sanded to the metal?

[boogerboy72]

I was just wondering if anyone has sanded the whole car to the metal. Mine is going to the paint booth next week hopefully, finally.

[cruiksdr]

Lot's of folks on here have. You can probably find examples of discussions by searching on paint and bare metal or something like that. You'll just want to make sure you do a good filler primer/block sanding to get the car flat or the new paint won't look too hot.

[sean_V8_914]

can you find the hidden 914 in this photo?
although I was brave enough to strip out the car, I did not go to the bare metal on the entire car. I only did the corners and the detailed edges. take pictures and share your progress with us. Good Luck!

[hargray2]

hey! that's what my car looks like!

[cruiksdr]

I've got a pile like that right now too! Two shells, one big pile. Too cold now to make a car out of it? I'm NOT going to the metal on mine except where needed for repairs. What's in good shape will make a good base, I think???

[skline]

I have a lot of pictures of mine down to bare metal. I used a chemical stripper first and then sanded the rest. It exposed lots of small bondo repair jobs. Once you use the chemical strip, you have to take the bondo all out and fix the little dents. It's the best way to do it if you want a straight car again with no bondo.

[sean_V8_914]

can you find teh bondo in this photo?

[hargray2]

I don't see any bondo but what's all the pink stuff around that red paint?

[R. Boger]

We welded these joints together,hope it turns out good

[boogerboy72]

I think it will. Any one done it before?

[914GT]

Be aware that if you chemically strip you will soften the old fillers (if any) and you might often run in to past dent and collision repairs. Then you should take off every bit of the old filler, an 80 or 120 grit flapdisk on a grinder does a good job of getting shiny bare metal without damaging the metal. This is a good time to get out the hammer and dolly to straighten metal if you can get behind the panel. Look for welds from past repairs. Don't use regular filler over these, first put a coat of waterproof short-strand fiberglass reinforced filler followed by a good quality polyester filler. Don't use cheap Bondo from FLAPS - go get some good stuff from Finishmaster or local auto paint store. If you know how to block sand your filler and final sand after primer/guide coat you can get some beautiful results. But if the old paint surface is solid and in good shape you're creating a lot more work for yourself by stripping. But I know from experience that sometimes that's the best way to do it. I don't trust somebody elses' bodywork. Have fun!

[R. Boger]

Our body man will not allow chemical strippers, he is afraid that if all of it is not neturalized it has a possibility of leaching back sometime down the road. We are removing all the existing bondo and he is going to hammer and dolly all the dents he can, he is a old school bodyman, he would rather take the time to straighten all that he can instead of filling in.

[boogerboy72]

hes gonna have a time with that front left light holder/fender.

[914GT]

No problem with meth. chloride strippers as long as you remove all the old paint. down to bare metal, then thoroughly wash down with thinner followed by sanding. For filler I use a heat gun. After it softens up then just scrape it off. Depending on how severe the damage was, metal can be worked out close to the original shape so less filler is used. Some 'pro' repair shops don't spend much time, they'll quickly pull the big dents then rely on lots of body filler. There's nothing wrong with filler but a good repair will use the smallest amount possible.

[boogerboy72]

i agree. but the car was hit at the front left light holder, the long and narrow one. Its be pulled back to the basic shape, but there is a lot of little indentions. But i have faith in billy, our paniter friend, and have seen some of his previous work.=O Its quite good, REALLY good.

[Jake Raby]

Going to bare metal is not always best, if whats underneath is in good shape..

I had a car chemically dipped, it even took the lead filler out of the seams- sucked big time.

[sean_V8_914]

I saw a 195X Merc show car that had been chem dipped. It was only 6 months old since complete resto. The chemical was still in teh cracks and had become active again from teh water when he washed it.

[cruiksdr]

I've heard many similar stories about chem stripping. Sand/bead blasting is an option, but the car will forever be coming back to haunt you. I did a fair amount of sand blasting on my old car back in 1998, and I'm still finding significant amounts of abrasive that seems to come from nowhere. So for my new car, I will only use stripper in select areas. I will be doing some sand blasting in the engine compartment around the battery tray. Otherwise, it’ll be wire brushing, sanding and only to the metal in places where there is rust repair or the paint is not sound.

[914GT]

Just to make things clear here I think we're talking two different things. One is using strippers brushed on and limited to exterior panels. The other is dipping the whole car into a tank of chemicals. The latter method is severe overkill and for sure there would be residue leaching out from all kinds of places. IMO it's a bad idea. They'd also destroy seam sealers and panel adhesives. But I've used brush-on strippers on the outside and saved hours of sanding. It gets the bulk of the old paint and primer off to where a DA sander quickly finishes the job.

[cruiksdr]

Good clarification. Yes, a big difference, and the brush on/spray on for specific areas is not the problem that I understand dipping to be (as you have noted).