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Bodywork question

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JPSmit

JPSmit

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Mark (Abarth69) and I started our welding/bodywork night school course this week. The instructor - well, just imagine Bill Murray teaching.

Anyway, he said that he doesn't strip any paint that doesn't need to be stripped - even when restoring. I've always assumed you do a bare metal restore to the whole car. Thoughts?

Will epoxy primer even stick to old paint?
 
Are you talking Epoxy or Self-Etch? Self-Etch is for bare metal, not nessasarily for all over if there is existing paint or primer. An Epoxy primer or sealer will cover everything underneath and give you a common base to work up from.(I don't have the kind of time or money to take the car down to bare metal all over.)My bodywork advisor says clean is the key.
 
:iagree: mostly. Although probably not ideal, epoxy will usually stick to old paint if it is solid and CLEAN. I'm not so sure I would trust it over lacquer though and definately not over something like old rattle can paint. After a thorough chemical cleaning be sure to scuff it up a bit with 400 grit or so to give the epoxy something to bite into.
 
I am lucky enough to be the second owner of this GT6 (bought in 1977)and the paint I just covered was all original.
 
Epoxy will stick to old paint that's properly prepared....however, I disagree with your instructor in that, unless you know the condition of the metal under the paint, strip everything off...obviously, if you know the original paint's there & that no damage ever existed, you could just sand the original paint & work over it. but, to me, that's taking a chance somebody laid a beautiful paint job over bondo!

I always try to look/feel the backside of all panels I can get to....that usually tells if any damage has occurred even if you can't tell from the outside. Plus, it is important to know what the factory put on a car & what aftermarket bodyshops did...when you start sanding an MGB, for instance, & hit grey primer, you know to take it to metal because MG never used grey.

On the Corvette we're doing, we've gotten down to original paint & are now sanding it real good to see if there's evidence of glass damage anywhere that we're not already aware of....if it is in fact factory, we'll shoot 2-part epoxy primer over it and move on.
 
Here is my opinion for what it is worth. Paint no matter the manufacturer has a life of X years, then it begins to break down. Many times while sanding into or removing old paint I will see small trace rust spots underneath what seemed like a ok paint surface. If left these rust spots will continue to grow. If you are going to spend $500.00 plus on paint related materials why would you trust your finish on a questionable foundation? You can chem strip the exterior of a car in under 2 days what you find underneath old paint 95% of the time has me sooooo happy I stripped the old finish. You can cheat or skip any step you want in the painting refinish game but it will always show up, what you skipped!
Just like shingling a roof, you get 3 jobs on top of another before you have to go back to zero. You can shingle atop the first job but it wont last as long as the first shingle job and so on.
A good epoxy will stick to dirt ;>) Still trying to find a good epoxy after the Deq changes ,I miss my DP40 snif! lol.
These guys are right prep is the key. Anyone can do bad quick bodywork/paint work,you can cheat alot of products and techniques to push product and time, but nothing beats starting over from ground zero with bare metal as your foundation.
 
OK - that all makes sense, which brings me to the next question - frequently people talk about aircraft stripper - is this a brand name? or is it actually stripper for airplanes? and where would you find this?
 
That is a brand name by "Kleen Strip" products. Available in quarts, gallons and spray.
 
JP

I think Bill means do not strip more paint then you are willing to deal with at any one time.

Since bare metal starts to flash rust soon after the paint is removed thats why I use Picklex 20 from these people
https://www.ashjentech.com/

A car can sit for over a year stripped bare with this applied

cheers

Mark
 
Britishautobody said:
A good epoxy will stick to dirt ;>) Still trying to find a good epoxy after the Deq changes ,I miss my DP40 snif! lol.
Click to expand...

This stuff has converted me.
 
If you use aircraft stripper (yes, it is actually for stripping paint off aircraft), do it outside & wear serious gloves (like what your wife wears in the kitchen)....& don't do more than you can strip, restrip, clean & metal prep or you'll just make rust where there was none.
 
By all means wear eye protection, this stuff is NASTY! I was stripping a trans am aluminum wheel with this stuff and a brush,in my youth ,zero protection. Well the paint was not coming off fast enough and I was in a hurry,some stripper splashed and hit my eye lid <thank god not the eye!> By the time it took me to run 20ft to a sink and run my face in the sink I had a blister on my eye lid!
Wearing a respirator or mask seems to absorb the chemical vapors and it is almost better to wear no mask and do this work outdoors as the vapors will kick you butt! But this stuff works! I use thinner to crystalize /wash the panel of the stripper when I am finished.
 
2 words....supplied air breathing system with full face mask.....OK, not 2 words. Bought meself one for xmas.....works like a charm, fresh air and face/eye protection.
 
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