Strip or Not?

[aerocrosby]

My '73 T coupe was repainted right after it was purchased new (originally Glacier Blue) with a metallic beige Mercedes color, according to the original owners. I want to go back to the factory Blue and was wondering if I should strip down to bare metal or would I be better off just trying to carefully sand the beige off and leave the factory paint intact as much as possible? I have zero rust issues and never any body damage or filler to contend with.

Just about everyone I've spoken to who has stripped all the paint has seemed to regret they ever started.

This will be a complete windows out first class paint job when all is said and done. I don't want to cut corners but maybe there is something to keeping the factory primer and paint on if I can.

What do you guys think?

Thanks!

[ossiblue]

I'm certainly no expert, but if, as you say, the car has only one paint job on top of the factory original, and no body/rust issues, I'd do as you suggest--sand down the present paint to the factory color and repaint on top. But I'm from the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" school.

[RWebb]

sand carefully and see what condition the primer is in - or don't even take it down all the way to the primer

no reason to strip to bare metal unless there is something wrong w/ the first layer or body damage

[3.2 CAB]

Hi, if you have good paint on the car, without any issues, a lot of times it is better to just sand the existing paint to a prepped finish. Good paint, or the factory paint, if it is of high quality, most body/paint people just sand and block sand the current finish. It makes for an excellent primer coat, and once the current finish is opened up by sanding, the current paint will make a primer that is hard to beat. BUT, this is only if the paint that is there now is in really nice shape. Good luck, Tony.