Need paint removal advice

pryord · pryord's Garage

This weekend, I got an estimate for repainting my hood, top and part of the left fender where previous paint work blistered. The painter wants to sand the areas down to bare metal. When I asked about affecting the galvanization, he said that his polyester based urethane primer was much better than the old German galvanization. Is there any truth to this? Should I get the areas bead blasted instead of letting him sand? It seems like rust is more of an issue in the hidden areas where water can collect, not the hood/top. So should I even worry about this?

Finally, does $1,500 sound about right with me removing the trim/bumper/tail lights, etc.?

Thanks!

Zeke · 10-13-2003, 08:18 AM

Price seems in line. I had a painter remove the paint on my '77 911 with a disc sander back in '83 when I knew much less. The swirling sand marks appeared in the hood about a year later. Color sanded and they appeared again. Finally ran out of paint to sand and repainted. The marks came back again. As far as I'm concered, the first painter ruined the car. I eventually sold the car rather than starting over with another hood. I had painted cars before that and now do so again. I have no need for a disc unless I'm welding. If I use it on the body, I DA the metal smooth before priming. How was he gonna remove the paint?

As far as the primer goes, sounds like ordinary primer to me. Epoxy is best over bare, clean and etched metal.

91C2wrencher · 91C2wrencher's Garage

Quick question, I've seen the acronym *DA* twice today for the first time. What is a DA and what are you doing when you use it?

Sorry for the interuption, we now return you to your regular programming.........

RickM · RickM's Garage

DA stands for Dual Action. It's a sander that spins in a circle as well as in an offset orbital movement using a cam mechanism. The idea is to give a more-or-less random sanding pattern.

pryord · pryord's Garage

I got a quote for beadblasting the paint off my car and WOW, it's 1/2 the price of the paint shop removing the paint. Given that it gentler on the car and cheaper, I'm going for it.

David

rattlsnak · rattlsnak's Garage

be careful with bead blasting, it WILL leave 'golf ball dimples' in the thin areas.

MotoSook · 10-14-2003, 02:26 PM

What about soda blasting or walnut shells? Seems those would be safe enough and not leave marks (if done be a pro).

Eric Coffey · 10-14-2003, 02:35 PM

Aircraft Stripper works wonders on paint that is on galvanized surfaces.

rattlsnak · rattlsnak's Garage

Por-strip from www.por-15.com works great. I know, I just finished doing some parts on mine about 20 minutes ago. Basically the same thing as aircraft stripper.

Harlan Chinn · Harlan Chinn's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by Eric Coffey
Aircraft Stripper works wonders on paint that is on galvanized surfaces.

The factory galvanize should be maintained whenever possible. The repaint paint should be removed or at least sanded down to a stable substrate(factory primer). The hood should be stripped using aircraft stripper. The quote seems to be in line.

island911 · 10-14-2003, 06:42 PM

Some great advice there, from the Pelican crowd.

I'll just add to your specific question:

Quote:

Originally posted by pryord
. . .. The painter wants to sand the areas down to bare metal. When I asked about affecting the galvanization, he said that his polyester based urethane primer was much better than the old German galvanization. Is there any truth to this? . . .

No.

(read: I would stay away form this guy)