Have a question for you guys. I'm new to all of this and am learning as I go. I'm doing some/a lot of body work on a 52 chevy that I bought a few months ago. The car was painted less than a year ago. Question is: do I need to strip all of the paint that's on the car now before I start to re-spray it? Example, the guy before me just added filler to the seam in the hood which makes no sense and it of course cracked. So I sanded the paint in that area down to weld up the seam. Do I need to sand down all of the paint on the hood then add filler then paint or can I just add filler to the section I welding and feather it out to the old paint? This is not going to be a show car. Just a cool car that I'll be driving around during the summer. But don't want it to look like a monkey built it either... If the answer is strip it all then what is the best and fastest way for me to do this? Chemical remover? Thanks for your help and advice!! Here's what I am working on. Yes that's a 52 Chevy deluxe that someone before me cut the top off with a SAWZALL! Had to add a lot of frame and body bracing to give it more strength. Ben working a lot of the around where they cut the top off. Will make a thread on it soon when I get some of the work finished.
Not at all, however on that seam you welded up, I'd use some Duraglass, or All-Metal first, with a thin coat of filler for a final coat. You just need to feather back the paint with 150 grit paper, before priming that area, then block sand that spot, and any other areas that are having any body work done. I'd also look the car over REAL GOOD to see if there were any other spots the previous owner might have use the same bad body work techniques. You say the car was painted a year ago. Do you know what kind of paint was used? Enamel, or Urethane? I'd scuff the whole thing down and seal it with PPG DP sealer then shoot it in a base coat / clear coat paint. I WOULD strip it if it looked like there were multiple paint jobs on it, or the whole paint job done a year ago looked like crap. In that case, I'd either break out my Mud Hog and some 80 grit discs, or chemically strip it with Aircraft Stripper. Messy, but fast.
If he did cruddy work on the repairs, he probably did cruddy work on the paint too. You are probably further ahead to strip the paint and find out what you are really dealing with. You don't want to repaint the car only to have his poor work ruin it.
What kind of monkey are we talking about? anyway, painting is a pretty deep subject... i recommend pat ganahl's book (i think it's called 'how to paint your car' (i think it is a motorbooks title)). good chapters on assessing car for stripping, options, etc...
having stripped a car myself, i can tell you its a complete pain in the butt no matter which way you do it. i would avoid it at all costs. BUT if you must.... you can start with a chemical stripper. its still a lot of work however, and MESSY. basically, you brush it on, wait for it to bubble, then strip it off. how long it takes depends on how many coats of paint/primer there are and what type. it will start to eat at body filler also, but thats better handled with a mechanical stripping method. it may take 3 or 4 sessions, and you will probably be left with the need for mechanical stripping. for mechanical stripping, a paint stripping wheel on a 4" grinder works pretty well. time consuming and tedious, but it works. dont bother with sand paper until you're pretty much all the way down and you're ready to give the metal a final prep for bodywork. all that said, i'd just try to feather it back and go to town.
Are far as fillers I have allmetal and rage gold. After thinking about it I think there are some other body work issues' on the car so I might should just strip it all with a chemical stripper and see what really is down there. Does Lowes or Home Depot have a chemical stripper that would work good?
Another tip, if you use chemical stripper, after brushing on the stripper, all in the same direction, cover it with plastic sheets, or 36" masking paper to keep the heat on it. It will bubble up more, and faster. Keep a water source handy so you can rinse off any that gets on your skin right away. That stuff is volatile. Lay down some 36" paper all around it so it's easier to pick up when you're done. Tape off all the seams, cowl vents, and jams first so none gets down into the cracks. Rinse thoroughly after scraping off the muck, then blow dry real good. You should be able to pick up a couple gallons of Aircraft Stripper at any hardware store. Got any pics of what you're dealing with?
Well I sure would like to just feather it in. I'm going to look over the body good tonight and see how much bondo is on it. That might show me which direction I will be going in.
proceed with caution. i learned the hard way that if you go looking for something you'll probably find it. if you're not ready to completely strip the car, do all the body work and do a complete paint job, don't mess with it. just fix the hood and leave it alone.
I agree.... if the hood was a lousy job,...I'd have to seriously wonder what else was done, and how. You could also sand out places where other "bodywork" was done,...and see what's unerneath. That may help to give a better picture of what you have. Happy Roddin' !!!!!!!! 4TRUK
If I was going to strip mycar I would have it media blasted. A lot less work for you to clean up and you can have it done in a few hours. All flaws will be visable immediately.
Just added the picture above. That is what I am worried about. To do it right would be to take it back to metal and fix all areas that need to be patched. But, not sure if I want to put that much time into this as it's already and chopped up job to begin with. ha Decisions decisions...
that don't look to bad. i'd say strip it back about 3" per side dig out all the filler, see if anything else pops up. mine had the same deal. the rest of the hood was golden. you should be alright. nice vert.
