sanding a car sucks
Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
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From: Hampton, VA Yea, i'm a redneck... but you love it
Cruise-In 8-9 Veteran
aka/Trunk Monkey/Banned For Life/Corvette For Life
sanding a car sucks
is there any easier way to sand? i have done the hood and rocker panels by hand. there has got to be another way.
Last edited by Grease Monkey; Aug 22, 2006 at 09:10 PM.
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 124
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From: Arlington Texas
Post pictures of progress, would be interesting to watch it has it evolves. Being that vettes are fiberglass, it is gonna be a slow process to do it right. If you get to crazy with an orbiting sander , ya gonna put flat spots n it and it will come out looking like a golf ball.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 2,107
Likes: 14
From: Lancaster PA
What are you trying to accomplish? Are you trying to strip it or just sand and repaint? If you are just sanding and repainting you should sand with 320 grit and then use sealer and repaint. Give us some more to go on and we can help.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 20,910
Likes: 962
From: I tend to be leery of any guy who doesn't own a chainsaw or a handgun.
Welcome to the club! Not many people attempt this. When I repainted mine years ago I was amazed at the factory paint on the car. It seemed like when I first got it it would easily scratch at the mere mention of anything sharp, but then would almost laugh at me when I was using some aggressive sandpaper to puposely remove the paint. Never really understood that. It's rarely fun, but never boring, stripping a car. Keep at it, and send in some pictures of your progress. Good Luck!
Racer
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 286
Likes: 0
From: Alpine California
Originally Posted by purplewindworm
If you get to crazy with an orbiting sander , ya gonna put flat spots n it and it will come out looking like a golf ball.
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Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
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From: Hampton, VA Yea, i'm a redneck... but you love it
Cruise-In 8-9 Veteran
aka/Trunk Monkey/Banned For Life/Corvette For Life
i am getting all of the old paint good enough to repaint. i wrecked it about a year ago and i have been redoing the whole car since then. i have used a power sander to get it down a little but then i hand sand the rest. i dont want a body shop to do it because i dont trust anyone else with my car(i know im paranoid, plus ive been f'ed over a lot by shops). i also dont want to use a chemical because i dont feel safe with it after the new paint is on.
btw, i have been taking pic's the whole way and will show the finished project in about a month when im done.
btw, i have been taking pic's the whole way and will show the finished project in about a month when im done.
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 4,789
Likes: 7
I painted my '88 back in April. Sanding and prepping the car was not a bad job because I had very little bodywork to do (minor repair on drivers side rear fender) and I was just doing a repaint of the same color. But, I'm sure I spent at least 40 hours color sanding and buffing the clear...worked on just the hood for two days before I was satisfied. It just takes time and patience...
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Team Owner
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From: Hampton, VA Yea, i'm a redneck... but you love it
Cruise-In 8-9 Veteran
aka/Trunk Monkey/Banned For Life/Corvette For Life
here are a few pic's of before i started the work.
before:http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...r/000_0046.jpg
during:http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...r/100_0367.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...r/100_0387.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...r/100_0393.jpg
after:http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...r/000_0098.jpg
before:http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...r/000_0046.jpg
during:http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...r/100_0367.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...r/100_0387.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...r/100_0393.jpg
after:http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...r/000_0098.jpg
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,032
Likes: 4
Exactly why a body shop charges so much for prepping. It's not easy or quick to get a good job.
The only thing I can recommend is to use lots of water. I like your pictures... take your time and it can turn out good
A nice paint job is based entirely on the prep work.
Here is mine, took freaking forever... but I am very happy with how it ended up:
The only thing I can recommend is to use lots of water. I like your pictures... take your time and it can turn out good
A nice paint job is based entirely on the prep work.
Here is mine, took freaking forever... but I am very happy with how it ended up:
Last edited by mikey whipreck; Aug 23, 2006 at 09:32 AM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 5,866
Likes: 60
From: Hellinois
Finalist 2020 C4 of the Year - Modified
Originally Posted by rick lambert
I hand sanded my first vett, a 62, never again, I'd strip the whole car first. They have stripper that is safe to use on our plastic toys.
Thread Starter
Team Owner
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From: Hampton, VA Yea, i'm a redneck... but you love it
Cruise-In 8-9 Veteran
aka/Trunk Monkey/Banned For Life/Corvette For Life
all of yours look great, i hope mine comes out somewhere like that.
btw, its going to be admiral blue
btw, its going to be admiral blue
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 124
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From: Arlington Texas
Hey corvette for Life!!! thanks for posting thu pictures. Admiral blue is my favorite color. Keep the pictures coming.
I realy hate to ask this but what were you doing in this picture, lol
http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...Anch=imgAnch44
I realy hate to ask this but what were you doing in this picture, lol
http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...Anch=imgAnch44
Race Director
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 11,470
Likes: 764
Originally Posted by mikey whipreck
Exactly why a body shop charges so much for prepping. It's not easy or quick to get a good job.
The only thing I can recommend is to use lots of water. I like your pictures... take your time and it can turn out good
A nice paint job is based entirely on the prep work.
Here is mine, took freaking forever... but I am very happy with how it ended up:
The only thing I can recommend is to use lots of water. I like your pictures... take your time and it can turn out good
A nice paint job is based entirely on the prep work.
Here is mine, took freaking forever... but I am very happy with how it ended up:
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,032
Likes: 4
Originally Posted by Joe C
is this all hand sanding, or did you use chemical stripper. about 15 years ago, i used captain lee's spray-strip on my 69 coupe. seemed to work out ok. not sure it will cut thru a c4's factory finish - ???
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 3,014
Likes: 18
From: Raleigh, NC
Originally Posted by purplewindworm
Hey corvette for Life!!! thanks for posting thu pictures. Admiral blue is my favorite color. Keep the pictures coming.
I realy hate to ask this but what were you doing in this picture, lol
http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...Anch=imgAnch44
I realy hate to ask this but what were you doing in this picture, lol
http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...Anch=imgAnch44
Cruising
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 10
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From: Mesa AZ
I was a body and paint tech for 15 or so years. Stay away from Chem stripping, glass loves to absorb harmful stuff. For the first year and a half of owning my own shop I Specialized in Vettes. The easiest safest way to get the old paint gone is to media bead blast. Soda and walnut blasting works good too. It takes it down to the gelcoat without damaging the glass or previous body work. It was running around four bills to have the process done. You drop off the car and pick it up in just a couple of days and you get to see how good of shape your car was in.
Also if you happen to be priming try to use a catalist base waterborne. It keeps any reactions down to a minimum and is safe with any system of paint, as long as you use a sealer first. plus if the five-o- shows up to the house because of paint, you can show them it is a water based product. Helps to keep the fines away.
Also if you happen to be priming try to use a catalist base waterborne. It keeps any reactions down to a minimum and is safe with any system of paint, as long as you use a sealer first. plus if the five-o- shows up to the house because of paint, you can show them it is a water based product. Helps to keep the fines away.