body work
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Cruising
Joined: Jun 2012
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body work
not sure if i should post this in tech or general please move if it needs to be elsewhere. anyways i have a 1972 stingray that through a series of trades i ended up with, have always wanted one and finally found one for little of nothing, but shes in fairly rough shape body wise not realy busted but who ever had it before me sanded 80% of the car to glass then shot it with epoxy leaving the old primer underneath the epoxy in spots. my question is how do i sand this epoxy off to finish taking the whole car to glass or can i build up from here with no ill effects in the future? the epoxy is clogging up my paper making it tough to sand.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 2,092
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From: Fayetteville Arkansas
without knowing for sure what is what and what the previous owner has done I would strip it down to the bare glass and start over again. Get some Citri-strip from lowe's or homedepot and paste it all over and everything should just come off leaving nice pretty original fiberglass. Then you can see what you have to work with. Do all corrective work there then re-epoxy block it out and you are ready for color then clear.
Sully
Sully
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Cruising
Joined: Jun 2012
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sweet thanks man ill give this a try. so if i go back down to bare glass what should i do first. (sorry for the questions but this is my first major glass project) body work or seal the body with an epoxy then body work on top of that?
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2,486
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From: Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
You can also have the body soda blasted, I'm always afraid of trace elements of stripper, grease oil etc. I used epoxy primer as my base to seal the glass, then slick sand, then color and clear.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 2,337
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From: Norfolk VA
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Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2,486
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From: Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Race Director
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 11,360
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From: Plano TX
The red primer is factory lacquer and needs to come off (it's 40 years if nothing else!)
What we did on my '71 was to get a 5 gallon can of lacquer thinner (the really cheap stuff), and a stack of brown scuff pads ("scotchbrite"). Dip the scotchbrite in thinner and scrub away. After a few minutes the thinner softens the primer and it starts coming off a little easier. It's a lot of work, don't get me wrong!!! But you remove the primer with absolutely minimal removal of fiberglass.
Needless to say, do this outdoors and wear rubber gloves.
What we did on my '71 was to get a 5 gallon can of lacquer thinner (the really cheap stuff), and a stack of brown scuff pads ("scotchbrite"). Dip the scotchbrite in thinner and scrub away. After a few minutes the thinner softens the primer and it starts coming off a little easier. It's a lot of work, don't get me wrong!!! But you remove the primer with absolutely minimal removal of fiberglass.
Needless to say, do this outdoors and wear rubber gloves.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 11,360
Likes: 382
From: Plano TX
Use a fresh scotch brite, fill a bucket with water and some dawn. Give it a good scrub and hose off. Let dry in the sun for at least 24 hours before any work is done (fiberglass repair, primer prep, filler etc).
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2000
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From: Southbound
Cruise-In II Veteran
Thread Starter
Cruising
Joined: Jun 2012
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so once i get the paint all stripped off should i rough the body up with say 80 grit before applying the primer and or filler? i was thinking of applying spi's epoxy then a high build primer to block it out. but im open to suggestions i just want it to look nice and not flake off
