whats the best way to remove paint

[sphy1005]

i'm in the process of repainting my 73z . it seems to have about 5 layers of paint and minor rust. should i strip paint down to the metal. if so whats the best way to do that. i've used power sanders and a few other things to sort of grind the paint off but it takes a while. i'm not trying to build a show car but want it to look good. thanks

[Ed]

With that much paint your better off stripping her down to metal. Todays paints are better than the one's of the 70's, 80's and 90's. Use some 80 grit on a 12" disk. The bigger the disk the better. Then get some good primer on her before you start the metal work. Or you can do the metal repairs first then strip her and do the primer just once.

[george71z]

Bite the bullet and get her media blasted. I had my 71 done that way in 1992 for about $350, and the paint still looks new. It went down to bare metal, and then my body guy ospho'ed it and started the rust repair. To this day, I still get compliments on my 89 Maxima pearl white finish, and folks are amazed the paint is 13 yrs. old.

[peng155]

I'm no bodyman... But I just did have my 240 repainted by a body shop that specializes in restoration work... If you're going to take it down to bare metal, you might as well skim coat the body with bondo to get the body as smooth, and ripple free as possible.

Just my .02 worth..

[Mr Camouflage]

I'm no bodyman... But I just did have my 240 repainted by a body shop that specializes in restoration work... If you're going to take it down to bare metal, you might as well skim coat the body with bondo to get the body as smooth, and ripple free as possible.

Just my .02 worth..

What ever you do, dont do this, if you intend on keeping the car. It will rust away under the bondo, and you will never know untill the paint starts bubbling and flaking off.

I'm in the process of stripping a car that this was done to, maybe a 2 to 5 years ago bu a PO, and there is signs of rust starting to form on the metal surface under the places that were skim coated (mostly the roof). The bondo absorbs moisture out of the atmosphere, and you dont want a damp bondo layer ontop of the metal. Plus it adds unnecessary weight to the car

I never apply bondo to bare metal, and I only use it where its needed. eg. to smooth a dent that has been knocked out to as close to the original profile as possible.

If you want to get a good smooth finish, use spay putty which is like thick high build primer, then block it back till its only left in the low spots.

This is what i'm doing:

Strip to bare metal

etch prime.

primer,

minimal bondo where required (not the really porous soft stuff, that absorbs moisture)

spayputty,

block it back till smooth (repeat prime/spray/sand putty where required)

final primer coat

paint.

Body shops only skim coat because they are lazy, cheap and want to make a quick buck for little effort.

[sphy1005]

thanks. these all sound great. i'm gonna call around about the media blasting, but probable won't make my final decision yet. i'll let u guys knows thanks for the help

[sphy1005]

i've only got one fender down to the metal right now. i'll put some pics in when i get a chance

[Ian G]

I am building a 1973 240z show car so everything is going down to metal including underside. The fastest way is to media blast but their are dangers in that the wrong media can damage the metal especailly thin areas, the safest media is made of plastic (of course it costs more). The other problem with blasting is it leaves debris in every nook and cranny and it sometimes never goes away. I prefer to use an enviromentally friendly product called Ready STrip which will peel off the layers of old paint (5 to 7 coats worth). You apply with brush or undercoat sprayer, ket sit for up to 24 hours and then pressure wash off. Any paint that did not get removed can me given a second coat or sanded down with the appropriate grit. Very important, once down to metal the car body will begin to rust, so get it primered as soon as possible. For best show quality and longetivity avoid using bondo or other body fillers, whenver possible. Remove the dents and body damage by manipulating the metal, this is why some body guys are called Artists and not body guys. Artist's have years of experience and can move the metal the way the want, body guys throw a coat of bondo down as fast as possible and move on to the next car on the assembly line.

[Jayru]

Does media blasting remove any bondo/fiberglass work that was done on the car, or is it just strong enough to remove the paint and expose the bondo?

[Corganx33]

knotted wire wheel and an angle grinder made super short work of my paint and undercoating.

Just wear goggles

[cremmenga]

my 72 had the original primer and paint and also had a poorly done coat over it. The poor one some guy did and it was bad, but I razor bladed the whole car to original color, then wire wheeled the whole thing to bare metal. If you do it this way have fun I shall never do this again took forever and 4 million wire brushes. I would find some place and have it media blasted, I think it is about as cheap when you figure your time and money for wire wheels, and from what I have seen it does a way better job.

[cremmenga]

Does media blasting remove any bondo/fiberglass work that was done on the car, or is it just strong enough to remove the paint and expose the bondo?

the guy that media blasted one of mine did take out some bondo, and not to mention my back window!