I see a lot of guys post their builds in the various project states taken down to bare metal. What confuses me is a lot of them have no tool marks. To rip through paint Id be thinking to grab my angle grinder with a 40 grit flap disc, then 80 once I hit metal. But these guys dont show any angle grinder marks. Are they just sand blasting the whole car?
No to 40 grit! 80 maybe. They make discs that are for paint removal that fit on a 4" angle grinder. They work ok. I have used the Harbor Freight junk up to 3m brand. All work the same-ish. If it is going to work with the material it works. I have also scraped whole cars with a razor blade, sometimes it works quickly and is cheap, $6 for 100 blades. Sometimes 80-120 grit on the DA. It all depends on which one works on the paint and rust you are working with.
Used a 4 inch wire wheel on my grinder with great success removing paint. Came back and sanded bare metal with DA after paint is gone. Dirty ass job so make sure to use the right respirator.
I spent $250.00 to have my 1939 Ford coupe sand blasted. It gets in the places you can't with flap wheels or sandpaper, leaves a nice surface. No lead infested dust to breath either! I liked it.
You can use 36 or 40 to start with on a low speed sander BUT ... Your Target with it should be to remove 1/2 the thickness of the paint in long even strokes. Stay away from and detail lines, bumps, edges. The paper needs to spin into the the paint. Doing it that way doesn't make dust, it makes long shavings of paint. Don't shoot for bare metal with a 36 or you'll screw the metal up and you're bound to do exactly what your not supposed to do. Then switch to 80 on the low speed sander using long even stokes with your target being 1/2 the thickness of what's left. Do not try for bare metal. It comes off quick. Switch to the DA with 80 and what's left comes off quick and easy. But don't try for 100% bare metal just yet. Save that for 120. Strip all the exterior surface of a whole full size vehicle or truck in about 5 hrs. You'll have at least that much more time into stripping jambs and such.
That because they get their cars blasted or chem dipped. Angle grinder to remove paint is a bad idea an angle grinder is for grinding. get a DA and some pads, 60-80 grit for rough cutting and 100-150 to smother it out. Don't lean too hard on the rough pads just use them to take the paint most of the way off if you are going back to bare metal then use your finer pads for I finishing up. If you are going to leave it in bare metal (I can't imagine why you would) the you will want to go even finer for finish sanding.
I like to sand blast any car that I am gona do from the ground up. You will quickly find an thin spot or pin holes or previous bad repairs... You just have to be very careful sandblasting sheetmetal parts you can ruin them quickly if you don't know what you are doing...But it is a very good way to completely strip all previous paint and rust off old sheetmetal an chassis..
I've stripped more cars of paint to bare metal with spray can paint remover than I can count. Clean, fast, safe, efficient and inexpensive.
I have been using the sander attachment on my angle grinder, but would never think of using it for the body. I use 36 grit on parts like the torque tube and axle housings, and then polish it out with 120 grit. Scotch brite as required. Allows you to sand out rust pits. You need a blaster to get into intricate places though. No way of sanding down a backing plate! You have to be careful though, as round stuff becomes un round and you have to knock your edges down; I usually use 80 grit on a palm sander.
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