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Old Oct 26, 2008 | 11:55 AM
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1st VETTE75's Avatar
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Default Paint prep

Can anyone help with painting questions??
Need to know how far to sand it has original and than a whitish than gray than topcoat / clear.

Thx-
Randy
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Old Oct 26, 2008 | 05:36 PM
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Hi Randy,
I believe that if you're willing to do the work, it's a good idea to go all the way to fiberglass. Then the new paint system has no strange or unknown materials to try and bond to.
Regards,
Alan

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Old Oct 26, 2008 | 07:38 PM
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Hi Randy

Using a rasorblade is a great way to get down to the gel coat.

Cheers
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Old Oct 26, 2008 | 08:31 PM
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Except there is no Gel Coat to get to, only primer and then bare SMC. Unless you are skilled with a DA, block sand it by hand.
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Old Oct 26, 2008 | 09:23 PM
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All the way down to the fiberglass. Not part way down. Not half way down. Not most of the way down. ALL the way down. If I were gonna do it, I'd use a chemical stripper. There's pro's and con's, but it's a helluva lot easier than block sanding an entire car. But I wouldn't do it; I'd have it done. I used to be a do-it-yourselfer, but now, for body work at least, I'm a pay-someone-elser. Is there a trade school in your area that teaches autobody? They usually do pretty good work, 'cuz they're supervised by pros, for less than you could have it done by anyone else, but plan on them having your car for the entire school year.


Scott
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Old Oct 26, 2008 | 09:39 PM
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I sandblasted mine down to the glass with a old fashioned bucket siphon blaster. I used black diamond coal slag media, about 600 lbs at 12 cents a pound. If you want to try it I can find out the grit I used. It takes about 25 to 30 hours of work but you will get all the way to the glass. I had 2 paint jobs to remove. You don't want to use anything more powerful because you then risk destroying the glass, or so I hear on the forum. I had total control and could take each layer off one at a time if I wanted too.
Interestingly enough the original primer coat was the hardest to remove. It was a lot of work but I am glad I did it.
I hear that chemical stripping is not a good idea because you can never be sure to get all the chemical off before recoating. But they do do it on boats all the time.
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Old Oct 27, 2008 | 05:25 PM
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Hi AW,
That primer coat was baked for 45 minutes. I think that has something to do with how HARD it is to get off.
Regards,
Alan
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Old Oct 27, 2008 | 05:26 PM
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Thanks to all that replayed. Sounds like everyone agrees to removing all paint I am using a orbital sander to sand it down to last primer coat than hand sanding. I got a urathane primer and single stage urathane (red)for finishcoat they said thats all I need is that all I need??

Thanks,
Randy
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Old Oct 27, 2008 | 06:10 PM
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You would be better off with a base/clear system instead of the single stage. Also, the base/clear systems work and last a lot better; not to mention they are easier to work with down the road. I would shoot a good 2 part epoxy primer over the glass; then use a urethane sealer to even out the color, shoot 2 or 3 coats of base and follow with 2-3 coats of clear. With 3 coats of clear you can flatten it out with some sanding and polish it up to a good finish.
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