaron

[kenseth17]

If its just factory paint then you can just sand and prime. No sense in going down to bare metal unless you have to, its a lot of work time and money. AL

Sure its a lot of work to go down to bare metal, but even without that, its a lot of work and a lot of time and muscle is tied up into bodywork and prep on a typical car that was made 1967. If it still has factory paint and primer on there, it would be unactivated enamel or a lacquer, which could cause problems if you paint over it or even if not, it will be a less desirable product that will still be setting the foundation under the better 2k products used today and could bite you a little down the road. Taking it down to metal will give you the opportunity to see what that car has had happen to it, any shoddy repairs, or what needs attention that you may not realize if you don't take the paint off and just start with that. Starting with baremetal will give you the start to a good foundation of epoxy and other 2k products, as well as being able to see exactly what condition body you are dealing with, before you start laying on products and paint which is fairly pricey today. Its a little more work and money to strip it all down and start fresh, but a smart move IMO unless you know the exact history of the car and exactly what has been done to it and what is on it. The amount of extra work/money is not worth the risks at least in my opinion. The price of body materials, media, and extra sandpaper is cheap in comparison to paint materials. You know that all has been sanded or blasted well to spray the epoxy on when its all off to metal, every spot had touched by media or sanding to get all the paint off and down to metal, and should have good tooth for the primer/ as opposed to sanding paint where you may be using a scuff pad to get in hard to sand areas. It will take up a little more of your time to do it right. Aaron is right, if paint is flaking, it needs to come off, and you never know if panels that aren't flaking at this point will in the future. If it was a realitively new daily driver with a modern finish, go ahead start over the factory finish. A car is almost 40 years old, trying to avoid accidents, winter, and all the other things thrown at it, that just may have old 1k products, and you have been sticking money into and want your best chance for a long lasting paint job -I think the smart thing to do would be starting fresh when paint and materials alone can easily pass $1000.

[67cat]

kenseth17,

I appreciate the time you all have taken, and I do want the best job possible done on my car. So I have dicided to take the car down to bare metal to have the best chance of getting the results I want. Thanks for the help. I will keep everyone posted with pictures.