383firebirdokc

I have watched and watched and watched how to paint your car yourself and people actually come out with good results. so I have decided to paint my 84 firebird myself. Does anybody know a easier way to strip paint of car to get ready for sanding and primer?. other then the traditional DISC?. I have heard about being able to use the paint remover that bubbles up the paint and you can literally peel it off. would this technique really work?[ATTACH]

[/ATTACH]

9D1BURD

You could def use something eat all the layers of paint and such off....but going down to the bare metal is a huge undertaking without a lot of experience with paint and body.

Most people will sand the car enough to get a nice surface for primer and paint to cling too..and go from there.

blackbmagic

No kidding, professional painters are just people like everyone else. There is no reason you cant lay a good paint job if you use the correct techniques and good product. Not mind boggling or anything.

Taking the paint down to bare metal is necessary to truly know you have a quality paint job laying down. You need to know what is under the paint if its ever been filled, what was used to fill, holes, welded spots, rust ect.

If you know you car has never been repainted, or had body work done all you really need to do is sand it down to base coat. Again its always best to get it down to bare metal though. I don't know what your budget is but it is more time consuming and costly to do so.

DA with a roll of 80 grit pads should do the trick. No need to mess, with that paint stripper or aircraft remover. It makes a mess, dangerous, and can damage plastic parts.

kcb37

You can look into a sand blaster.
A Harbor Freight one should be worth the money. I would advise looking at what you buy from them though. Some stuff is alright for occasional use, some of it is just cheap junk.

calamitascamaro

iTrader: (5)

^ this kind of talk will get you forced into a body shop in no time. If you have no actual experience with autobody, then no bare metal for you. If you cut the paint to bare metal with a DA sander, it will heat up and you will see slight ripples in the final finish. A trained eye will see if body work done under a repaint, welded sposts wont matter cause your not going to reweld a patch regardless, and pinhole rust will be ever present. It is not always best to go to bare metal, it is always best to take an honest look at YOUR abilities and go from there. Go to the junk yard, find the rattiest quarter panel in the yard and have them cut it out and buy it. Then, bring it down, and then bring it back up. Finish it, cut the clear down and buff it out, and when you've done that 10 or so times till you perfect YOUR style, move on to your car. I recommend running the clear on your test panel, and learn how to repair it without sanding it down and starting from a respray. Good luck bro, if you need any advice, feel free to ask.

lunati397

good advice there

there are two ways to do things the right way and again Hot rod TV has 4 or 5 episodes on painting and they dont focus on prep as much as they do on how to fix common issues properly

rfox

And on a reprint you don't want 80 grit unless its absolutely necessary. If you do go down to bare metal in spots make sure you feather edge the paint and lay a good layer of primer. When laying primer it don't really mater if you get runs, you will be standing it back down anyway. Play with the primer to get used to spraying. Primer is a lot thicker than most paint and every clear that I know of. If you don't block the car out you will most definitely have a wavy outcome. Use the paint that is on the car now as a guide coat to find hail dents and door ding. When blocking the old paint it will become dull and low spots will stay shiny. And if you do need a body filler make sure to take the paint completely off where it will be used, and block it down to where you want it. For a good paint job it will take a while but if done right it will last a lot longer. Keep in mind most body shops have 3 prices, you can do the razor blade special and they will spray the car and hand you a razor to scrape the windows and it will look like crap then you has the ok looking job that they will sand with a da and tape the Windows and finaly you have the nice job that they will take there time to do and make it look like the car should. Just another note and some might not agree but when I first started painting I was using single stage. When it runs you can wet sand it down and buff it out and I've done some pretty good looking jobs with single stage paint jobs that can look just as good as base clear.

91 Droptop

Anyone can get a DA sander and a paintgun and say they can do bodywork, this is a miss conception since do-overs are very expensive. I will give you some tips and advice. First are you building a show car? if not do not strip it to the bare metal you will open up a whole new can of worms on that move. If you use a DA you will leave horible marks that will require even more hand sanding later on, if you do not know how to use one you can heat up a panel and get a warp. You will need 2 or 3 sanding blocks in differant lengths to achive a nice straight finish. Fix all your dings and dents first (do you have rust?) Yes you will need bondo with hardner, dont let anyone tell you that bondo is no good, it is a necessary evil in the body business. you will need to pull and large dents out, you do not want to use too much filler since that is the reason it cracks over time. once you have the entire car blocked and ready for primer use a good etching primmer. You will want a primmer that fills in sanding marks. once the entire car is primmed and dry you will speckle the entire car with black and then start the blocking proccess. the car should look like it has the black chicken pox. take your sanding blocks a wrap the paper on and keep the block and paper even on the car. Your low spots will stay speckled and the highs will go thru the primmer, you will need to fix accordingly. Once you have the car to where you feel that you have done all you can do, than you are ready for paint. What will you use single stage, base coat clear coat? what brand? what type of gun? these are all questions that you must answer before you even get started. If you plan to do this in your garage I suggest you cover the walls with plastic and mist the floor with water right before you bring the car in to spray it, this will cut down on dust and contamination on the finish.

You will really need to do a lot of research, you will need to use reducer, hardner and thinners. This is a science not a chemistry kit from the hobby shop. I like the advice of getting a quarter panel or a full door and practicing on that first, my advice is to practice with black it shows every detail. I will post pics of my 91 as I go, I have a post where I sowed the car as It was and where I am going. I have been in the business on and off for 35 years. I started working in my uncles shop when I was 12, I have painted with laquer, centari enanmel, and base/clear coat. Good luck to you.

calamitascamaro

iTrader: (5)

If you listen to this guy, and myself and ask questions, you'll save time, money, and heart ache. Trust us, between him and I, we evidently have over 45 yrs of experience combined.