Have any of you taken the paint down to metal to prep the car for the body man? If so what tools did you use--electric or pneumatic? Sand paper grit # ?

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I used a DA sander w/40 grit paper. It takes a while to do it, but it is by far the safest for the metal(vs. sandblasting), and the least toxic way to strip a car for those on a budget. Also, if your car has DECENT bodywork, you can leave it there and save yourself some work. I used the NAPA brand Econo body D/a discs- it cost 6.00 for 2 pks, and thats all I needed. You can't beat that price! Patience is the KEY, though!

JU87, if you found those Econobody pads to me good, you would blown away at using the NAPA "Red Diamond" paper! When I repped the M-S line for NAPA, I found the econobody paper to me a waste of my valuable time and muscles. The Red Diamond (or a top of the line 3M, what ever) to save money. In fact, I used to do demos with a test to show how the better paper saved money in the shop. And, the better paper CUTS instead of building up heat, that could warp the panel.

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Fan of anything that is interesting and moves human beings.
1965 Buick Gran Sport Convertible
1965 Buick Skylark H/T
1948 Chevy PU with 401 Buick

MartinSr,
Once again I agree on the sandpaper issue. On toxicity, there is less dust in the air with stripper as opposed to sandpaper. Just be sure to use it in a WELL ventilated area.
(It's faster, too)

MartinSr,

Interesting...The Napa that is close to me doesn't have red diamond sandpaper... I know EB is not top of the line (hence the name- ECONO) but it worked fine for me, and was priced right for the job it had. I had good luck with it, and no problems with the paper loading up or heat buildup.

As for stripper vs. machine sanding toxicity, in some states the end result of all that stripper is illegal to dispose of in the trash (not that people don't do it). Also, ALL filler must come off- what's the point if it's a good job? I'd much rather use pancake filters for sanding on a mask I use for painting instead of getting that gooey mess all over the place, and have nowhere to get rid of it. Everybody prefers something different, I guess.

I'll tell you a particular time that I did a personal back to back test with the paper.
I was striping the hood on my Gran Sport. I was using a 40 grit 8" "hog" paper. Now there is no NAPA Econobody 8" paper but it was the Sherwin Wiliams sister label, Bodymans CHoice (S-W always got the stuff before M-S). So I started striping. I had gotten one side done over to the first body line, about an 8" wide area from the front to the rear of the hood. The "Econo body" paper was TOTALLY SHOT, DONE, NOTHING LEFT. All it was doing was creating heat. I grabed a Red Diamon disc and FINISHED the hood, then went on to the fender! With ONE disc I did what it would have taken 10 Econobody discs.

If you want to try the Red Diamond, give me the size and grit, and I will give you the part number. If they don't stock it, they will be clueless. But they can get it in one day or less from the DC.

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Fan of anything that is interesting and moves human beings.
1965 Buick Gran Sport Convertible
1965 Buick Skylark H/T
1948 Chevy PU with 401 Buick

MartinSr,

How about 6" 40 Grit- which is what I used to strip the paint on my car. Let me know the part number as you stated, and I'll see if I can get it from one of the Napa's in town to give it try!

BTW- Great "piece" on panel alignment. It's going to help me out A LOT!

[This message has been edited by JU87 (edited 01-21-2002).]

JU, that number would be 1936 and they come in 50 to a box. That box is going to set you back about $50.00 which is about twice as much as Econo body. If you go to a paint store, you know the ones that supply the body shops in town. You can usually buy sheets per piece and not have to buy a whole box.

Glad to hear you'll be able to use the alignment info. http://www.camaros.net/forum/smile.gif

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Fan of anything that is interesting and moves human beings.
1965 Buick Gran Sport Convertible
1965 Buick Skylark H/T
1948 Chevy PU with 401 Buick

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by 69LT-1:
Have any of you taken the paint down to metal to prep the car for the body man? If so what tools did you use--electric or pneumatic? Sand paper grit # ?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks for all the information. Didn't expect to get as much feedback on my first post. Thanks again.

I took the parts like doors, hood, valance panel etc that I could remove from the car to the bead blasting shop (make sure you find one that is very familiar with auto panels!) and the rest of the unibody, I used aircraft paint stripper. The aircraft paint stripper did remove the old bondo, but since I wasn't sure how good the old body work was, I wanted it removed and taken to bare metal anyway. I did try to use the D.A. in the body shop but it seemed to take forever. For a couple hundred bucks, having the bead blaster do it seemed like a bargain!