Heres the skinny ,Its easier and faster To strip the car and then do the bodywork,It will take longer and youlll be chasing scratches and low spots everywhere ,When I do a panel .I try to coat an entire panel thin spread and then sand ,Find the low spots coat the entire panel thin And sand .You will eventually fill the low spots ,,Always longboard ,Depending on application....I started out painting or bodywork Over all paint ,Ill never do it again ,Unless deemed necessary.....
If you decide to strip it with chemical, first scuff up the paint to give the stripper some tooth. And let the chemical do the work. That stuff is fairly cheap. I did an entire truck this way, over the course of 1 weekend. It aint that hard, if you let the chemical do most of the work.
If the paint isn't peeling I would leave it alone. As for the danger of sub standard bodywork bubbling or failing in the future... that's why they invented flat black paint jobs.
Air craft paint stripper is the best ,Go to a paint place .Automotive .The others just dont work as well and the best time is summer outside and Heat ,Fumes are nasty ,Where eye protection ,Can blind you ,Gloves are recomended also,And after stripping I wipe them down with a hose than da with 80 Your looking at less than 125.00 and labor ,Mask all areas rubber and glass with duct tape
Do you plan to repaint it yourself or have it done at a body/painting shop? If the one-year old paint job is no good, is it because you don't like the color or because it's failing/peeling/etc? Or was it just the seam filler that was bothering you? I'm going through my first full repainting right now (hiring it out) but having done lots of spot repairs before, I was actually surprised how affordable it was to just have the pros do the sanding & prep, compared to the hassle of sanding/grinding/stripping/breathing-in-the-fumes yourself. It's Hassle with a capital "H", especially the mess it makes. If the paint is failing, even if you do plan to do the repainting yourself, you might want to get just the prep work quoted.
Judging by the condition of the bumper/grille chrome the original owner painted it to help 'get rid of it' for more money; might have even done the sawzall routine on it for the same reason. If he's this crafty it might work in your favor, or against you. Have a pro take a look at it to see if can notice any 'signs' of prior bodywork. Failing that, first run a magnet over every bit of it. If you find too many areas that the magnet doesn't stick to, chances are the car has plenty of bondo in it. Check these areas carefully for 'heavy' scratches i.e. 80 or 36 grit; this will tell you if the guy just got lazy with the hood or whether you'll be 'laying' a lot of money painting over poor preparation. Chem stripping w/acft stripper isn't that bad but it is messy. Keep every one/thing you love away from the area. I've done a lot of media and sandblasting, and stripping. Stripping only gets where you want it to if you're careful, and costs a lot less.
P.S. Good luck with the 'Vert' It should look cool when you're done with all the extra 'support' welding. We're doing the same thing with a'40 Tudor, making it a '39 4 DR Convertible sedan.
Sounds like you don't have a lot of experience. You'd be better off straightening up what you have and turn it over to Maaco to paint cheap for the first round. There are plenty of other repairs and improvements to do instead of making so much work for yourself, that the car would be torn down forever. Save that for when you have more experience.
If the paint isn't checking, lifting, cracked or any other adjective that describes the usual paint woes.. I wouldn't!
I've rebuilt engines and transmission but have not had experience with body/metal work. I think I have all of the tool needed to do a good just but just don't have experience. I guess you could say I am using this car as a "college class" to learn how to work with metal, welding, bondo, fabrication, and painting. Was brought up being told it's best to learn as many skills as possible. So here I am! ha I think I'm not going to take the car all of the way to the metal. Going to repair the bad areas. bondo, and paint. Not sure yet if I will paint it myself or have it painted somewhere. Again I like to try everything once so I might try painting it myself..... then when I see the out come might have to take it somewhere. ha So I found a problem. When welding the hood I must had heated it up to much. So the hood is warped(has a dent) now... I knew I needed to watch for heat but must of gotten lazy. It warped close to the windshield. What is the best way to fix this? Should I use a cutting wheel and cut my weld in the section it is warped then re-weld? Was not happy with myself at all!
If you chemical strip it make sure you have good ventilation where you are doing it. I am serious ,a friend of mine got really sick doing it in his two car garage with the doors closed.He was jacked up for a month. OPEN doors with a fan moving air outside.A good respirator and skin protection is a must. I am doing a Model A now that has 3 old enamel paint jobs on it. All must go for a fresh paint job. If you do it only do a small area at a time,like 2 feet x 2 feet.It just makes the job a lot less messier.
The paint is in good shape. It was only cracking in the middle of the hood as he just used bondo for that crack. I guess I'm going to cut my weld out in the area that has the warping on the hood and try to re-weld? Not sure if this is what I should do or not but going to try it.
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