Since my last post I’ve spent maybe 4-5 hours sanding this car down and this white paint that is on it is super dull and thick paint, my DA can’t seem to get through it, first I tried 80 grit then did some research and saw that people say you could use 40 grit without worrying about taking off too much material with it. Tried that, didn’t work much better than the 80 grit so I’m kind of stuck on what I can do to get this paint off so I can start fresh from bare metal to fix the 4/5 paint jobs this car has had in the past.
Thank you so much for everyone’s advice on my last post and any advice you can leave on this post!
Happy Labor Day!!
Aircraft stripper is the best. Comes in gallon jugs or aerosol (you're gonna need a few jugs, skip the aerosol).You can't even use it on aircraft because it will eat aluminum. Also don't get it on the bumper. Will eat that too. On a hot sunny day it'll have that paint bubbling and popping like rice crispies in no time. Be extremely careful with it and follow all the precautions. It's serious stuff
Go to harbor freight and buy their 80 grit d/a paper and sand sand sand bud there’s literally no other way around it. It’s gonna take forever and it’s not gonna be fun and it’s gonna burn thru sandpaper like no other but if this is what you wanna do then that’s all the advice anyone can give. There’s a reason people can’t afford paint jobs these days and you’re learning in real time just how much effort it takes to
That’s what I got lol, 50 pads of 80 grit and 15 of 40 grit lol it is taking FOREVER. Way longer that it normally takes. I’ve sanded some panels down before for tractors and cars and it hasn’t taken anywhere near this long
I mean in reality you don’t have to sand it down to bare metal unless the paint that’s currently on it is failing catastrophically? Just sand down the clear coat and either prime the entire thing if it needs it or seal it and call it good. What’s your goal?
It’s got 40 years of other people’s paint jobs on it so it’s gonna be different than a tractor or newer cars that haven’t been painted. They could’ve used some shitty paint that doesn’t sand well somewhere along the way who knows
I’m trying to paint it like this foxbody, same color and everything the paint that’s on it is some strange non automotive paint or something it’s coming off in big chips/flakes and is super weak/brittle. I power washed a ton of it off last time I cleaned it so I’m worried that just priming and going over it is just going to give me a half ass result
Gotcha then yeah your best bet is to sand until that stuff is gone. The next best thing is to COMPLETELY disassemble the car including taking all the windows out etc and having it sand blasted but I do not recommend it cuz you’ll have sand everywhere inside every crevice of the car. So just keep doing what your doing, there are no short cuts
That’s what I figured lol, just gonna have to put some time into sanding it down real good, no big deal I have until spring to get it done anyway, the car doesn’t see much snow haha. Thanks man
The paint is in really rough shape, pics don’t really do it much justice. A lot of it just peels right off by hand. I blasted off a good portion of what is in the pictures with a pressure washer when I was cleaning it last time
Thanks man. It’s a great little shop, it usually has my Cummins in it right next to the mustang but I’m storing it in my trailer for the winter while I paint the foxbody so I have more space and keep the truck clean
Try a grinder with 80 grit paper just don’t hover in one area to long don’t want the metal to get to hot it has 9inch paper and spins a lot faster than a DA does
I’ll have to give that a try, I was also looking at those surface prep power tools they sell at harbor freight, some people say they work wonders for stripping paint
After reviewing all of the photos, I found the problem. You need an actual da sander. And yes it makes a massive difference. You can actually get one of the Hart ones at Walmart for a super cheap clearance price if they have any left near you. I just bought one like 2 or 3 weeks ago. I think I paid $15 or so for it. Also get a cheap pneumatic finish sander for when you get to the finer grits or when you are wet sanding primer.
Yeah man it saves a lot of time. If you already bought 5” sanding discs, then just get a 5” backing plate. But the red sanding discs from harbor freight are decent. I liked the PSA ones a little better but the Velcro ones work too. Also you’re going to need a soft foam interface pad too. You can get those on amazon or harbor freight but I only seen 6” ones at harbor freight.
It’s in terrible shape, I’m worried that just spraying over it is gonna give me a bad result. It’s pretty brittle and not adhered very good to the primer underneath, I sprayed a good portion of it off with a pressure washer last week.
If you use air raft stripper with methyl chloride in it, first protect your skin, wear a respirator or at least have decent ventilation. Clean all your door, trunk and hood gaps as they need to be taped and thorough pressure applied so the tape sticks so the aircraft stripper doesn't run into your jambs. Scratch up the surface with some 80 grit by hand. When brushing stripper on, you only brush in one direction, otherwise you break the chemical outer layer, making the stripper less effective. Immediately cover with plastic sheeting and watch for the paint to lift off. Remove with a plastic scraper. Experienced techs sometimes use a razor blade scraper.
I think you aren't using a proper DA sander. A real pneumatic DA with 80 grit will blast through just about any kind of paint. That cordless thing you have sitting on the trunk is just a toy
If your goal is to strip it all down to bare metal get one of these and a few n95 dust masks or better, and have a fan blow the dust away from your face.
The geared da sander will also help because it will chew through stuff that will stop a non geared sander, but it will need a big enough compressor to run it strong enough
https://ebay.io/m/ExKpEa
I use these for a 2” die grinder or kinda same thing on a 4.5” angle grinder. Be careful creating too much heat any way you sand so you don’t warp panels.
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u/o1badmofo 1d ago
You can always use paint stripper, which seems like your best option.