I'm seeing all kinds of "advice" on paint Prep. I'm novice about painting. I have all kinds of time and elbow grease. Would like to stay away from strippers and not really confident about peeling with razor blade stuff.
It looks like my '81 has had some kind of respray at some time and I can't tell if it has been cleared or what was done.
Looking for direction on sanding. Start with what grit? Progression down to what grit? Wet, dry, etc...?
Take it down to glass, or what?
Any books, resources, etc recommendations.
I'd like to do most of the labor so I can put more $$ into quality paint man.
Thank you.

 

Lots of ways and strong opinions on how to do this. Most must work or the author would not be advocating them

My experience and the way I proceeded plus suggestions:

I decided to paint myself if you are going to employ a painter ask him what prep he wants

​​​​​​ck paint and body section here, Walt thrum c3 restro book and glas Ra cd's

Dawn wash wax and grease remover and dawn wash again as you do not want contaminants ground in the glass also get rid of armour all and all silicones wd40 and ban from your work place

I razor bladed paint off and sanded the rest w/ 80grit stay away from the edges and corners until last. use heat gun to soften paint ahead of your blade a couple of inches and move in tandem

I found the best razor blade tool looked like a long screw driver with handle on one end and razor holder on the other end, vehicle inspectors use them to scrape the old sticker off

You need a 16"x2-3/4"file board various sanding blocks and I used a piece of old radiator hose as backing for all the grits of sandpaper for all of the c3 compound curves

Be careful and stop once the primer is off

Fix blade gouges with evercoat VPA

Body work repair for cracks and repairs as needed

Check SPI website for primer sealer primer surfacer primer sealer plan. You need to step sand and get your surface to 400grit for nonmetallic and 600grit for metallic. Study the SPI tech sheet for details of steps

hope this helps

 

last time I did this started with 180 I believe..didnt go all the way down just close. Otherwise wound up doing more harm than good.
x2 on paging Dub hes the expert

 

Hi Merc, That's a handy site thanks for the lead. Good luck Eddp, it takes a ton of research to figure out what the pro's already know, and the more information you get the more confused you'll become. There are a lot of experienced people on this site willing to share information but in the end it will be up to you to find the best way. I brought mine down to fiberglass slowly with a DA and then skimmed the panels sanded to 180 and and now applying a high build primer and and will sand to 400. Not sure what is after that. I will research more and change my plan several times. Good Luck!

 

It would be cool to document some pics before during after learnings etc

good luck!