Front Clip getting body work

[eclipse]

I picked up this 74 front clip in great shape from Mountain Explorer today for my cousins 74 K20 and started on getting the prep work.

Heres the clip getting a ride to my shop in my 77

In the shop ready for to get started...

End of the night work... slow start

 

[mountainexplorer]

Have fun sanding. I hate the fact that it takes forever to do. Of course, if I had a good sander that was able to sand more area quicker, I probably would be more willing to sand stuff.

You still gotta quote me how much to sand down that Crew Cab from Utah so I can at least make it all one color for now.

 

[ryoken]

3M gold 60 grit on a Porter Cable electric DA'll rip it right down... couple hrs.. or 1/2 hr if ya aircraft strip it first... fun, fun, fun.....

 

[eclipse]

Usually I use 80 grit on a air sander and it does the trick real good. But at night its way to noisy.

 

[ryoken]

the Porter Cable electrics rule over air DA's on multiple fronts and most people don't know about it... its one i always recommend to people... i used to use airs back in the early days... i've sanded a gazillion sq ft on everything over the years from cars to planes, boat, dozers, etc...

i've always found quality paper is probably the most important factor for speed and quality.. its the difference between taking 20 hrs to sand a 50' boat hull or 30.. its a sucky job and i don't wanna be under there any longer than needed..

thats nice of you to hook up your bro... what kinda primer and paint?

 

[JK5]

That's a nice clip!!!!

I just stripped my cab with #80 with my DAQ...
it strips quick with 150 lbs of pressure.

 

[R72K5]

should never sand all paint off a vehicle unless the paint is coming off the metal or unless theres surface rust or worse,

otherwise sandable primer coats and wet sanding is all you need to do before paint

good luck

 

[ryoken]

should never sand all paint off a vehicle unless the paint is coming off the metal or unless theres surface rust or worse,

otherwise sandable primer coats and wet sanding is all you need to do before paint

good luck

don't know where you heard that, but its bs... for multiple reasons..

 

[JK5]

should never sand all paint off a vehicle unless the paint is coming off the metal or unless theres surface rust or worse,

otherwise sandable primer coats and wet sanding is all you need to do before paint

good luck

Years ago...that may have been true.
But with todays paint technology...
you're better off stripping off 25 year old paint...and applying new.

I just epoxied with PPG DPLF90 let it sit for an hour...
then sprayed a filler primer K36...then hit-it with my Hutchins DA...with #220.
I'm ready to seal and shoot.

Com'on by friday...I'll be sprayin'...and I have beer!!!

 

[eclipse]

Looking good JK5. Hows that primer working out for you? And how much did that cost you. I've justed used rattle can primer in the past, and as long as I dont have too many layors of paint I dont sand all the way off. Not enough air in my compressor for that

ryoken, tell me more about your Porter Cable sander. Is it an orbital and it uses the same lick 'n stick paper like a Air DA? How much would one run? I get tired of the noise of my DA, my compressor catching up... its just a hassle and I usually end up just block sanding everything.

 

[ryoken]

http://www.porter-cable.net/porcab736var.html

wow, thats cheaper than my boss pays locally. think we paid about 160 last time.. pricey next to a $50 air jobby but worth it imho...

and yeah, believe me, if you tried one, ya'd fall in love with it.. the machine itself is much quieter than an air. let alone the compressor not running.. still relatively loud on a hood, but much quieter than the air da, hood, and compressor running..

we occasionally run an 8" pad & paper on em too.. tho it CAN wipe the shaft bearing quicker...

they will dog airs up to 100lbs or so. now, running psycho #'s like Jerry was talking, yeah, the air would remove more material... not alot of air systems can handle that. tho we used to do it on the mixers, etc back in the day... i know my upright 60 gal at home would have trouble with that...

they used standard sticky sheets. the ""Hook it" velcro styles are available too... they come with a dustless setup too usually...

not to mention that electric is generally within easier access... and just an extension chord...

