Best attachment for a grinder?

[Datsun-Fever]

Hey guys, what type of attachment is the best for a grinder? i want to strip off the last 80% of paint on my car.

[Zvoiture]

JCWhitney sells an attachment for a 4 1/2" grinder that takes your car down to a media blaster and then returns it home to you a few days later. Works great. Look in their catalogue.

steve

[Mr Camouflage]

I've been using a wire brush attachment, also chemical paint stripper, and a sanding disk in a drill, so far its taken me about 6 months, 10 wire brush attachments and 6 liters paint stripper. :stupid:

Next time i'll get it media blasted:stupid: :stupid:

And i recommend you do too.

[gema]

^^ you guys are funny. How much does it cost to media blast a Z?

[NCLarry]

Last I checked in the $1000 neighborhood. You're mileage may vary.

[Victor Laury]

Yea, $700 ~ $1,200. It really is a better value than you might think as it takes it down to metal. It messes up the lead soldered areas a bit. Leaves the rust for your action

[NCLarry]

From when I called around, no action is taken to remove undercoating, gooey areas, etc. You've gotta tackle that yourself.

I had also looked in dipping (perform a forum search) and the price was close to a bit higher. Dipping removes all undercoating, bondo and ALSO seam sealer.

I'm told, dipping while a better result, requires much extra work and usually results in a much 'creakier' car as many seal areas can't be resealed unless you remove skins.

I'm still on the fence about sending for blasting vs. doing myself. Time is on my side, I'm in no hurry and feel chemical stripper and grinding may be sufficient.

I assume when using hte grinding wheel, it is necessary to spread filler (bondo) to fill in the grooves, etc.

[fatones]

I just finished removing the undercoating on my 240. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. First I used a torch and a two inch scraper to get through the undercoating. Then I bought a suction blaster made by campbell hausefield to bring it down to bare metal. For media I just used a five gallon bucket filed with 30 grit silica from home depot. Five bucks for a 100 pound bag. It only cost me about 80 bucks for the job. I also used a quality respirator since the dust is supposed to be very bad for you.

Looks pretty good when you put the POR-15 back on to seal it.

Fatones

[Datsun-Fever]

I tryed using spray on stripper, but it sucks. Any ways, i should use a sand paper disk? what grit? im looking to get off all the coats.

[2ManyZs]

Get a DA sander with either 80 or 100 grit paper. Using a grinder will only cause you more work than it's worth. The DA will do a better job of keeping the surface fairly smooth and even and you won't have as much work to do later to fill in all the high and low spots. It doesn't take much to take off a coat of paint or two, and using the wrong tool will only make things worse.

[Mr Camouflage]

Use Chemical Paint stripper and a wire brush attachment in a grinder if taking it back to bare metal.

Dont use sanding disks on metal as it gouges the metal surface, leaving lots of tiny scratches, and an overall rough surface, which will rust (oxadise) instantly when/if you use wet and dry to finish sanding the panel. You'll then have to etch the panel to remove the oxidisation.

If you use a wire brush, it leaves the metal smooth, which you can wet and dry sand, and wipe dry, and etch prime.

I only use sanding disks on panels to remove the tiny surface rust patches that occur under the paint (mostly around holes).

[gema]

Not to hijack the post, but...

If I can get my car painted (stripped, primered, and painted by a a very reputable body shop) for around $1.5-2k, is it cost effective at ALL to do it myself?