Started sanding yesterday!

[scgamecock]

This is going to be a long process getting all of this surface rust off.  I spend about 2 hours getting to this point with my DA and air angle grinder.  The compressor is not keeping up with the DA but I have a couple of couplings leaking too so that may be contributing to the problem.  Im going to use chemical stripper for the paint.  What you see sanded is where the really rough surface rust was.

Any suggerstions on chemical stripper and where I might be able to get it on a Sunday?

 

[kcmash]

Strippers are NOT my area of expertise. (Been married too long)

Anyway, if using a chemical stripper I would be sure to get all bright work and wheel covers out of the way.  You should have nothing bright that the chemical will contact or be washed onto when rinsing.

On the front fenders I would likely go with a bead blast service then smooth it with a high build primer to get your surface back to good.

kcmash

 

[Hemikiller]

I used "Aircraft Stripper" which is available pretty much everywhere. Trick is to lay the stripper down and then lay a plastic sheet or split open garbage bag over it. Keeps the stripper wet and working longer.

https://www.amazon.com/GAR343-KLEAN-STRIP-Aircraft-Stripper-Gallon/dp/B004Y1KX9E

Just asking - what do you plan to do once it's bare metal?  Do you have your metal prep products on hand? In another post, you said you wanted to put the car on the road, but now you're stripping the paint off? As KCMash noted, you need to be very careful around the aluminum trim with this stuff. I would stop what you're doing and remove the trim, or make sure it's well protected. The lower body bright trim is repop'd, but it's expensive and fits like crap, just like most other repop trim. Don't go willy-nilly into this, or you'll have a mess on your hands and a bunch of parts to repair or replace ($$$$) Personally, I would remove the fenders and other parts you need to strip. 

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

BIG WORD OF CAUTION. Someone said to get bead blasted. There is no blasting process that you can use on exterior sheet metal that will not ruin the parts. Glass beads, any type of sand or media that will remove rust will warp the panel until it is not usable. Blast media is like little hammers and displaces the metal and warps it until you have to trash it. You can do under body components but blasting warps the material.

I use the liquid Aircraft stripper and like stated I put actually pieces of stretch wrap on it to keep it from trying you. You can get at Lowe's, Home Depot, Wal Mart, etc. Get some good chemical gloves and have eye wash materials hand. Wear goggles and keep well ventilated. We did a VW beetle once at a local .25 car wash. Put the stripper on and used the car was to blow the paint off. Sort of like washing your oily greasy shop rags at the laundromat.

Like already mentioned you will need your phosphate solution and some coarse steel wool or scotch brite to rub the metal with to work out the rust. It would also be better to get the fenders off to do the stripping. You will need to wash with water to remove the stripper. Same with hood and even the doors. Get you a couple of the fold up horses with foam on them to put the parts on to work them. I think Harbor Freight has them or Northern Hydraulics.

A molasses tank for fenders, doors, trunks and 1/2 hood at a time can be working while you are on the main body that cannot go in a normal tank. Air and sand paper is expensive, lol.

If you look around Craigslist the 275 gallon bulk containers are usually $50. The 5, five gallon containers of liquid feed grade molasses will be right at $100 and then just tap water will give you 250 gallons. Cut the top out of the container and the fenders will stick out but you can do one end and then prime it and do the other end. You will have lots to sand on the body for sure. You can also use the molasses to clean brake drums, headers, calipers anything with rust on it. Just will not do anything if oily or greasy. DO NOT PUT ALUMINUM IN, WILL EAT IT UP.

 

[rackerm]

BIG WORD OF CAUTION. Someone said to get bead blasted. There is no blasting process that you can use on exterior sheet metal that will not ruin the parts. Glass beads, any type of sand or media that will remove rust will warp the panel until it is not usable. Blast media is like little hammers and displaces the metal and warps it until you have to trash it. You can do under body components but blasting warps the material.

I use the liquid Aircraft stripper and like stated I put actually pieces of stretch wrap on it to keep it from trying you. You can get at Lowe's, Home Depot, Wal Mart, etc. Get some good chemical gloves and have eye wash materials hand. Wear goggles and keep well ventilated. We did a VW beetle once at a local .25 car wash. Put the stripper on and used the car was to blow the paint off. Sort of like washing your oily greasy shop rags at the laundromat.

Like already mentioned you will need your phosphate solution and some coarse steel wool or scotch brite to rub the metal with to work out the rust. It would also be better to get the fenders off to do the stripping. You will need to wash with water to remove the stripper. Same with hood and even the doors. Get you a couple of the fold up horses with foam on them to put the parts on to work them. I think Harbor Freight has them or Northern Hydraulics.

A molasses tank for fenders, doors, trunks and 1/2 hood at a time can be working while you are on the main body that cannot go in a normal tank. Air and sand paper is expensive, lol.

If you look around Craigslist the 275 gallon bulk containers are usually $50. The 5, five gallon containers of liquid feed grade molasses will be right at $100 and then just tap water will give you 250 gallons. Cut the top out of the container and the fenders will stick out but you can do one end and then prime it and do the other end. You will have lots to sand on the body for sure. You can also use the molasses to clean brake drums, headers, calipers anything with rust on it. Just will not do anything if oily or greasy. DO NOT PUT ALUMINUM IN, WILL EAT IT UP.

I hear good things about dustless media blasting. It uses water and glass bead which eliminates heat that causes warpage. I read they capture/recover about 85 percent of the used material.They also add a flash rust inhibitor and its mobile...they bring the whole thing to you. I have not tried it. Has anyone on the forum used it?

 

[Fabrice]

@scgamecock

Just spend the day on a tiny corner of my hood. Body work takes a lot of time!

I use a less powerful paint remover and doesn't work as fast as the air craft stripper (not to be found easy over here) but it does the job ok. All 2k's paints/primer/bondo get broken down. On the pict, my hood scoops after 24 hours, paint peels off. This nasty liquid prevents that your place becomes dust hell and saves a lot of work.

You could cover it with plastic so it doesn't evaporate too fast. The one I use is a thick gel and evaporates not that fast. Tho, I bet it would if the temp was higher.



For the rust,

Keep in mind that light rust turns into a very thin dust. Clean up the surface in between sessions and ensure the disc isn't saturated.

Some tap with a flat hand on the disc helps removes lots of the dust trapped in it. They will last longer if not saturated and there will be less heat.

If you see "moon" rust, do not over grind it. If you need to patch later on, its better you keep all the metal with the damage to see better where to patch when the moment comes.

I would remove all the trims before start anything. The aluminium, side markers, extensions etc... You will have to at some point, and grinding on Zamak is a really bad idea as this soft alloy isn't easy to be restored in case of dents. Apply some w40 on each and every bolts you will have to loose, and let them soak. You'll thank yourself when the time comes to remove them.

 

[scgamecock]

Thanks all. Media blasting isn't in the budget anyway and I didn't want to pull all of the glass out yet plus the mess it would make inside the car. I am thinking I need to move to the back of the car first and then remove the doors and fenders last. This will keep the car mobile for a longer time while working on the body. For now I am just going to shoot some primer on the bare metal I already sanded.

 

[JRANGER]

get an electric orbital. I used 80 grit and an electric, wiped the whole car down in a couple weekends.