 

[ryoken]

Years ago...that may have been true.

i've been using zinc since the late 70's, when the factory wasn't... you'd have to go back pretty far i would think... heck, the factory has always been behind the aftermarket in paint technology for as long as i can remember.. shoot, i was refinishing in urethanes for years and GM was still using friggin Centari...

and i trust my adhesion to bare steel better than the factory with all those nightmare recall primer jobs from the 80's they had...

over an original finish thats decent, sure, no prob... but any more mills than that is bad... but i strip when ever i can get away with it..

ah, what am telling you for, you know all that anyway...

 

[JK5]

Thanks...

Both primers are on the pricey side.
DPLF 90 $104 a gallon/402 catylist $36 qt ea/2 needed
K 36 filler primer $32 qt./ harderner 1/2 pint was $18.
Both get reduced with 870...so that's anouther $24 a gal.

The benifits are better adhesion...better topcoat gloss...
And K36 fills pinholes like crazy...no spot puddies needed.
Dry time is fast...too.

 

[JK5]

LOL...when??? Late 70's??? Yah...I hear yah.

LOL....Back then...we just used Duponts 80s lacquer primer..over bare metal...it never flaked off.

We...used zinc chromate and epoxy primers...very rarely.

 

[ryoken]

oops, showing my age on that one...

well, for us it was the Concrete Company.. big company and the mixers took an absolute beating.. my boss, head of the bodyshop got them into all the state of the art stuff as best he could..we metal-treated, zinc, all that stuff..

but i hear ya on the lacquer... thats all we used in the colision shop in the 80's.. with urethane on top.. worked like a charm and fast as hell...

 

[JK5]

LOL.....

I was working summers...for my Dad...in his Bodyshop.
We worked on mainly Vettes back then...gelcoating was common.
Then dump-on the 80S primer...then block!!!

I did the same thing in the 80's also..
we didn't even treat the metal when I worked at the dealership.

Well...I haven't sprayed metal etching chemicals on bare metal...in about 15 years.

I think...adhesion depends on clean metal...lacquer thinner is all I use.

 

[ryoken]

LOL.....

I was working summers...for my Dad...in his Bodyshop.
We worked on mainly Vettes back then...gelcoating was common..

thats right, i forgot... my sympathies on the gelcoat

i did about 4 vette groundups for the Concrete Co.. all mid to late 60's BB's..

but when i went to the colision shop, my boss hated having Vettes in the shop.. think i sprayed one mid 80's Vette the whole time there..

lacquer thinner is all I use

amen... that and denatured are all a bodyshop needs.. when i hear people mention others, like Acetone, etc, it makes me cringe.. hate that stuff, thinner is far superior.. altho working on the boats i have to play with it occasionally.. styrene and MEK are by far the worst solvents tho, that sh*t scares me, but unfortunately they are 2 of the best gel thinners...

 

[eclipse]

thanks ryoken, I"m gonna have to look into getting one of those. be nice not to have to wait for the compressor.

Also I'm fairly knew to body work, I've only done prep work on a few vehicles and nothing down to bare metal. Just sanded throughly and cover up with rattle can primer. What can I expect for prep to prim and priming with bare metal?

 

[ryoken]

much easier....

one of the big probs with priming over older paint substrates is featheredges.. solvents like to work there way into edges like that and cause probs.. from cringing, to unevenness, etc.. the more open featheredges you have the potential for probs.. and the whole thicker mils issue plays right into that and compounds the issue down the road...

just damp towel/ dry towel it with thinner on paper towels. i always suggest some zinc.. even a piss-thin coat helps tremendously.. you could even give that nose a transparent thin coat with a spray bomb if you don't want to bother with a gun and qrts for that stuff.. think a can from Tempo runs about 5 to $10 at marine stores. heres some http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/zinc.php


then just go right on top of that with your primer.... so much nicer with bare steel, it'll be dead smooth...

also, heres a little bodyman tip for ya.. temp of substrate is vastly more critical than air temp.. in other words, if i'm gonna paint on sat, i'll go down and crank the heat up the night before to warm the steel up. then shut it off a while before i paint so dust won't be an issue... i do that stuff at work all the time, preheat stuff with a heatlamp before you squirt stuff on it..

 

[eclipse]

Ok so I like to experiment and try new things, so I"m checking up before I sand down to bare metal just so I know where to go from there.

See if I got this right.

after sanding to bare metal
wipe down with thinner
thin coat of zinc spray
then I can use my spray can primer?

thanks for your help